Nancy Drew: Trail of the Twister

Here's the setup: P.G. Krolmeister--yes, THAT P.G. Krolmeister--has hired you to investigate a series of accidents befalling a team of Oklahoma storm chasers. As expected, the storm chasers are a bit of a motley crew, with the stirrings of distinctive, engaging personalities. By completing a series of assigned tasks, you move the plot forward without too much free exploration or play. However, unlike the equally task-driven Ransom of the Seven Ships, these puzzles are thoroughly solvable and not too time-consuming--which is too bad, because that's pretty much what you do. Talk to Debbie. Receive tasks. Complete tasks. Move on. This goes along at a pretty good clip; I watched the credits 10 hours on the nose after completing installation, and I did not play the game the entire time.

With such a shallow experience, the ending felt sudden and forced, with barely any suspense and even less sleuthing. You do suspect various characters throughout the game, but not because you've uncovered surprising new clues. Instead, the game--at times literally--tells you to. There are no plot twists. There are no new phone friends. There are no secret passages leading to new locations. For that matter, there are hardly even any locations. This is very much a linear, what-you-see-is-what-you-get game.

And that's what's so frustrating--and disappointing--about ToT: it's the smart kid who bombed the big exam. There's so much potential in this game that simply goes unrealized. The combination of sharp writing, solid characters, a logical plot, and challenging but beatable puzzles sounds like a sure winner, and indeed it would be if the game did more than scratch the surface of what those had to offer. As it is, it's a fun diversion rather than an engrossing story.

It's worth noting, too, that if Warnings at Waverly Academy was the ND game for tweens and teens, then this is the installment for adults. The subject matter, the characters' back stories, even the vocabulary level of the written texts all seem geared toward an older audience. Not necessarily in a negative way, just in a "what fourteen-year-old knows or cares about tenure?" kind of way.

Nancy Drew 22: Trail Of The Twister

-Before I Begin...
My review will be spilt up into sections and have a in-depth look at that topic. Then at the end of the review I round up the stars and give an overall rating.

-Interface
The interface is just the same as Warnings At Waverly Academy and the other newer games. Just point in the direction you want to go in and click basically. There is a new icon though that is special to this game, that is the Phone icon and the Pa Pennies icon. The Phone icon lets you go onto Nancy's phone to make calls, take pictures, change the time in the game, and change the settings (background and color). I really liked the cell phone feature of this game. It's a lot of fun to take pictures and change the background of the phone to whatever you want from the game. Throughout the game, you can collect Pa Pennies which can be used to play an arcade game and buy candy. Overall, a great interface for playing, very intuitive.
*****

-Plot
The plot was pretty "tried and true" for this series. Basically someone is sabotaging the Canute College Tornado Chasing Team's equipment. The Team is in a competition with other tornado chasers for $100,000,000 which puts the stakes pretty high. It's a good plot, but if you have played the other Nancy Drew games, you recognize the plot pretty well. Also the plot wasn't really developed as well as it could have been. Plus there weren't very many examples of sabotage that really made the plot believable. Some examples were a broken coolant pipe in a car, a video camera that doesn't work, a mice infestation, and a phone line that explodes. Frankly the sabotage was somewhat juvenile to me.
***

-Characters
The characters were great and well developed. But the interaction was only great in the beginning. The conversations with the characters only last for the first and second day, then it just seems like you are doing tasks for them ALL THE TIME. But the personalities were great, they got a good variety of possible suspects. And each character had a good possible motive for sabotage. The voice acting was very good as well. If only they developed the characters more and allowed for more conversation then it would be awesome. The phone characters were great too. You get to talk to PG Krolmeister and The Hardy Boys. Too bad you can't talk to more people.
****

-Setting & Graphics
The Graphics are amazing and lifelike as they always are. The outdoor scenery is beautiful and the farmhouse interiors are cozy and real. The only problem with this is the Setting. There just isn't much to see or explore. There are only two environments you can really explore, the farmhouse, and Ma 'n Pa's General Store. There are a couple of little places where you can take pictures of clouds but other than that there is literally nothing else to see. And it is really disappointing since there are so many roads you get to drive and a huge map to drive through with hardly any locations to stop at. It reminded me of Secret Of The Old Clock, but even in that game there was more to explore.
***

-Puzzles/Activities
The actual puzzles were great. They were natural to the game and made sense with the plot. They were challenging and fun, but small few of the puzzles were just outrageously annoying. You have to set up a number grid/pyramid when the camera dies and it just takes forever. Another thing I didn't like was that it was all about chores. Leave it to Nancy to be gracious and help every character with their chores. But these characters are just plain demanding. It would have been fine if Nancy did these puzzles/activities on her own, but having the character force you into doing it to advance in the game is really annoying. It takes the fun away when you are doing these puzzles just for the sake of doing it for someone else.
***

-Ending
The ending was just standard to this series, similar to the other endings in different ND games. Although just like Warnings at Waverly Academy, it ends sort of abruptly and even reveals the culprit before you get a chance to determine who it is. The ending scenes are still suspenseful and worth getting too. And the conclusion scenes tie up all the loose ends very nicely. I felt rewarded after finishing the game which made the chores worth it. Still, I wish the game didn't end so quickly, I finished it in one day (about 10-12 hours).
***

-Fun Factor
As much as I griped about the chores and the lack of exploration. I still had fun playing the game. There is some funny moments that take off the seriousness of doing work all the time. Playing Land Rush was also very addicting, and I kept buying candy so Nancy would throw up. And I would buy candy to give all the characters. Like almost all of the Nancy Drew games, you will have fun.
****

-Overall
The good parts of this game are good. But I just feel that this game is missing that extra development that would have made this game a hit. I love that Her Interactive puts out two games a year. But maybe they should only put out one game a year. That way they could spend more time on making an extra long game that is fully developed. They have put a lot on there shoulders this year with releasing Trail Of The Twister AND Secrets Can Kill (Remastered) while also finishing up on the Fall release. I commend them for staying strong these past 22 games. I really enjoyed Warnings At Waverly Academy it had the right amount of everything. This release feels off balance. Too many chores, not enough REAL detective work. I would still recommend this game because its pretty exciting to learn about tornadoes this way. But this game is definitely not one of my favorites, it's missing the things that make a good game GREAT. If you are new to the series try Warnings At Waverly Academy or Phantom Of Venice.

Add all these up and divide by 7...
4 *'s (Interface)
3 *'s (Plot)
4 *'s (Characters)
3 *'s (Setting & Graphics)
3 *'s (Puzzles/Activites)
4 *'s (Fun Factor)
3 *'s (Ending)
= 24 Stars Divide By 7 (Categories) = 3.4 = Rounded to 3 Stars

-Recommended Games
Ransom Of The Seven Ships (See my review of this game)
The Phantom Of Venice (See my review of this game)
Danger On Deception Island
Last Train To Blue Moon Canyon (See my review of this game)

Thanks for reading my review!

My 11 year old seemed to like the game. However, as an adult Nancy Drew fan, I found it boring. There are LOTS and LOTS of tedious chores to do, many of which have nothing to do with solving the mystery. If you like spooky, edge of your seat, this is not going to provide that. I found the characters to be hokey and annoying. It was hard for my 11 yr. old to drive the car in this game. However, she solved many of the puzzles without cheats. One thing I love about HerInteractive is the great opportunity to learn something new in their games. You do learn about weather patterns, cloud formations and the like. Not my favorite by far but lots to do in this game if you like puzzles. VERY excited for the next game coming out! Looks very spooky and it takes place in Japan!

› Go to Amazon.com to see all 41 reviews  3.4 out of 5 stars