Review by: Neilie Johnson

Nancy Drew: Ransom of the Seven Ships is the twentieth in the Nancy Drew Adventures series (not to be confused with the Nancy Drew Dossier series which are casual hidden object games), a collection of games made in the classic point-and-click adventure style. They usually involve the teenage heroine going to school overseas, taking a summer job or visiting friends and unexpectedly finding herself in the middle of a mystery. Ransom of the Seven Ships follows that winning formula by sending Nancy to the ominously-named “Dread Isle” for a vacation with her two best friends, Bess and George. In spite of Nancy's need for R&R, it appears trouble never takes a vacation. The minute Nancy sets foot on the island, she discovers Bess has been kidnapped and unless she can find the lost treasure of the legendary Seven Ships, Bess is doomed.

Before starting the game, you can choose from two difficulty modes, Junior or Senior Detective. Junior mode gives less experienced players more guidance via a checklist of objectives and the ability to get hints from an obnoxious talking parrot named Coucou. Nancy usually uses her phone to get help but for the first time in the series' history, her friends become more than disembodied voices and appear in person. You can even play as George this time although the cooperative concept isn't fully realized at this point and there's little need to do so. Most of the time, you'll be playing as Nancy and doing what she does best—investigating.

Whether in France or Ireland, Hawaii or the Canadian Rockies, setting is always a big part of the Nancy Drew games. Ransom of the Seven Ships takes good advantage of its Bahamian setting, using it to implement a wide range of gameplay. Most of the time you'll be exploring the island via golf cart, crawling around in creepy bat caves, talking to suspiciously-marooned fisherman Johnny Rolle or playing games with the precocious monkey-carnies at the abandoned research center. Of course, to solve a mystery as complex as this you'll have to look everywhere for clues and where better to look for sunken treasure than under the sea? You'll search the coastal waters of Dread Isle by boat for evidence of the fabled fleet, diving down to shipwreck sites and exploring underwater caves.

Half of the Nancy Drew games are exploration; the other half is puzzle-solving. If nothing else proves the Nancy Drew games are legitimate adventures, the highly challenging puzzles do. The puzzles in Ransom of the Seven Ships require patience and careful reading of the evidence not to mention the ability to connect seemingly unrelated clues. This is not your mama's adventure game.

Overall, Ransom of the Seven Ships is a solid adventure, clever and entertaining. The main criticisms are that the graphics and sound are fairly ho-hum and there's little sense of urgency in regard to saving Bess. The historically wholesome Nancy Drew series gets a bad rap as being too casual or for “girls only”, but that characterization is undeserved. The series offers good narratives, varied gameplay and the high level of challenge demanded by fans of the classic point-and-click adventures. Ransom of the Seven Ships is well worth its $19.99 price tag and a worthy addition to the Nancy Drew series.

Questions or comments? We'd love to hear from you .