Customer Reviews
Looks good but... 
2007-12-28
Looks good but....unfortunately this game arrived from Interactive and was not playable at all. Very disappointed as it was a Christmas present. All the other Nancy Drew games play just fine...so this one must be a dud. Hope they chuck it away after we return it so no one else gets it.
We'll buy another...but NOT from this company.
WOW!!! 
2007-08-19
Normally, when I write reviews for Nancy Drew games, I start out by listing the cons, and then the pros. However, for this game, that system is a little corrupt... I can't find any cons! Honestly. That's how good this game is.
The plot was fantastic. I was hooked from the very millisecond I started playing. I mean, ND has thrown a lot of 'haunted' stuff at us in the past: two haunted houses, a bunch of ghosts who happen to be a pack of dogs, and, heck, they've even made a haunted merry-go-round look good. A haunted train seems like a bit of 'same ol' same ol' when you first look at it, but, once you start playing, it becomes apparent that this is not just your average haunting. There are no creepy noises and only one ghost sighting that might've not been, but the train sure had one heck of a history behind it!
The previous owner of the train, Jake Hurley, had previously owned the train a century or two ago. He was a miner, and it was claimed that he had some mine with a bunch of gold or something in it that nobody else knew about. Well, Jake vanished off the face of the earth ages ago, his wife Camille dropped dead for no apparent reason shortly before this, and the train's engineer was found dead in a room that was locked from the inside. And, just after the train sets out (with Nan and the Hardy boys in tow) their hostess mysteriously vanishes. Even without the spooky noises and ghost sightings, the train is still full of remnants of the days in which Jake and Camille lived in it. The way the story is presented, the player has absoloutly no doubt that Jake, Camille, and possibly the engineer still haunt the train.
The graphics, compared to previous games, were marvelous. Only HerInteractive could make a bunch of antique dolls look hauntingly frightening! The ghost sighting was very realistic, and so were the NPCs and the scenery. Everything, overall, was very well-done.
The puzzles ranged from relativly easy to absoloute brain roasters, although none were so hard that I had to get outside help (I was 14 at the time I played the game). They were well thought out, and fit in easily with the plot of the game.
Another thing I was pleased with when it came to this game was that the makers of the game weren't really trying to push you to think that ghosts are real or that they aren't. The one ghost expert on the train had evidence that was lame and unconvincing, and the one ghost sighting had a possible logical explanation, so if you don't believe in ghosts and wanted to believe that the train wasn't haunted, you were perfectly free to believe that. Most 'haunted' games that I've played are one way or the other: absoloutly no logical explanations, so the place MUST be haunted, or lots of heaps of explanations, so the place can't possibly be haunted. The game has a lot of wiggle room when it comes to that.
The only cons I can possibly come up with are two: the ending, although it lived up to all the hype surrounding ND endings, was relativly easy to escape. If you used trial and error, you would have no problem escaping the culprit's clutches. Another one was when it came to one of the NPC's by the name of Fatima. She was so incredibly goofy and hillbilly-ish that I always imaging that she had some booze or something underneath that dorky plastic costume she always wore. I mean, come on. Nobody's THAT dumb. Are they?? The tone of the game was dark and mysterious with a dash of scary-ness, but Fatima (and her general store, for that matter) just jolted you out of that like a piolot ejector seat. And then, in the very same town, you visited Camille's crypt, which was probably height of the scary-ness of the game. It just didn't make sense to me.
Overall, I thought, this game was the best out of all the ND games. Dark, mysterious, not toned to little kids, and very believable with a great history behind it. My advice: BUY NOW!!
Very cool game 2007-07-21
This game was very fun and mysterious. I enjoyed it better than Danger on Deception Island. Had a lot of games and puzzles.
WINDOWS VISTA USERS - IMPORTANT INFO 
2007-07-15
I'm writing this review to help others. I purchased a Nancy Drew game, mistakenly assuming Windows Vista would be able to play XP compatible games. After some research I found there are 13 Nancy Drew games that are considered incompatible with Vista. The manufacturer suggested a "work around", which fortunately worked on my particular game, Danger on Deception Island but it may not work for other games. It's definitely worth a try.
This is a statement on HER's website ( http://www.herinteractive.com/prod/FAQ/faq.php?sid=1592316&lang=en&action=artikel&cat=5&id=8&artlang=en ) regarding Windows Vista:
"Unfortunately our first 13 games are not Vista Compatible, we are planning on re-releasing some of the more popular games with Vista compatibility but we don't have any set release dates as of yet. Starting with #14 - Danger By Design, all titles moving forward will be Vista compatible.
There is an unsupported work around that may work, if during installation you set the default path as "My Documents" then the game could possibly run under Vista. Unfortunately, we can't give any more support or help on older games running under the Vista Operating system."
The games that are NOT compatible with VISTA are:
Games » Danger By Design
Games » Last Train to Blue Moon Canyon
Games » Secret of the Old Clock
Games » Curse of Blackmoor Manor
Games » The Secret of Shadow Ranch
Games » Danger on Deception Island
Games » The Haunted Carousel
Games » Ghost Dogs of Moon Lake
Games » Secret of the Scarlet Hand
Games » The Final Scene
Games » Treasure in the Royal Tower
Games » Message in a Haunted Mansion
Games » Stay Tuned for Danger
Games » Secrets Can Kill
OK but not great 
2007-07-09
I had just finished Shadow Ranch (one of the best games in the ND series) and Deception Island when I started on this one, so I guess I had higher expectations than this could meet. It isn't a bad game-it's just that there seems to be no real mystery. You're goal is to find a mine, not to put someone behind bars-and most of the other characters just seem to be along for the ride (including a Paris Hilton-type character.) Most of the time it seemed like I was wandering through the train finding and solving puzzles that seemed to have no (immediate) effect on anything. Overall it's not a bad game (you finally get to meet the Hardy Boys-they're not, incidentially, as cute as they're cracked up to be, and almost entirely worthless to the outcome of the game, but anyway....) just not one of the very best. Still, if you're a die-hard ND fan, (or a newbie) you're probably going to like it, more or less.
awesome fun 2008-07-13
The following review by my daughter:
I am 15 and enjoyed this game. I have also played Treasure in the Royal Tower and Ghost Dogs of Moon Lake. I liked this one the best.
I'm living proof... 2008-07-10
I'm living proof that this game is not just for kids. I'm a middle-aged adult and thought the game was really fun. Yes, some parts are hard, but if you click on everything, you will get most of the information you need. Nancy keeps a helpful journal and checklist--she can also call Bess and George anytime for hints.
The only other Nancy Drew game I've played in full was Treasure in the Royal Tower, and I think this one was a bit easier and more enjoyable, even though I liked both.
fun game, hard ending 2008-05-25
this is a fun game. it has good graphics, the story line is good but the end to this game is hard until you get used to it, which is barely. you get to meet the Hardy Boys for the first time. I recommend this game to mystery lovers and starters that feel up to it.
AMAZING!!!!!!! 2008-04-23
I lo e this game! It was the best game i have ever played next to the secret of shadow ranch! If you dont like spooky games like the curse of blackmoor or the crystall skull this is the game for you! And even if you like spooky games this game is great! It took me 2 days to finish the game. But that was because I was playing it non stop! It is pretty short but when it ends you arent like thats it! It ends at the perfect time it has really good and cool story line and you never feel like you have nothing to do. But I should warn you this game is pretty simple! It not one of those things where you have to look at the stratgy guid all the time. I still think that it was a great game and really worth my time. I think that anyone would like it!
Fun, but a little scary 2008-04-06
This is a fun game, but I got creeped out from all the talk of ghosts. It is pretty hard, as you have to figure out a lot of puzzles and open a lot of locked boxes and doors before progressing on to the next part of the game. I was disapointed when I learned that Frank and Joe Hardy will not help me much. They prefer to sit in the dining car and sort through evedence. It is a pretty scary mystery because strange things have happened on the train and everyone thinks that the ghost of the train conductor's wife has done it. That, along with the rumblings that the train makes and all the big empty cars, make for a creepy game. My favorite part is finally catching on to a part that was giving me trouble. Still, if you are one of the chicken-hearted, DON'T GET THIS GAME!
