The Hardy Boys: The Hidden Theft

by Dreamcatcher

Product Features

• Features the voice and likeness of Hollywood teen stars Jesse McCartney and Cody Linley as Frank and Joe Hardy.
• Play as Two of History's Most Famous Literary Detectives and interact with Fenton and Laura Hardy, the Hardy Boys' friend Chet Morton and others.
• Experience the Hardy World on your PC - the literary world of the Hardy's is brought to life! Check out the Hardy Home, Bayport Police Station and the various places most have only experienced through the pages of a book.
• Cell Phone Feature - use your cell phone to give pal Nancy Drew and other characters a call and get insight on the case. Search For Clues - super-sleuth your way to solving the small mysteries along the way as you help Bayport Police catch the culprit.
• Mystery Solving Mini-Games - each mini-game solved throughout the investigation gives players valuable pieces of evidence to help solve the case. Choose Your Dialogue - choose from a variety of responses to make your Hardy Boy's experience your own!

Product Details

• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B001C4F6EI
• Item Weight: 4 ounces
• Media: CD-ROM
• Release Date: October 3, 2008
• Average Customer Review: 2.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (40 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #7,662 in Video Games (See Top 100 in Video Games)
• Discontinued by manufacturer: Yes

Product Description

Platform: PC

In The Hardy Boys: The Hidden Theft, the vault of the Spencer Mansion is robbed, and the Bayport Police call on the Hardy Boys to help tie up some loose ends, but they soon find themselves in the middle of a major criminal investigation that takes them on an adventure all over Bayport, and even into New York City. But the pieces don't add up, and Frank and Joe find themselves embroiled in a drama of sinister proportions. Is the recent theft linked to something from the past? Can Frank and Joe find and decipher the clues in time to prevent another crime from happening?

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

28 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Terrible, terrible, terrible, October 21, 2008

By 

L. Doggett "ndbuff" (Chicago, IL) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

= Fun:2.0 out of 5 stars 

This review is from: The Hardy Boys: The Hidden Theft (CD-ROM)

When I bought this game I was so excited. Like many Nancy Drew fans I thought this game would be an extension of the Herinteractive games that I have come to enjoy and love. This could not be further from the truth. I found the game to be very cumbersome. It is very difficult to move the players and the graphics were primitive. I found the dialogue between the boys to be annoying and distracting. The Adventure company is going to have to make a lot of improvements before I will buy another Hardy Boys game again. I think I will stick with Nancy Drew.

36 of 39 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Oh so disappointed, October 17, 2008

By 

K (Chicago) - See all my reviews

= Fun:2.0 out of 5 stars 

This review is from: The Hardy Boys: The Hidden Theft (CD-ROM)

From the comic book intro to the character renderings to starting out the game having to sneak out of the house.. so disappointing.

As a fan of the Nancy drew games by Her Interactive, I was looking forward to the release of a Hardy Boys game. On playing it, I must say I became much more appreciative of the way the Nancy Drew games are set up. By never really seeing the main characters, it allows the players to retain some imagination and also to really feel like they are stepping into the shoes of the character.

Also, the Hardy boys game lost the ability to appeal to adults who might have been fans of the novels in their youth.. or even ones simply looking for a new adventure/mystery game.. by starting out the game by having the characters get in trouble with their mom.

If this continues as a series, I hope the next one will do more justice in adding to the saga of the Hardy Boys.

29 of 32 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Hardly the Hardy Boys, October 18, 2008

By 

Robert M. Nelson "Hardy Boys 4 Ever" (Marysville, WA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

= Fun:2.0 out of 5 stars 

This review is from: The Hardy Boys: The Hidden Theft (CD-ROM)

I have been a Hardy Boys collector and fan for almost 40 years. I have seen the characters change with the times, and have been increasingly disappointed with those changes. This game, though, takes the cake... After playing (and game testing) several of the Nancy Drew games by Herinteractive, I was hoping that the Hardy Boys would be equally as enjoying. What a letdown! Jowood sure dropped the ball on this one. I wonder if any of the staff there has even read one of the Hardy Boys books. They probably think the Hardy Boys have always worked for ATAC. By the way, in case anyone from Jowood is reading this, if you do another game, drop the ATAC scenario. Just because the recent books have Frank and Joe working for ATAC doesn't mean you have to. The ATAC theme just doesn't cut it. The publishers created ATAC as a means of giving the Hardy Boys a reason to get involved in mysteries, because they thought the idea of the boys "accidently" stumbling into a case time and time again was unrealistic and rediculous. Yep... now it's..... LOTS better....not! If this were a real life situation, Fenton Hardy would probably be in prison for endangering the lives of minors. CPS would probably place the boys in a foster home, because their parents would be seen as unfit. As for the game characters of Frank and Joe, the current actors should go back to I-Carly and Hanna Montana, respectively. I mean, in the game, Joe looks a total pot-head, and Frank looks like he's about fourteen years old. As for the other characters, the character of their mother was just so rude and obnoxious to the point that I thought she was Aunt Gertrude at first. Oops! I mean "Truuuudy." My suggestion, Jowood---Buy one of the Nancy Drew games and STUDY it closely. Or better yet, just let Herinteractive do future games.

Robert M Nelson

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