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Mystery Case Files®: Shadow Lake 
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Uncover the evil legend that haunts a forgotten town in Mystery Case Files®: Shadow Lake! In 1973, something wicked took over the town of Bitterford, Maine, after an unsuspecting inmate unearthed a mysterious object from beneath the prison floor.
Years later, Bitterford lies in ruin. You must join forces with psychic Cassandra Williams, played by award-winning actress Lea Thompson, to investigate the events that led to the town's destruction.
Only you can expose the evil that lurks in the depths of Shadow Lake. But beware... What you discover may haunt you forever.
- For a more in depth experience, check out the Collector's Edition
- Get the Strategy Guide!
- Check out our Blog Walkthrough
Click images to enlarge
Game System Requirements:
- OS: Windows XP/Windows Vista/Windows 7/Windows 8
- CPU: 1.8 GHz
- RAM: 1024 MB
- DirectX: 9.2
- Hard Drive: 1536 MB
Game Manager System Requirements:
- Browser: Internet Explorer 7 or later
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Mystery Case Files®: Shadow Lake
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Customer Reviews
Mystery Case Files: Shadow Lake
156
156
How di the worst Mystery Case File be voted best game of the Year?
HOW COULD A GAME WITH ONLY 3 OUT OF 43 5 STAR REVIEWS AND MOSTLY VERY BAD REVIEWS BE VOTED BEST GAME OF THE YEAR? WHO VOTED? CERTAINLY NOT THE PEOPLE PLAYING THE GAMES!
I only bought this game because of the buy one get one free special last week & I have all the other MCF games. I wouldn't have bought it if it wasn't FREE. It's very boring and the story doesn't seem to go anywhere. The live characters are overpowering & not necessary. I don't know what has happened to the MCF.The last one wasn't much better than this. The exciting heart seems to be lost from MCF. They need a HO to find it again.
I usually only write good reviews of the games I like, not bad reviews but I was so stunned to see this voted game of the year. WHY???!!!!
December 29, 2012
Enjoyed playing it
Before buying the game I read all the bad reviews here and I was prepared for the worst. But the game was not that bad at all - I enjoyed playing it a lot, same as all the other parts. Perhaps it did not offer any revolutionary gameplay like it did in previous games and the storyline was not connected to Ravenhearst (well, that one is apparently over since all the victims were destroyed). The game is well done - nice graphics, interesting quests.
So I really do not understand why people hated it so much.
December 30, 2012
So "game of the year" really means absolutely nothing
I guess they just promote whatever they want to sell the most of as this is the worst MCF I have ever played. I don?t usually let reviews sway my own decision. In this case, most of them are spot on. This MCF is not even in the same league as past offerings and not even for a 2.99 coupon would I consider it. It?s just awful. I am truly baffled as to why this was even sent out for public humiliation.
Leah Thompson added nothing but bad acting. Overemphasized gestures, head and hair flinging, bulging eyed, pathetic camp that even the vaudevillians would have found cringe worthy. She was so good in other movies in the past. Did she not take this seriously?
Its like a movie you watch, but barely participate in. Cut scene?s are too many and boring.
Weighted puzzle blocks are not that fun in any game, let alone this one.
items are incredibly small, in a window in multi rooms and not interactive. Honestly I have a 26" monitor and it was a squint fest to find some of the stuff in about an 8 inch window. That is Velveeta all the way. The cheesiest.
Matching objects to leahs drawings was tedious.
Its the polar opposite of "game". It?s not fun, not all that interactive considering the cut scene to play ratio, and Leah Thompson brought a new low to the genre. The windowed HO multi room aspect really is awful.
I have been revisiting old offerings as what seemed to not be my cup of tea is infinitely better in retrospect that many of the new rush to production for maximum profit garbage.
If this is the future, If this is what?s to come for casual gaming the people that make their living from this are signing their own pink slips. We all lose. Just sad really. I had great expectations. What a disappointment!
January 4, 2013
My Review is based on the CE Version
I'm not alone in how I feel about this game.....check out the 721 (at the time of this posting) reviews of the CE Version with an overall rating of 2 1/2 stars. Hopefully BFG read the CE reviews that are varied, well written, explaining overall why this game is such a disappointment from players that have been around since the first MCF game was released to the newer players.
I'm not attempting to take away the enjoyment the first reviewer experienced. Who knows....maybe the SE is different, but I'm not going to replay it again to find out. This is just to let other's know there are 721 reviews posted with stars...not including the reviews in the "tips" forum link.
December 25, 2012
A great disappointment
I am a fan of the earlier MCF games, but this one is a sad departure from what was once an enjoyable series.
The game suffers sadly from overacting, a cheesy plot, unnecessary "back-and-forthing," and a disjointed combination of animation and live action, as well as unfocused and unsatisfying hidden object scenes.
There have been some wonderful games released recently, but this isn't one of them. It is not a game on which I would recommend spending your money.
December 25, 2012
Oh dear BFG, how could you get it so wrong?
I did so try to enjoy this game, but it is soooo boring!!! The ONLY saving grace is the innovative moving block puzzle. The lack of even half decent music replaced by a repetitive noise, the "over the top" ham acting by Cassandra, the grainy graphics, poor hint system are just a few of the disappointments in this game. I know you performed a wonderful feat with the production of Return to Ravenhearst which was a giant leap forward and a hard act to follow, but your games have gone steadily downhill since, whereas other developers have strived to achieve the same benchmark you set, and have been providing us with games that are very nearly on a par with RTR.
You have an advantage over other developers, in that you can draw up your own list of what players enjoy by following the opinions on all the games from your site, you don't even have to send out a questionnaire !!
A big thumbs down I'm afraid.
December 27, 2012
Truth hurts
So. Big Fish Games people, if you read reviews, you must know by now, that truth hurts. OK, this is not a 2 1/2 star game by any standards, but you know what? It's a 2 1/2 star game by YOUR standards. I am not going to repeat the obvious, hammered to you by 700+ reviews.
But, let's take a break and learn some lessons for the future:
1. There is a reason casting directors are paid tons of money. Because of your joy that you hit a deal with a Hollywood star (well, C list star, but of course you were too happy to think about it# you oversaw the obvious. That you should never cast a middle-age blonde actress #ideal housewife) to play the psychic in a dark story. She practically DESTROYED the whole idea, because, of course, you were too weak to say "no" to her and her agent's opinion about how the role should be played. God, even madame Fate's VOICE only was orders of magnitude better than this laughable piece of acting. She was a COP-OUT, added nothing to the role and probably only learned her lines the same morning she did the shooting. She thought of the whole idea to play in the MCF series as a , with overacting, eyes ready to pop out etc, which is INSULTING to you AND us, the legions of faithful followers.
2. Innovation for innovation's sake sucks. OK, we all admired the rotating video technology, but at the end of the day, it added nothing to the fun factor. We know you want to be at the cutting edge of tech, but this should not be done at the expense of the fun factor. Take examples from other developers, who, may have limited budgets, but somehow have the talent to bring new elements in the industry, i.e. the 3D characters from Elephant. You try to be innovative, while on the other hand you DO NOT EVEN give us the game in wide screen!!!
So, ponder on these, go back to the drawing board and think. Fire a few people if you have to, especially the casting director, and beware: next year, you have MCF 10. You are not allowed to mess this up.
December 27, 2012
Interesting Game
This game has received a lot of negative reviews, and I do understand some of them. However, I felt this was a very interesting game. It was laid out a bit differently than most HO games, but that was a nice change as far as I was concerned.
Pros: The HOs were of two types. The first is the usual list of objects to find. However, they were scattered around several rooms in one location, rather than in a single junk pile. The other type was to match a small piece of a picture to an actual object. Sometimes you needed to put objects in a picture to make it match.
The hints were usually useful, though I did need to go to the walkthrough blog for a couple of things. The challenge level was decent.
The map allowed you to "teleport." However, it also forced you to teleport, and when you went to the library, it took several steps "forward" to get there. In several cases, walking the block to get to the teacher's house (for example) would have been faster.
I didn't mind going back and forth to the medium. It gave nice chapter breaks in the story.
Cons: It is a very large file and takes a lot of RAM. As a result, moving to a new location takes longer than usual.
I hated the floating puzzles. I knew exactly where the pieces went, but it was a major nuisance to get them to go where they belonged. One of them was so bad I just skipped it, and I generally love puzzles!
I really didn't like the exorcism. SPOILER ALERT! When the priest tries to do an exorcism, he and those with him are killed in an earthquake spawned by the demon. If you are going to include occult themes, don't use Christianity (or other mainstream faith) to fail to resolve the problem. Instead, it uses a more occult-themed resolution, which, of course, is entirely successful.
I don't use the sound on my games, so I cannot comment on that.
Overall, I enjoyed the game. It was different enough from the usual fare to capture my interest, and it was challenging without being frustrating most of the time.
December 28, 2012
THE WORST
I have never been so disappointed in a game before and I have played some awful ones. After plodding through the demo I played "Return to Ravenhearst" and my heart just broke. Why? Why ruin what was so great about MCF? "Return to Ravenhearst" and "Dire Grove" are absolutely fantastic - the cream of the crop and I so wanted this game to be the same. It's not even close. The master detective is nothing more than an errand boy. No snarky remarks about a grody toilet in a horrible bathroom. No funny remarks when I try to use something from my Inventory that is obviously wrong. No humor - "Madame Fate" had humor. There is none here. None.
No humor, no adventure, and no fun.
This is the "Game of the Year"? I can't believe it.
December 30, 2012
Sad Day for MCF Fans ....... Terrible game !
I am so sorry I wasted a free credit on this game. I bought it without trying it first, and I sure won't make that mistake again !
Absolutely hated the entire game. It should not even be classed as a hidden object game, too much back and forth, and the stupid games where you have to connect the pieces was tedious after the second time, and the worst part is at the end where the credits are rolled and they must mention every person that works at BF or has ever worked there and there is no way to escape so you have to sit through all the credits !
December 26, 2012
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