Nancy Drew: Legend of the Crystal Skull

Legend of the Crystal Skull was the second game to release in 2007 and was the seventeenth game in the Nancy Drew PC series.

Game Description

The Search is on for an Unearthly Artifact in New Orleans!
Bruno Bolet was the proud owner of the “Whisperer,” a crystal skull rumored to protect its holder from almost any cause of death – except murder. When Bruno passed away, his nephew Henry came to wrap up his affairs, but he couldn’t find the skull among the clutter of the creepy Bolet manor. You’ll need to team up with Nancy’s best friend Bess Marvin to find this mystical artifact before it falls into the wrong hands in Nancy Drew: Legend of the Crystal Skull!

Game Information

Available on: Windows XP/Vista/7/8/10
ESRB: E for Everyone
PC Release Date: October 6, 2007
Release MSRP: $19.99 USD
Current MSRP: $9.99 USD
Number of Discs: 2
Game Abbreviation: CRY
Game Color Code: 6b4ba0
Inspired by/Based on: Nancy Drew Mystery Stories Digest Paperback #81: The Mardi Gras Mystery

Game Specs

PC System Requirements:

1 GHz or greater Pentium or equivalent class CPU
128 MB of RAM
1GB or more of hard drive space
32MB DirectX compatible graphics video card
16-bit DirectX compatible sound card
24x CD-ROM drive
Mouse and Speakers

Fun Facts:

This game released about a half-year before Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull released. It's been suggested that Legend of the Crystal Skull was partly inspired by the Indiana Jones movie as both the game and movie feature an adventurous character on the search for a crystal skull which eventually leads to the enemy's demise.
The box art for this game introduced a black stripe at the top of the box with PC CD written on it. Many PC games at the time started branding their physical games with this banner so it wasn't uncommon. This trend continued for the next three games. There are some copies of the physical games that don't have the black stripe at the top of the box. Those copies were sold directly from HeR Interactive.
This was the second game to have the mechanic where you can switch back and forth between characters in order to solve the mystery. Nancy and Bess traveled to New Orleans together, so you get to play as Bess to uncover special information and listen in on secret conversations.
The doll in Renee's room is Naughty Tina from Last Train to Blue Moon Canyon.
Renee has an unlimited supply of Koko Kringles that Nancy has full access to.
When you click on the arch in the crypt model, it plays various songs from Secrets Can Kill.
The character model for the chef at Granny Punkin's Cajun Cookin' is Shorty Thurmond from The Secret of Shadow Ranch.
Professor Beatrice Hotchkiss from Treasure in the Royal Tower makes a return in this game as she wrote a book about the crystal skulls.
This was the final game to use the Nancy Drew theme song introduced in Stay Tuned for Danger. The song can only be heard during the credits of this game. Games 18-32 uses an alternate version of the original theme song at the beginning of the game.
The two Italian policemen in the teaser trailer for The Phantom of Venice at the end of the game have the heads of Tim Burke and Robert Riedl (past HeR employees) Photoshopped onto the faces of other policemen.
Zeke's Curio Shop has a few items from past games: The hula doll from The Creature of Kapu Cave, and the chattering teeth and the big statue in the corner of the shop are from Curse of Blackmoor Manor.
There is a book in Bruno's library written by Bill Kessler on how to fish.
The mini game where you get rid of the wasps to get a loquat gets reused in The Phantom of Venice.
This was the first game to introduce end game meta awards. Most of the past games had an award you could get at the end of the game based on how you played the game. Legend of the Crystal Skull had more of an achievement system where you could complete various tasks and then when the game finished, you could see which tasks you completed.
This game is available in French and Dutch on HeR Interactive's website.
This was the first Nancy Drew game to introduce windowed mode. All the past games had to be played in full-screen mode unless prompted through the game's configuration settings.

Image Gallery
Characters
Walkthrough
Soundtrack
Extra

Image Gallery

Characters

Henry Bolet, Jr.

Henry’s parents passed away while he was young and he was sent to live with his great-uncle Bruno. Bruno never spent much time with Henry, but he left him a sizable portion of his estate. Could emotional and cunning Henry have schemed to control his last living relative’s assets and secrets?

Lamont Warrick

Lamont Warrick is the proud owner of Zeke’s, a colorful curio shop crammed with unusual and eclectic merchandise. He’s always looking for treasure amongst another person’s junk – it’s a great way to make a quick buck. There are a few precious items that are authentic antiques, priceless pieces he likes to procure. A crystal skull would attract a lot of buyers – and a lot of money…

Renee Amande

Renee Amande was the housekeeper for Bruno Bolet. Since she spent so much time in his presence, she also knows a lot of his secrets – dark secrets he didn’t want anyone to know, but others would have killed to discover. Would she have resorted to murder just to possess a mystical skull?

Gilbert Buford

Dr. Gilbert Buford found the unconscious body of his friend, Bruno Bolet, and declared that no autopsy was necessary. As Bruno’s confidant, he knew that Bruno owned a mystical artifact believed gave him immortality. In his old age, Gilbert certainly could use a crystal skull to improve his own chances of cheating death…