The second installment in the HeR Interactive Nancy Drew series, Nancy Drew: Stay Tuned for Danger, follows Nancy as she is invited to New York City by a television soap opera star, Mattie Jensen, to investigate death threats her co-star, Rick Arlen, has been receiving. Nancy must use her sleuthing skills to question everyone she encounters, as each one appears to have a motive for threatening Rick.
This Nancy Drew title offers an interesting setting with more places to explore than its predecessor. Players must inspect the television studio and offices where Mattie and Rick’s TV show is filmed, as well as Mattie’s townhouse, and the office of her talent agent, Dwayne Powers. Since the game is set in New York City, Nancy travels between each location via taxi cab. I’ve found that each Nancy Drew game has its own little idiosyncrasies that ultimately end up getting stuck in my head, and the moment responsible for that in Stay Tuned for Danger is each time Nancy hails a taxi. When traveling between in-game locations, you are greeted with a handful of different responses that are not only stereotypical of a NYC taxi driver, but are said so frequently as you change locations, and exactly the same each time, that they will end up being stuck in your head long after playing the game.
The puzzles in Stay Tuned for Danger are a step up in difficulty from Secrets Can Kill. As Nancy, you encounter several inventory-based and logic puzzles like solving riddles, decoding messages, and a couple of other timed, high-stakes puzzles to help you either access rooms to explore or to escape a threat. Rick has been receiving death threats of various forms but has a blasé attitude towards them because of his fame, so he leaves the notes and items strewn around his dressing room. The development team got creative with the various threats and items that Rick receives, and it makes for the required snooping sessions throughout the game interesting.
As always, Nancy Drew games present an interesting cast of characters to encounter, and Stay Tuned for Danger lives up to that. In Stay Tuned for Danger, Nancy meets:
- Mattie Jensen – Nancy's host and tv soap opera star with suspicious relationships
- Rick Arlen – Mattie's egotistical co-star and target of the death threats
- Millie Strathorn – eccentric tv studio owner and prop room manager who appears to confuse tv and reality
- Lillian Weiss – Rick’s former girlfriend and show director with a chip on her shoulder
- Dwayne Powers – Mattie’s talent agent and Rick’s former manager
Stay Tuned for Danger has several good puzzle moments, but I found some to be quite difficult if you overlook a small hint along the way, particularly the end game puzzle. Depending on if you choose junior or master detective mode when starting the game, they can be even more puzzling, so be sure to not overlook any details in this Nancy installment, as they are not easily solved by guessing. The ending of Stay Tuned for Danger also includes a high-stakes encounter that feels more dire than other Nancy titles since the perpetrator is actually violent. This is refreshing since not all Nancy Drew games take on such a serious life-or-death tone.
I recommend giving Nancy Drew: Stay Tuned for Danger a try. This 1999 title in the series still feels like it is finding its footing, but is a great improvement from Secrets Can Kill, offering a more expansive setting, more characters, and a high-stakes case.
It is unfortunately not available for purchase anywhere except for the Her Interactive online store as a Windows PC digital download. However, for $9.99, it’s worth picking up.
VERDICT: Recommended
Reviewed on PC
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