Review by Jakob Balen

Owning nearly every game in the Nancy Drew PC series, I’d have to say that one of the many things that HERInteractive excels at is the absence of repetition; Each and every one of their games feels unique and is lots of fun, although some may be more enjoyable than other ones. This one also has a unique location, a ranch in the Arizona desert. While sleuthing and the wild west don’t seem like a match in your mind, this game is definitely an amazing edition to the series, and deserves a spot on any detective’s game shelf.

Story: ⁹⁄₁₀. This game pretty much has two stories. There’s the fact that a glowing white horse gallops past the ranch occasionally at night, and when it does, bad things start to happen. There’s also the story that an outlaw named Dirk Valentine left treasure somewhere at or near the ranch. As the game went on, the two stories somewhat started to meld together, and it was super exciting seeing Dirk Valentine’s treasure hunt progress.

Graphics/Setting: ⁹⁄₁₀. For a game that’s seven years old, the graphics are still pretty decent even by HERInteractive standards today. Sure, the characters movements are still robotic in this one, but the scenery makes up for it; Which brings me to one of the big highlights of this game, the setting. It was such an incredible idea to put Nancy Drew in the wild west and shortly live the life of a cow girl. The music was absolutely perfect for the setting, and it was a very realistic experience for a pc game.

Atmosphere: 9.⁵⁄₁₀. Definitely the best atmosphere of any game up to this point, and possibly of the whole series. The AMAZING music fit the game perfectly, and the backgrounds (not the real pictures), were very realistic, and although I played this game on a computer like all other games in this series, I felt somewhat attached to the game’s atmospherennCharacters: 8.⁵⁄₁₀. The characters were decent this time around. You have three very different cowboys, and Mary Yazzie, a store owner a couple of miles away from the ranch. They each had their own distinct personalities, I just wish they’d shined through more often.

Puzzles: ⁸⁄₁₀. Not way too many puzzles this time around, which for me was definitely a positive. Most of them fit the game, and were a good balance in terms of difficulty.

Ending: ⁹⁄₁₀. A somewhat surprising and creepy ending. It’s pretty simple, but still took me a few second chances to end the game.

Total (averaged): 8.83 out of 10, rounded to….

⁹⁄₁₀.

A truly unique and enjoyable Nancy Drew game, the atmosphere and story is top notch, and this game deserves a spot on any Nancy Drew fan’s shelf.