If you were to look at it through a 2004 Gamespot Reviewer lens where you evaluated it based on a range of Objective Qualities like Graphics and Gameplay or whatever, White Wolf of Icicle Creek would appear on paper to be a pretty average Nancy Drew Cyber Mystery. In terms of the core elements we’ve come to expect from this series, we’re going through the motions a little bit with this one. But as we’ve seen with past entries like Shadow Ranch or Last Train, just being a Normal Nancy Drew Game isn’t a bad thing – done well, they’re just satisfying little mystery adventures and I’m happy to have those. No, it’s when you start to dig into the moment-to-moment act of playing Icicle Creek that the game truly reveals itself to you, and you can truly start to weigh it against itself, to reveal another game that seems to want to push the series forward while also indulging in some welcome nostalgia for this particular sub-franchise’s goofy roots.
In this game Nancy has been asked by the owner of the Icicle Creek Lodge in Alberta Canada to come investigate a series of mysterious accidents that have led to a loss of business and staff and now potential lawsuits. Nancy is, I guess, taking her second gap year (seeing as this is her second consecutive winter adventure) and agrees to go undercover as a maid/chef at the lodge in order to be able to easily enter guest spaces and go through their shit without suspicion which is very cool of course you go girl. That’s not the only weird thing going on, though – at the scene of every accident is a white wolf, which ominously appears before or during every incident, only to vanish before authorities can arrive. And this is where things take a turn for the hilarious in this game.
So the cast of this game aside from Nancy is Ollie, the owner’s handy man who is actually physically present and running the lodge while she’s away dealing with their legal troubles, his kid daughter, Olympic cross-country skier from a fake Eastern European country Yanni, college metal working student Lou, stereotypical Canadian guy Bill, and snooty birdwatching enthusiast Lupe. EVERYBODY is losing their minds over this wolf and it is AMAZING. Crediting not just physical acts to the wolf but actual literal crimes to her with complete seriousness. “The wolf made me slip down the stairs even though they were cleared of ice earlier that day!” “The wolf blew up the bunkhouse!” “The wolf slashed my tires!” What the FUCK are you people TALKING about. Then there’s fucking Lou who is sitting in the corner like “hey you guys know that wolves don’t like…wield knives or dynamite or hunt humans right maybe we should just leave it alone” and everyone else is like “FUCK OFF LOU WE HAVE TO HUNT DOWN THE BEAST” it’s WILD. The best part is that Nancy discovers almost immediately that the wolf is completely tame and chill, her name is Isis, she’s my best friend, and she helps you solve puzzles, and yet she does not tell anyone. Just allows this hysteria to proceed. So that’s pretty funny.
And speaking of the wolf, she’s just one of a smattering of mechanics unique to Icicle Creek that make this game stand out compared to others in the series, to what I would call mixed success this time. Many of the late game puzzles are designed around the wolf, who you cannot pet (rip nancy drew, cancelled by cloying clickbait headlines everywhere) but who you do have an elaborate menu of commands you must combine into extensive combinations for several applications across the last hour of play. This is pretty cool and a fun way to spice up the usual routine of exploring an old ruin and fucking around with old timey journals or whatever in pursuit of a nebulous goal. She’ll also use her Dog Nose to identify scents and help you figure out who’s been blowing shit up for the entire game, which leads to our next point.
The other Big Addition to the gameplay, if you want to call it that, is the part of this plot where Nancy is Undercover as a maid and chef, and so you do have to keep to a schedule of doing maid and chef duties. Every day you have to grab your laundry basket, go to every guest’s room, make their beds and gather their dirty clothes and towels. At noon and 6 every day you must go to the kitchen and do a Burger Time-esque food prep minigame until everyone has been fed to their satisfaction. I’ve got mixed feelings about this. On one hand, it IS tedious busywork, particularly the cooking minigame. On the OTHER, I’ve always been a fan of diagetic busywork. Personal gripes with swery aside (sincerely fuck that guy tho), pulling out my manual map in deadly premonition as I drove my stupid shit car that I had to constantly gas up with my limited funds as I drove to hit very strict scheduling deadlines unlocked something in my brain that I’ve never been able to put back in the box and a lot of that applies just as well to this game.
Plus, it works well with the way the mystery unfolds. Nancy’s cover DOES give her access to everyone’s rooms, and you DO make multiple revelations about the guests’ motivations by snooping around in them. They even managed to subvert my expectations at one point, where I tried to steal an essential item from a guest and was caught on my way out, a moment of fear and a hubris-check where the game reminded me I wasn’t smarter than it was, and while this wasn’t a game-over, I did have to figure out a different way to solve the puzzle I was hoping to use that item for, which led to a completely different set of interactions. This factors into the Wolf mechanics too, as stealing innocuous items from the guests and having Isis match their scents to the culprit’s belongings is a key part of the endgame.
Finally I want to mention the fact that the snooping becoming a formalized part of your daily routine by the enhanced commitment to the ever-present clock-based mechanics in this series is a perfect fit for this game because this is I think the first cast where every single character has something to hide, and all of those things are both interesting and effective. Lupe isn’t a snooty bird watcher, she’s actually an eco-terrorist who’s trying to save the wolf (I don’t know how she heard about it lol it’s fine). Lou isn’t just a funny college bro with a good head on his shoulders, he’s also an amateur paleontologist who sells dinosaur bones on the black market (??????????) and came to the lodge because he found out that it was a hotbed of fossil findings. Bill isn’t some random Canadian guy, he’s some random Canadian guy whose grandmother was swindled out of ownership of the lodge, and who is bitterly angry about losing his family’s legacy. Yanni isn’t just a cross country Olympic skier training for a forthcoming event in the Albertan wilderness, he’s a cross country Olympic skier training for a forthcoming event in the Albertan wilderness and ALSO spying for his fake Russian government to search out the uranium deposits that they believe are located near the lodge for unknown shady government purposes! I FUCKING LOVE when these games do last second international espionage twists with no warning it is funny every time. And while Yanni of course ends up being the guy blowing shit up and trying to scare people away, everybody here has dirt and it really does feel like things are closing in and there’s a strong element of uncertainty as you make the final reveals and realize there are still three possible suspects for who could be doing this stuff, even until about five second before you realize one of them just set a bomb to kill you in five seconds. It’s the first and only time one of these games has really kept me guessing about the identity of the villain and that was honestly a pleasant surprise!
White Wolf of Icicle Creek feels like a turning point in some ways. There’s a huge graphical overhaul here, for one. Character models are more expressive and articulate than they’ve ever been, the resolution has been bumped up a few hundred pixels this time around, and the UI has been completely overhauled again to take up even less room on the now much-larger screen. It’s all very sleek and while I personally don’t like it aesthetically or functionally (small text, no personality vs what came before), it feels like a statement. There’s a very intense sense of atmosphere to the game too; screen transitions are slow and deliberate, as the camera locks Nancy’s perspective and the soundscape focuses on the crunch of the snow underfoot as she hesitantly walks into a white fadeout towards the next screen. There’s more ability to put care into these flourishes now, clearly, and I’m glad to see Her Interactive taking full advantage of them.
I hope this ambition and artfulness is carried through to future games as well!
PREVIOUSLY: THE CREATURE OF KAPU CAVE
NEXT TIME: LEGEND OF THE CRYSTAL SKULL
ALL NANCY DREW PIECES
In this game Nancy has been asked by the owner of the Icicle Creek Lodge in Alberta Canada to come investigate a series of mysterious accidents that have led to a loss of business and staff and now potential lawsuits. Nancy is, I guess, taking her second gap year (seeing as this is her second consecutive winter adventure) and agrees to go undercover as a maid/chef at the lodge in order to be able to easily enter guest spaces and go through their shit without suspicion which is very cool of course you go girl. That’s not the only weird thing going on, though – at the scene of every accident is a white wolf, which ominously appears before or during every incident, only to vanish before authorities can arrive. And this is where things take a turn for the hilarious in this game.
So the cast of this game aside from Nancy is Ollie, the owner’s handy man who is actually physically present and running the lodge while she’s away dealing with their legal troubles, his kid daughter, Olympic cross-country skier from a fake Eastern European country Yanni, college metal working student Lou, stereotypical Canadian guy Bill, and snooty birdwatching enthusiast Lupe. EVERYBODY is losing their minds over this wolf and it is AMAZING. Crediting not just physical acts to the wolf but actual literal crimes to her with complete seriousness. “The wolf made me slip down the stairs even though they were cleared of ice earlier that day!” “The wolf blew up the bunkhouse!” “The wolf slashed my tires!” What the FUCK are you people TALKING about. Then there’s fucking Lou who is sitting in the corner like “hey you guys know that wolves don’t like…wield knives or dynamite or hunt humans right maybe we should just leave it alone” and everyone else is like “FUCK OFF LOU WE HAVE TO HUNT DOWN THE BEAST” it’s WILD. The best part is that Nancy discovers almost immediately that the wolf is completely tame and chill, her name is Isis, she’s my best friend, and she helps you solve puzzles, and yet she does not tell anyone. Just allows this hysteria to proceed. So that’s pretty funny.
And speaking of the wolf, she’s just one of a smattering of mechanics unique to Icicle Creek that make this game stand out compared to others in the series, to what I would call mixed success this time. Many of the late game puzzles are designed around the wolf, who you cannot pet (rip nancy drew, cancelled by cloying clickbait headlines everywhere) but who you do have an elaborate menu of commands you must combine into extensive combinations for several applications across the last hour of play. This is pretty cool and a fun way to spice up the usual routine of exploring an old ruin and fucking around with old timey journals or whatever in pursuit of a nebulous goal. She’ll also use her Dog Nose to identify scents and help you figure out who’s been blowing shit up for the entire game, which leads to our next point.
The other Big Addition to the gameplay, if you want to call it that, is the part of this plot where Nancy is Undercover as a maid and chef, and so you do have to keep to a schedule of doing maid and chef duties. Every day you have to grab your laundry basket, go to every guest’s room, make their beds and gather their dirty clothes and towels. At noon and 6 every day you must go to the kitchen and do a Burger Time-esque food prep minigame until everyone has been fed to their satisfaction. I’ve got mixed feelings about this. On one hand, it IS tedious busywork, particularly the cooking minigame. On the OTHER, I’ve always been a fan of diagetic busywork. Personal gripes with swery aside (sincerely fuck that guy tho), pulling out my manual map in deadly premonition as I drove my stupid shit car that I had to constantly gas up with my limited funds as I drove to hit very strict scheduling deadlines unlocked something in my brain that I’ve never been able to put back in the box and a lot of that applies just as well to this game.
Plus, it works well with the way the mystery unfolds. Nancy’s cover DOES give her access to everyone’s rooms, and you DO make multiple revelations about the guests’ motivations by snooping around in them. They even managed to subvert my expectations at one point, where I tried to steal an essential item from a guest and was caught on my way out, a moment of fear and a hubris-check where the game reminded me I wasn’t smarter than it was, and while this wasn’t a game-over, I did have to figure out a different way to solve the puzzle I was hoping to use that item for, which led to a completely different set of interactions. This factors into the Wolf mechanics too, as stealing innocuous items from the guests and having Isis match their scents to the culprit’s belongings is a key part of the endgame.
Finally I want to mention the fact that the snooping becoming a formalized part of your daily routine by the enhanced commitment to the ever-present clock-based mechanics in this series is a perfect fit for this game because this is I think the first cast where every single character has something to hide, and all of those things are both interesting and effective. Lupe isn’t a snooty bird watcher, she’s actually an eco-terrorist who’s trying to save the wolf (I don’t know how she heard about it lol it’s fine). Lou isn’t just a funny college bro with a good head on his shoulders, he’s also an amateur paleontologist who sells dinosaur bones on the black market (??????????) and came to the lodge because he found out that it was a hotbed of fossil findings. Bill isn’t some random Canadian guy, he’s some random Canadian guy whose grandmother was swindled out of ownership of the lodge, and who is bitterly angry about losing his family’s legacy. Yanni isn’t just a cross country Olympic skier training for a forthcoming event in the Albertan wilderness, he’s a cross country Olympic skier training for a forthcoming event in the Albertan wilderness and ALSO spying for his fake Russian government to search out the uranium deposits that they believe are located near the lodge for unknown shady government purposes! I FUCKING LOVE when these games do last second international espionage twists with no warning it is funny every time. And while Yanni of course ends up being the guy blowing shit up and trying to scare people away, everybody here has dirt and it really does feel like things are closing in and there’s a strong element of uncertainty as you make the final reveals and realize there are still three possible suspects for who could be doing this stuff, even until about five second before you realize one of them just set a bomb to kill you in five seconds. It’s the first and only time one of these games has really kept me guessing about the identity of the villain and that was honestly a pleasant surprise!
White Wolf of Icicle Creek feels like a turning point in some ways. There’s a huge graphical overhaul here, for one. Character models are more expressive and articulate than they’ve ever been, the resolution has been bumped up a few hundred pixels this time around, and the UI has been completely overhauled again to take up even less room on the now much-larger screen. It’s all very sleek and while I personally don’t like it aesthetically or functionally (small text, no personality vs what came before), it feels like a statement. There’s a very intense sense of atmosphere to the game too; screen transitions are slow and deliberate, as the camera locks Nancy’s perspective and the soundscape focuses on the crunch of the snow underfoot as she hesitantly walks into a white fadeout towards the next screen. There’s more ability to put care into these flourishes now, clearly, and I’m glad to see Her Interactive taking full advantage of them.
I hope this ambition and artfulness is carried through to future games as well!
PREVIOUSLY: THE CREATURE OF KAPU CAVE
NEXT TIME: LEGEND OF THE CRYSTAL SKULL
ALL NANCY DREW PIECES
3 Comments
Yeah I could definitely see these games working Fine on the Wii, much less fascinating than like Blackmoor Manor as a DVD game but more functionally understandable lol. Very excited to get more into this Gen 2 of Nancy so to speak!!!
I think I need to replay this again since when I originally played it, I was SUPER burnt out by Nancy Drew games and it took me a long time to actually get myself to play through it. I do remember hating the food prep minigame though with a passion and hating that the game forced me to do it several times.
Nerdietalk
2 years ago
I think this was also their final attempt to port Nancy to other systems, with the Wii version being... basically fine? If a bit finnicky with the motion controls used as your mouse.