Nancy Drew: Warnings at Waverly Academy

by Her Interactive

• Features young sleuth Nancy Drew as she goes undercover at a top boarding school
• Help Nancy discover who has been threatening the academy's valedictorian candidates
• Blend in with typical high-school student behavior: text your friends, cram for projects and become familiar with social cliques
• Run the school snack bar and play air hockey in the student lounge to incorporate yourself on campus
• Jr. and Sr. difficulty settings offer different levels of challenge

Product Details

• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B002F8TD1W
• Product Dimensions: 7.5 x 5.4 x 1.5 inches ; 6.1 ounces
• Media: CD-ROM
• Release Date: October 13, 2009
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (59 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,834 in Video Games (See Top 100 in Video Games)
  • #57 in Video Games > PC Games > Games > Adventure

Product Description

Amazon.com

Threatening notes and dangerous accidents plague the valedictorian candidates at a prestigious boarding school. Suddenly the rumors start flying, and no one can tell the difference between fact and fiction. Does someone want to knock these students out of contention for top honors? What secret could the culprit be trying to protect? No one knows for sure, but thankfully, Nancy Drew's here to figure it out. Join her as she goes undercover to find out who's behind these strange occurrences.

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Synopsis In Warnings at Waverly Academy, it's up to you and Nancy Drew to blend in with the student body. Cram for projects, navigate social cliques and text your new friends just like every other high-school student. When no one's around, sneak through the dorm rooms and take pictures of possible evidence with your cell phone camera. Become part of the scene by running the school snack bar and playing air hockey in the student lounge. Can you crack the case before the threats begin to turn deadly? Key Game Features: Features young sleuth Nancy Drew as she goes undercover at a top boarding school Help Nancy discover who has been threatening the academy's valedictorian candidates Blend in with typical high-school student behavior: text your friends, cram for projects and become familiar with social cliques Run the school snack bar and play air hockey in the student lounge to incorporate yourself on campus Jr. and Sr. difficulty settings offer different levels of challenge Returns you to the point immediately before you make a mistake so you don't have to start over from the beginning System Requirements: Windows XP/Vista, DirectX 9 CPU 1 GHz, 256 RAM 32MB DirectX 9.0 video card 1 GB of free HDD space CD-ROM 24x

Product Description

You, as Nancy Drew, are undercover at a prestigious girls' boarding school to discover the culprit behind threatening notes and dangerous accidents aimed at its valedictorian candidates! Is there a secret someone wants to protect or are the malicious pranks intended to scare away the competition - permanently? Solve the mystery before the threats turn deadly and you're expelled from the case!

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

44 of 45 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars A Solid Installment October 14, 2009

By Cat

Fun: 5.0 out of 5 stars   

After being sorely disappointed by the previous installment in HER's usually fun Nancy Drew series, I admit I was a bit apprehensive about this one. Happily, however, I thoroughly enjoyed this solid game.

Set at a girls' boarding school, Warnings at Waverly Academy offers a well-thought out plot centered around a mysterious series of threatening notes. As the story develops, it weaves both the fictitious history of the school as well as the real history of an American literary figure into a much more complex storyline than you might expect from the initial premise. There's a particularly clever twist that comes just when you think you've got it all figured out, and while you've probably pegged the bad guy--or girl, since Ned's the only male voice in this one--by the end, it's not a "well, duh," kind of solution.

Practically all of Nancy's tasks are seamlessly integrated into the storyline, making even the usually somewhat tedious chores such as cooking feel important to the advancement of the game. I found the game immensely less difficult than some other recent ones--I'm looking at you, Ransom of the Seven Ships--and although some of the puzzles were head-scratchers, none were so baffling to drive me to online hints. There's also a nice diversity of tasks: some visual, some logical, some skill-based.

The archetypal characters at the school are distinctive and interesting, with what come across as actual personalities and motivations--which is good, because there are quite a few of them, another welcome change from the last game. The addition of texting made the story feel very contemporary and real. Although the setting was fairly limited with little exploration available, the graphics were nicely rendered and the music quite pleasant....

So what are the downsides? The world of the game isn't as deep as it could have been, with few locale additions as the story progresses; equally, the game isn't perhaps as long as some others, although it's certainly not the shortest, either. Suspense or even a sense of foreboding is distinctly lacking. Nancy's perils involve demerits rather than actual danger most of the time. And the nature of the storyline seems to dictate the audience for this game to a degree: girls and young women will probably appreciate the characters and school life aspects much more than would some older players. For some, too, the puzzles are probably too easy. Those caveats aside, I recommend this games wholeheartedly for the ND player more interested in plot than in puzzles and in secrets than in secret passages. Read more ›

31 of 32 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Suspicious Students, Threatening Notes, & A Thrilling Mystery Await At Waverly Academy! October 25, 2009

By A. Gooding

Fun: 5.0 out of 5 stars   

Nancy Drew 21: Warnings At Waverly Academy

-Before I Begin...
My review will be spilt up into sections and have a in-depth look at that topic. If you hate reading medium/long reviews or just don't have the patience I would not continue reading, but if you want to learn the most about the product before you buy it you'll continue.

-Interface
The interface is just the same as Ransom Of The Seven Ships and the other newer games. Just point in the direction you want to go in and click basically. There is a new icon though that is special to this game, that is the Phone icon. The Phone icon lets you go onto Nancy's phone to make calls, take pictures, get text messages, change the time in the game, and change the settings (background and message tone). I really liked the cell phone feature of this game because it has been missing from the games for a while (last seen in Legend Of The Crystal Skull and it only let you call people). It's a lot of fun to take pictures and change the background of the phone too.
*****

-Plot
The plot surrounds the "Black Cat", a person who is sending threatening notes to valedictorian candidates and even causing them to leave the school by way of "freakish accidents". The most recent victims were either sent to the hospital because of an allergic reaction or locked up in a closet in the dead of night. I loved this plot because it was somewhat scary and it even tied in with some history of Waverly Academy and a real-life famous poet. I found the plot pretty straightforward yet very intriguing because there is a couple plot twists that add even more oomph. I really liked that there was basically one mission: find out who the "Black Cat" is! I just loved this plot a lot!...
*****

-Characters
If you played Ransom Of The Seven Ships, you may have been extremely disappointed with the amount of characters/suspects there was. Well if you were disappointed then, you won't be with this game! There are five characters in this game, each with very different personalities. There is a goth girl, a straight-A outcast/nerd, a shy girl, a sporty determined girl, and the conceited gossip girl. You'll definitely have fun meeting all of them and hearing what they have to say about each other. I loved that there were so many characters! There was also a couple minor characters that you don't "see" that were cool too. Warnings At Waverly Academy basically makes up for all the lack of characters in Ransom Of The Seven Ships. There was a lot of interaction with the characters too, so it wasn't just like having one conversation in the beginning of the game and then not having anything else to say to them at all. I really enjoyed the characters and it has definitely been a step up from the character interaction from previous games like Haunting Of Castle Malloy or Legend Of The Crystal Skull.
*****

-Setting & Graphics
The graphics never seem to be a problem with the Nancy Drew games. And this game is no exception because the graphics are absolutely breathtaking. I loved the fact that the dorm was in an old mansion-like hall. There is a lot of places to go in the game. There is a library, rec room, and a whole bunch of dorm rooms to explore. Also there are some outdoor places like the big oak tree and the cellar. One thing I didn't like is that the setting was confined to just one building and sparse outdoor settings. I understand the game would need more memory to have more buildings but I would have liked to maybe go to a couple more classrooms (there is one in Ramsey Hall). Also the dorm rooms were really cool but there is not very many "angles" per say. I would have liked to do a 360 pan in each of the dorm rooms. Otherwise I really liked the way they designed Ramsey Hall and it is really pretty outside when it snows in the game (yes it does snow in the game!). You won't necessarily feel confined, but I did wish the game had at least one other building.
****

-Puzzles/Activities
Ransom Of The Seven Ships was definitely a game for those who love puzzles, this game is more revolved around the plot. The puzzles in this game were pretty moderate, none were as challenging as Ransom Of The Seven Ships. There was plenty of variety though which I enjoyed. You also got to do some fun stuff too like play air hockey, darts, and run the snack shop for merits. Speaking of merits, you could also get plenty of demerits. You can get caught being up after curfew, pulling the fire alarm, sneaking into people's rooms, climbing trees and etc. It's really fun to get demerits, but if you get 15 or more you get expelled. Another thing I liked was the use of Nancy's cell phone. A couple activities required you to go around and take pictures of things/people for the school website and you also get text messages concerning gossip. I found myself constantly wanting to run the snack shop because while you are working, some of the girls start chattering and their conversations are quite funny. Overall, you will have a lot of fun completing the puzzles and activities in the game even if they are not particularly challenging.
*****

-Ending
One disappointment of this game was the ending! I really didn't want the game to end because I was having so much fun! The problem with the ending is that it came kind of unexpectedly. The ending puzzles were pretty suspenseful though which was a great. Also the wrap-up/motive was really interesting and made sense. Although I didn't like that the ending came unexpectedly/abruptly, I did enjoy it and found the resolution to tie the game up nicely.
****

-Overall
I know that many people were disappointed with Ransom Of The Seven Ships, but this game kind of balances out Ransom. Warnings At Waverly Academy is solely surrounded by the plot and its characters while Ransom is more centered on its puzzles and setting. So if you had to pick only one to buy, I would base it on whether you are a puzzle junkie or like interacting with characters more. I really enjoyed this game just as much as I enjoyed Ransom. I just liked that they are totally different from each other so playing both of them makes me happy. Warnings has been a step up in a lot of areas like character interaction, plot and scariness. This game wasn't extremely scary, but it did have me curious and engaged. If you played this game on Halloween night you wouldn't be too scared at all (I would recommend Curse Of Blackmoor Manor, Legend Of The Crystal Skull or Ghost Dogs Of Moon Lake if you want scary). This game was definitely one of my top favorites, maybe even my number one because I just loved the setting and characters. I fully recommend this game to all mystery fans (although it may appeal more to girls because it takes place at an all girls boarding school) because it is a great mystery adventure game. It is definitely worth the $20! The next case will come out summer of 2010, Nancy Drew 22: Trail Of The Twister!

Add all these up and divide by 6...
5 *'s (Interface)
5 *'s (Plot)
5 *'s (Characters)
4 *'s (Setting & Graphics)
5 *'s (Puzzles/Activites)
4 *'s (Ending)
= 28 Stars Divide By 6 (Categories) = 4.6 = Rounded to 5 Stars

-Recommended Games
Ransom Of The Seven Ships (See my review of this game)
The Phantom Of Venice (See my review of this game)
Danger On Deception Island
Last Train To Blue Moon Canyon (See my review of this game)

Thanks for reading my review! Read more ›

17 of 18 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Better than the last game, but has some bugs December 13, 2009

By JB

Amazon Verified Purchase

Fun: 3.0 out of 5 stars   

I've played all the games in this series and some have been better than others, but I disliked the last game (Ransom) so much that I almost didn't buy Waverly. This was a much more enjoyable game, but I had some problems with it. Like a previous reviewer, I got stuck at the Rachel/photo part of the game. Reading through the Her Interactive message boards, MANY players got stuck here. There were a number of hints listed in the message boards for how to get out of this part of the game, things totally unrelated to what I was being told to do in the game (I was being told in the game that I had made a mistake on a task and had to redo it, but that wasn't the case). In my case, none of the hints worked and I had to restart my game. Then towards the end, my game crashed completely and I had to start from an older saved version.

This brought back memories of one of the earlier games (Stay Tuned for Danger?), where there was a bug in the game that if you didn't get a pair of pliers out of a room at a certain point, you'd be stuck and unable to progress. I liked the boarding school setting of this game, but the frustration of having to restart my game is keeping me from giving it more than 3 stars. Maybe Her Interactive rushed this one out a bit too fast.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful

2.0 out of 5 stars Bug-ridden and frustrating December 7, 2009

By Amazon Jams

Fun: 2.0 out of 5 stars   

I find it hard to believe that "Ransom of the Seven Ships" would have been a disappointment to many, but this one would not. Impossible! Are some of these rave reviews written by employees of Her Interactive? At the very least these "ravers" have been closely following the Her Interactive online forums in order to play the game to the finish.

Having played all other games, I would rate "Warnings at Waverly Academy" at the level of "The Final Scene." It is about as frustrating to follow.

PROS: The plot line is interesting. The characters are also well developed. The graphics are acceptable although very dark.

CONS: There are definite bugs that confuse the player. One in particular is when the player has completed all tasks to only find that the key character (Rachel) still complains that the task is not done correctly. The real problem is a time factor key--the player is left on her own to determine that she needs to go to bed; of course, there is no way of knowing this from the game. There are several places where the player is left to figure out what to do without any prompting from anything other than the Her Interactive online forums. This is unacceptable. It isn't unusual to become stuck in a Nancy Drew game, but typically this happens near the end of the game, when all pieces need to fall in place for the climax; in this game, it is a matter of course--very single-threaded.

This game is, in fact, single-threaded to a fault (bug). It is possible to have Ned giving you hints about things you have already completed. It's one thing to have to "catch up" on phone conversations, but quite another to have the characters dragging the plot line out of sync....

Another bug-ridden area of the game is the air-hockey game, which has become a source of frustration for many players as stated on the Her Interactive forums.

For much of the game the player is locked into a very restricted area and very confining paths (think "The Final Scene") that become boring quickly.

My overall opinion about this game is that it was rushed to the market without adequate beta testing, or that Her Interactive was too concerned about the Dossier series. I hope that future games by Her Interactive are better. Read more ›