Review by Jakob Balen

Sometimes when I find myself critiquing Nancy Drew games, I realize how much variety this series has, while still never really moving it’s roots; The sleuthing that we all love has relatively stayed the same, but the setting changes with every game. Whether it’s a haunted mansion, or a ranch or even a train, HERInteractive takes on a new form of fun with each additional mystery, and while Secret of the Scarlet Hand is an older game in the series, and definitely not one of my favorites, there is still fun to be had with it, and orginiality is clearly evident.

Story: 6.⁵⁄₁₀. Nancy lands an internship at a museum in Washington D.C, which is devoted to the Mayan culture and will soon be exhibiting a newly discovered monolith to the public. But, shortly before the exhibition, one of the museum’s most treasured pieces is stolen from the museum, as well as a strange ‘accident’ that occurs involving the museum’s epigrapher. It definitely wasn’t one of my favorite plots, but was still somewhat interesting.

Setting: 6.⁵⁄₁₀. It was definitely an interestingly original idea to have a Nancy Drew game take place in a museum specializing in Mayan culture. You also get to hope on a subway to visit other character’s offices, a hospital and Nancy’s hotel room. I personally thought that the museum was pretty boring, but maybe less boring as the game progressed, and I found things I didn’t know were there before.

Characters: ⁶⁄₁₀. The characters were pretty annoying this time around. The epigrapher who got amnesia was very irritating to care to and talk to, Taylor Sinclair, an art specialist, was very annoying, and Alejandro, an ambassador to the Mexican Consolate, was even more annoying to talk to.

Puzzles: 8.⁵⁄₁₀. The puzzles were good this time around, and the only reason I’m saying this is that there’s a pyramid inside the museum, and on each level on this part of the museum, there are different quizzes and games that you have to complete to progress to the next floor. This was a big part of the game and I LOVED it.

Activities: ⁶⁄₁₀. There weren’t that many activities, but the games in the pyrmaid were decent.

Ending: 6.⁵⁄₁₀. The ending was obvious, and what you had to do to end the game was kind of confusing, and took me a few tries to get it right.

Total (averaged): 6.6 out of 10, averaged to….

6.⁵⁄₁₀.

Although this game does have some originality and fun, it’s too bland and boring for my taste, and I’d recommend new HERInteractive fans to go with another purchase for now.