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Missing a certain jene sai quai.

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 12 / 20
Date: August 03, 2006
Author: Amazon User

This, by far, is the worst Nancy Drew game I have played. And I have played all fourteen of them! The past three have just gone downhill in quality. Buck up, Her Interactive! Danger by Design had no real danger, no sense of creepiness or intriguing mystery, like any of the other games did (some of them I had to play with the lights on or during the daytime, honestly, and I'm in my early twenties and love horror movies. Not easily creeped out!) - Please please please go back to making ND games that have some spookiness to them. I mean, isn't that what Nancy Drew was all about? Mystery?

no interaction for her interaction

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 7 / 14
Date: July 28, 2006
Author: Amazon User

this was by far the worst nancy drew game yet. story does not flow and at times makes no sense at all. her interactive used items that were used in other games which was weird. not a great game. graphics great but that is all. very disappointing considering how long we all had to wait for this game.

Disc Was Defective-Could Not Install: Got Second Set OK: Game 3 Stars

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 5 / 7
Date: July 26, 2006
Author: Amazon User

I've installed countless video games including other Nancy Drew games without any problems. The first disc looks like it had some sort of wierd water damage and did not install properly. Perhaps there is a problem with the disks they used or maybe just some batches? Another reviewer said they had easily cracked discs. hmmm.

Ok, I got the new set of disks and they worked fine, and based on the game I would give it three stars now but am unable to edit the rating! It had good puzzles and was pretty straight forward but not as good as some of the other Nancy Drew games (Blackmoor Manor, Shadow Ranch or Scarlet Hand). The subject matter seemed kind of boring. I'm a big fan of the other games that have spooky ghosts, wierd legends and interesting informational storylines, but this was just the case of the psycho fashion designer. I'm looking forward to the next one, which takes place in Hawaii!

Very disappointing

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 5 / 10
Date: August 07, 2006
Author: Amazon User

A dull, tedious, task oriented game. We've played and enjoyed all of the other Nancy Drew games, but I think this was one of the weakest to date. I know I'm echoing some of the other posters, but I think they are worth repeating. (Actung, Herinteractive!) The graphics are very good, but Paris is utterly wasted. The game could just as well have been set in Nebraska. There wasn't much adventure, hardly any suspense, poor character development, and a disjointed story. Many of the puzzles were just re-hashes from other games. Seemed like a real lazy effort all around.

Anyone new to the series would do well to start with some of the earlier games. We especially liked Haunted Mansion, Deception Island, and 11 year old strongly recommends Stay Tuned for Danger. (Bring back the scary games, please!)

As others have said, we also had some problems with the discs. They loaded okay for us, but some sticky material on one of the discs had to be cleaned off first. There were also some strange marks that looked like water stains on one of the discs.

HER Interactive has really dumbed down their game play

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 7 / 11
Date: August 11, 2006
Author: Amazon User

Having played all Nancy Drew games, I really was disappointed with Danger By Design. Where graphics are still great, like another reviewer states, where's the Lourve, Eiffel Tower and other popular landmarks in Paris? Just a guess but HER Interactive is trying to grab a much younger, inexperienced audience. Omitting all the great facets of previous games (challenge, puzzles, trivia/facts, character development) has really made Danger By Design boring and uncaptivating. Can't believe they didn't take advantage of the french language in this episode! They have resorted to dull repetition. The majority of the HER effort is focused primarily on teaching newbies how to play their game and pitching previous episodes which is fine but those of us who appreciate NANCY DREW have been abandoned, left out of the equation. Majorly disappointing bummer of a game. Maybe kids in 4th grade and under will enjoy this more? Doubt it, it moves way too slowly to hold their fast edit attention. Creature of Kapu Cave is next but I'm not optimistic, nor should other veteran sleuths be.

Boooooorrrring!!!!

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 5 / 10
Date: August 08, 2006
Author: Amazon User

I love the Nancy Drew games, but Danger by Design stinks! I hope this isn't a sign that the series is going downhill. After finishing Danger by Design (and being thoroughly bored by the tedious, annoying, pointless puzzles that have nothing to do with Paris and little to do with fashion) I replayed Secret of the Old Clock. Even though Clock wasn't my all-time favorite, it was soooooo much better than Danger by Design. Let's hope the next installment gets back on track!

One of the worst ND games

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 3 / 5
Date: August 28, 2006
Author: Amazon User

I've played every one of these games besides Secrets Can Kill (and I haven't finished Secret of the Scarlet Hand yet, but that one is very boring). Danger by Design is one of the worst ones.

The mystery is very unclear--and I couldn't understand how a "culprit" could be involved, because the "Mystery" was to figure out why Minette was hiding behind a mask. I didn't particularly enjoy the graphics, either--they looked too smooth and light. In my opinion the graphics were at their best in Secret of Shadow Ranch/Curse of Blackmoor Manor. Her Interactive overdid them in this game.

I did enjoy one character, JJ Ling. Too bad we couldn't talk to her much. There is not a lot of character interaction at all, and most of the characters are poorly developed--for example, Dieter von Schwesterkrank and Jean whatever his name is. Minette was simply annoying.

The ending was terrible, by far the worst ending. It was totally unrealistic and stupid. Not to mention slow-paced.

The puzzles were one thing I liked. They were hard to figure out, but not extremely hard. I also enjoyed haggling with the sellers in Pont Neuf. Ordering food at the hotel, and taking the metro was also fun.

All in all, not recommended. If you want a GOOD Nancy Drew game, I'd suggest: Message in a Haunted Mansion, Treasure in a Royal Tower, Danger On Deception Island, and Secret Of Shadow Ranch.

A little disappointed, actually

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 29 / 32
Date: November 11, 2006
Author: Amazon User

I've been a fan of these games since the first one - Secrets Can Kill - came out. I've played them all.

I'm not at all sure what's happened to the games, though. While the graphics have steadily improved, the puzzles, plot, and gameplay have really gone downhill.

The first game, "Secrets Can Kill" had pretty horrific graphics, but the story was compelling and there were some fabulous puzzles in it.

Things really picked up with the second game, "Stay Tuned for Danger". Better graphics and a very interesting story, very cool puzzles, great plot.

I can absolutely recommend Games 2 (Stay Tuned for Danger), 3 (Message in a Haunted Mansion), 4 (Treasure in the Royal Tower), 5 (The Final Scene), 6 (Secret of the Scarlet Hand), 7 (Ghost Dogs of Moon Lake), 9 (Danger on Deception Island), and 10 (Secret of Shadow Ranch).

These games are similar in length and have interesting puzzles. Lots of areas where you can snoop around - which I really enjoy.

Game #8 (The Haunted Carousel) is interesting and has wonderful graphics, but is awfully short.

I did not at all enjoy #11 (Curse of Blackmoor Manor) as I found it way too difficult. I also cannot really recommend #12 (Secret of the Old Clock). It was too short and repetitive.

I did somewhat enjoy #13 (Last Train to Blue Moon Canyon) and #14 (Danger by Design) but they were nowhere near the quality of the earlier games in terms of plot or puzzles.

And now, we have #14. Outstanding graphics, but way too short. The amount of repetition of puzzles in order to advance drove me completely crazy. I don't mind Nancy running about doing errands to help people (for that, I thought Games 3 and 4 had it perfectly balanced). But I like each task to be different and interesting. Not mind-numbingly repetitive and boring.

This seems to be a factor of the more recent games - delivering telegrams in Game #12, painting pictures in Game #14, and finding seashells and making necklaces in Game #15.

I miss looking for clues. Putting together evidence for a purpose. I miss puzzles that actually are woven into the fabric of the plot and are there to advance the game. It seems like the repetition now might be so that it can be said that this game took X number of hours to complete.

I did like the swimming through the tunnels part. But again, there really wasn't much snooping you could do. I miss Nancy being able to go into an area and really look around. And having it be up to me, the player, to determine whether what she is finding is relevant or not. It drove me crazy that I couldn't go anywhere at JJ's but the kitchen. And, even then, there really wasn't much snooping to be done.

I also miss learning useful things.

In #1, I learned about American Sign Language
In #3, I learned about Chinese symbols and the San Francisco earthquake
In #4, I learned about latitude and longitude and how a sextant works
In #6, I learned SO much about the Maya and how to work a HAM radio
In #7, I learned about Roman Numerals and Prohibition
In #8, I learned how to make invisible writing!
In #9, I learned how to work a HAM radio and about Pacific Northwest sea animals

After that, well, I didn't really learn very much of anything useful in any of the later games.

I had really high hopes about this game, though. There SHOULD have been so much to learn in Paris. The mystery had a lot to do with WWII, but it was never at all explored or really mentioned - except in passing.

If you've never played a Nancy Drew game, please, please, PLEASE do yourself a favor and start with one of the earlier games (although probably not the very first one - the graphics aren't as good and switching discs can be highly annoying). But give #2 - 9 a try; you won't be disappointed!

Oh please, Her Interactive, PLEASE go back to the way they used to be structured. I'd gladly sacrifice some of the improved graphics if it meant regaining some plot, cohesion, or integrated, interesting puzzles.

Felt Unfinished.

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 18 / 19
Date: July 22, 2006
Author: Amazon User

I love the Nancy Drew Computer game series. I have played every other one out there. I was extremely excited about this new addition. It wasn't horrible. It just didn't feel as if herinteractive really finished their idea. They put so much into the very challenging puzzles that the story line and character interaction seemed very weak. I felt as if the characters were so uninvolved. It also ended very abrubptly. You didn't really solve the case. You just accidentally win. Also, the ending was very silly. I felt as if this game had so much potential, but Herinteractive did not use all of this potential. Of course, if you are the kind who has already played all the other games, I do recommend buying this one. I don't recommend this be the first Nancy Drew game you play.

Nancy's visit to Paris hits both new highs and lows

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 17 / 21
Date: September 09, 2006
Author: Amazon User

"Danger by Design" marks Nancy's fourteenth adventure from Her Interactive. This time around, Nancy finds herself in the City of Light (and love), Paris, investigating the mysterious, moody plus-size clothing designer Minette. Minette is exotic to say the least: she throws massive temper tantrums, fires assistants left and right, and lately she's been wearing a mysterious, Phantom-of-the-Opera-like mask.

Nancy arrives at Minette's design studio in an old windmill ("Moulin" in French) as her new intern, and receives anything but a warm greeting after losing her luggage. Minette's assistant Heather McKay shows Nancy the ropes instead. Nancy is staying with Jing Jing Ling, a plus-size model, at her luxurious apartment.

As usual, strange going-ons signal a new mystery for Nancy to solve. Danger By Design is based on the historical German occupation of Paris during WWII, including the French Resistance, so the educational element is high here. Nancy follows the trail of one Noisette Tournade, former owner of Minette's windmill and French Resistance heroine. Along the way, she meets a colourful cast of characters from the world of high fashion: Hugo Butterly, Minette's rival; Jean-Michel Traquenard, fashion editor for GlamGlam; and Dieter von Swesterkrank, fashion photographer extraordinaire.

The game does recycle tired puzzles from former ND games, including ever-present sliders, clock puzzles, and "build the food" combinations, but manages to create fresh puzzling experiences using an M380 decoder based on the WWII Enigma machine. The puzzles in Danger by Design are more difficult than those in the last few ND games.

New elements include a daring underwater exploration of Paris's catacombs, navigating Paris's metro system, and Nancy speaking (and reading) some French. Unfortunately, Her Interactive chose not to include famous landmarks such as the Eiffel Tower and Sacre Coeur, even though they are shown on the map.

Some attempts were not as successful. The game seems to be sending a mixed message with Jing Jing, a plus-size model who's forced to constantly bake and eat cookies in order to gain the three pounds needed to be a perfect size 12. Add the fact that she's a pathological liar, and she's not the best role model. Also, the game involves one puzzle focused on a bottle of rare wine, even though it's referred to as a "beverage."

Voice acting is consistently above average. The German and French accents were heavy-handed and overdone. Background music was unobtrusive: the occasional lilting accordion breezing in and out, and excellent ambient sounds. Visuals were colourful and detailed, although some of the character modeling looked awkward (Jean-Mi's face seemed to slide into his chest like molten wax, and the veiled woman in the park seemed off).

The lowest point was the ending. I sat there in shock at the absurdity of the ending (think Rocky and Bullwinkle), and lameness of the final confrontation. After such an excellent setup, I expected far more. The game's ending is as weak as Blue Moon Canyon, which also felt hasty and inadequate. However, Danger By Design still has many redeeming features to recommend it, and is educational to boot.

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