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So when the Hardy Boys Game came out, I was leery of purchasing it due to reviews. That is where a walkthrough came out. And the cut scenes. Not to mention, you weren't able to put "you" into the game. Thank goodness for gameboomers or I would have never made it through the game. It was extremely difficult to navigate and once I realized you could double click the "feet" to get where you needed it eased a bit but it still took forever to go through a room. I grew up on Nancy Drew and Hardy Boys, so I found the Nancy Drew games to be fun and addictive. I guess it is just because I have played all the Nancy Drew games and got spoiled by the awesome technology advancements and fun puzzle solving.
I noticed on the back of my box that Jesse McCartney and Cody Linley did the voices, and now I understand where the money for their graphics went. Ugh. All in all, as frustrated as I was I finished the game. You can click your way quickly through questioning, but can't get out of things like letter reading, and ending comics. I finally gave up and bought the game and what a waste of time and money. At least you can actually play Nancy, not just watch her solve crimes.
I left the room while they droned on. And nowhere does it tell you to double click an item in your inventory to continue using it. Her dialogue is so much better and relates to the game so much, and is more like her original character from the book. And knowing me I will buy the next one just to see if they have fixed their mistakes.but not till after I read the reviews.
I'm going to divide my review into the positive and negative aspects.Positive-I only needed a walkthrough once, so I felt that the game was challenging yet solvable. Herinteractive uses much better third person movement in their game The Haunting of Castle Malloy, but I especially enjoy their games for being in first person. I was unable for the most part to call anyone and get hints. We were supposed to be able to call Nancy in this game, but most of the time you can't reach her. I did not even find the Hardy Boys themselves likeable. The voice acting was great, but this is where I get into my negatives.Negative-It was a really good idea to include the Hardy Boys' home in the game, but the way their family fits into the game is horrible.
Especially their mother, who in the original series is sweet; if you have not read the original Hardy Boy series you would be surprised to know that by interacting with her computerized counterpart. It's another negative that they can't confide in their mother about their mysteries, and so they sneak out. With all that the Hardy Boy game advertised it would be, and its interesting story (minus some characters-I'll get into that without spoiling anything)I think the series had good potential, but this one did not cut it. In conclusion, I did manage to finish this game, but I have not felt like playing it again. At the beginning, I had a hard time getting Frank to do what I wanted him to do on escaping. The movement in this game was the biggest let down for me; it was extrememly frustrating. Especially when I remember the tedious movement.
The movement in this game definitely needs improvement. The company had some interesting ideas for puzzles, and I would have enjoyed some of them more if it had not been for the poor controls of Frank and Joe. So if you were planning to get this game for that bonus, you will only be disappointed. There wasn't any character that I particularly liked, and meeting characters and interacting with them is especially one of the parts that I like about Herinteractive's games. There was one tedious puzzle because of this (it would have been fun too) where all you can do is sit for a few minutes and watch them take a long walk; and if you don't use a walkthrough like me, then you have to watch them go back and forth a few times until you find the solution. Besides the phone, the whole interface could use improvement to make it easier to use. I'm looking forward to the Hardy Boy game that is coming out from Herinteractive, and next time I'll read the reviews for the next Hardy Boy pc game.
I kept getting some weird error message and it would shut down. Third Problem: After a lot of frustration, I finally got to the scene where they have to climb out the window and steal the motocycle keys. Which I did. I mean, come on. He would just stand there.
That problem was resolved. I also couldn't figure out where the package was. I can't even imagine what it would be like for a kid. Fortunately, I remembered seeing an insert that said to download an update. I tried getting over to the computer, which didn't work, I tried going over to the playstation. I had to keep completely restarting the game.
Any sane person would come to the same conclusion. But they don't. I naively assumed that this game was also by Her Interactive. I purchased this game at Walmart in the bargain bin. I found the quality and overall playability of this game to be extremely poor. But after that, once again, I was stuck. That was as far as I got in the game. As an adult, I found this incredibly frustrating.
But I never could get the stupid keys. I uninstalled the game and shoved it in a drawer, where it will stay. Second Problem: I thought it was incredibly stupid to have their contact dress us as a police office. I was very wrong.
Wouldn't you think that two teenage detectives would have a phone in their room. Even though I am almost 33 years old, I am a huge fan of the Her Interactive Nancy Drew games. After trying at least 10 times to get the keys, I finally gave up. Of course their mom would think they were in some sort of trouble and punish them.
I also really don't like that this game didn't have anyone you could call or ask for hints (as in the Nancy Drew Games) It also took me a while to figure out how to switch between Joe and Frank. 4th Problem-After each unsuccessul attempt to get the stupid motorcycle keys, Frank would end up standing in the upstairs hallway. I wish I had known that Amazon also did video game reviews before wasting my money on this game. I would definitely not recommend this game to anyone. What a waste of $14. Yikes. Never to see the light of day again. Which BOTH left somewhere.
First problem: When I tried to load this game, everything went fine, until I tried to click on the start new game button. This was the one that broke the camel's back for me. I finally figured out it was in inventory. After a lot of trial and error (and help from a walkthrough) I also thought it was incredible stupid that the boys didn't have any kind of a phone except their cells. You couldn't access the menu or make him do anything.
a nancy drew fan, but i was let down on the hardy boys game, couldnt even finish the game, i will have to see the reviews on the next one before i waste my money again.
The game is very confusing and it needs a really good computer/laptop processor for the game to work well. It would be so much better if it wa created in a similar way ti Nancy Drew but having two characters together. Which brings us to the conclusion that the game was made the way it is because of the amount of characters; so they tought about letting the characters be controled like the "SIMS."Hope that the next Hardy Boys will be even better.
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