Nancy Drew: The White Wolf of Icicle Creek for Windows

I've played all of Her Interactive's Nancy Drew games, and the last several games were a disappointment to me (Nancy Drew: Danger by Design and Nancy Drew: The Creature of Kapu Cave in particular). Danger by Design at least had a fascinating backstory, but the weak, ridiculous ending ruined any good feelings I might have had. Kapu Cave was just...bland. Boring from beginning to end, there was NO compelling story and the "puzzles" were mind-numbing (sorting of bug poop and making endless shell necklaces to earn more money), with nothing "spooky" about the "mystery."

White Wolf of Icicle Creek is more engaging than the last few Nancy Drew games. This time, Nancy's in the Great White North at a skiing lodge owned by Chantal Moique. Mysterious goings-on like food poisoning, guest injuries, and explosions have been scaring off Chantal's guests. To add to the mystery, a white wolf has been seen (and heard) at the time of many incidents.

The cast of suspects includes Ollie, the lodge's handyman, Lou, a college art student from California, Yanni, a champion skier from the Eastern European nation of Freedonia, Bill, a Canadian construction worker who's here to ice fish, and Guadalupe, a mysterious birdwatcher with a secret. As the game progresses, you'll discover hidden secrets and motives about each one through snooping through their personal belongings; after all, Nancy's taken on the job of maid and cook, so you're responsible for housekeeping every day.

Which brings me to the first major flaw. Ever since Secret of Shadow Ranch, ND games have featured the annoying (and time-filling) element of "chores." Generally, these seem like things that adults thought would be fun for kids. Generally, these are a nuisance rather than being fun, and White Wolf is no exception. In fact, White Wolf forces you to clean rooms once a day and cook three times a day for the entire game. This is tedious and cuts down on available time to explore, as does a feature from one of the first ND games, Nancy Drew Treasure In The Royal Tower: the frostbite factor. Every time Nancy goes outside, you have to closely monitor the "frostbite" bar at the top of the screen. If Nancy gets too cold, she freezes to death. This also means that she can only be outdoors until around 5 pm every day, forcing you to advance the game to the next day unless you enjoy wandering for hours inside the lodge. Like several earlier games, you use the alarm clock in Nancy's room to advance the game.

Since this is the sixteenth ND game, I suppose it's natural that several puzzles feel recycled. Many are easily solvable and intuitive for the most part, except for the most frustrating puzzle I've ever played: Fox and Geese. A board game similar to checkers, you are forced to beat it not once, but three times. Even with a walkthrough, it literally took me several frustrating days. I was so frustrated that I nearly walked away from the game for good.

You do get to interact with the white wolf, who helps you to solve several puzzles. This is a definite improvement over befriending the killer whale in Nancy Drew: Danger on Deception Island, as you can actually give the wolf commands and have her help you solve the mystery. The wolf graphics were generally quite realistic, and game graphics were good overall, especially the outdoors scenes when you're walking through the snowy mountains.

I didn't see the villain coming from the clues throughout the game, so Her Interactive did a good job with the "a-ha" factor. I felt like there were limited exploration opportunities, which made the game feel claustrophobic at times, particularly since you are trapped indoors at night due to the cold. But there are definite improvements in storytelling and puzzle execution since Kapu Cave, and the next game,Nancy Drew: The Legend of the Crystal Skull, looks to be one of the best ND games yet.