Nancy Drew: Danger by Design

The Good
It's a Nancy Drew adventure. They're all fun. This one doesn't particularly stand out per se, but it shares the strengths of all the previous Nancy Drew games: great puzzles, good character development, pretty good graphics and voice acting, etc.

As I said, this game doesn't necessarily stand out, but it does share the strength of all the other Drew games.

Actually, I take that back. There is one thing that stood out about this game: history. Connection. There are copious nods to many previous Nancy Drew games, for example, you apparently inherit Sonny's desk again (he's the one with a penchant for cows and UFO's from Secret of the Scarlet Hand). That was kind of cool.

The Bad
As usual, not much. However, there were some annoyances.

Having to dial the zippy phone card pin each time you want to make a call got old VERY quickly. I can't believe the play testers didn't squawk at that. It actively discouraged using the phone.

Another phone related annoyance was when you called someone who wasn't home. Instead of simply hanging up, you have to listen to the entire v-e-r-y l-o-n-g message.

But. These are simply annoyances. They do not ruin the game by any stretch of the imagination.

The Bottom Line
This is Nancy Drew by the numbers. Same engine, same actors, same phone numbers (I know Bess's phone number better than I know my own girlfriend's cellphone number), same look, same feel. They obviously re-used a great engine and churned out yet another great game for Drew addicts.

While it wasn't as spectacular as, say, Shadow Ranch or Blue Moon Canyon, this is still status-quo for Nancy Drew --- in a word, GREAT!