Reviews for Mystery Case Files®: Shadow Lake

I am extremely disappointed. I bought the game without reading reviews because it's MCF. That was a mistake :/
The game is too easy and boring, Cassandra's telling me what to do all the time. I'm a Master Detective, for crying out loud ;-)))


HUGE DISAPPOINTMENT!

Just the name MCF sold me this game. But what a huge disappointment. Dreadful game. I guess all the money went on the actors and not on the game.

Truly, dreadfully, boring. Hated the same old puzzle time after time. Scenes not all that good either. Only way to move around was with the map. Repetitive instructions from the "medium". Sheesh, words fail me.

Game of the year? Based on purchases, I guess this could be the case. Based on superiority? NO WAY. It was a load of rubbish.

I LOVE the use of real people in the scenes - and they talked at a reasonable speed.

I HATE the Dark side of this game. There is something about chanting spells to bring demons from Hell -- that TOTALLY turns me off..

Since I believe in demons and God says to mess with this stuff is witchcraft and an abomination -- I had a real hard time playing this game -- and the very end of it I REALLY felt like turning it off. Seriously -- at the end I had to pray.

I did finish it but I won't buy anymore like this-- AND I definitely won't let my kids play this.

BigFish needs to put warning labels on these types of games.

The Credits lasted too long but the last clip was a cute addition.

Call me an idiot if you want -- but seances, auto-writing, calling up demons, etc isn't for me. The only good part was the exorcism -- and it fell short.
Lord, I can't believe I finished this game.

My review is based on the SE . I wasn't thoroughly impressed with the game as part of the MCF series. By itself, if having not played any of the others, I probably would've liked it a lot more. The game is way too short, especially for the file size. I should've known since I completed the trial 1st chapter in less than 30 minutes. It was a complete surprise that it took me only 2 more hours to complete the game. I found it lacking in puzzles and interactive scenes. I liked the HOS being spread out like they were, but I agree that putting them in a small window was not good. And, some items that aren't needed stick out like a sore thumb, poorly placed, while some needed items blend in a little too well; I had to consult the walkthrough once because I knew what I needed but couldn't find it, and I still needed a screenshot to see it even after I knew where to look. The acting wasn't so bad, I thought that the actors portrayed their characters pretty good. Some of the cut scenes, I felt, were only there to add to the spook factor and didn't complement the story or the game at all. I don't really like jumping from my seat during a game, but they were fairly predictable, so I knew when to look away. This game could be great if there was more to it. There are too many holes in the plot, the story needs more details. I think that if there had been more attention and effort put towards conveying the story and making the game as interactive (or more) as previous MCF games than on those block puzzles, more people would have found it more interesting and enjoyable. I hope that Shadow Lake has another chance to give players more background into the characters and events leading up to the player's arrival. All in all, it was a little too predictable, the map and lack of interaction made it seem shorter than it probably is, and I felt like I couldn't connect with the story or the characters. I hope the next in the series has more puzzles, more back story, more well... Just more. I would recommend to players unfamiliar with MCF. Lastly, to BFG: if you're going to force the credits on us, make sure there aren't any typos first; I'm pretty sure spell check would have caught assistand.

Finally finished the SE game. As you can probably tell, I have left it and played other games before forcing myself to come back and finish it. I thought it was ok but I think you build yourself up for something amazing all year and this simply just wasn't amazing. I don't think it was as terrible as some have made out but I can understand the disappointment. Of all the MCF games, I think this one is near the bottom. The psychic (is that how you spell it?!) did it for me, she actually irritated me at the end and her acting in the last few scenes was poor i thought, perhaps overacted. If it wasn't MCF i reckon everyone would have rated it higher. It just seems that from MCF games we all expect a bit more! Roll on the next one

Well, I see that "Mystery Case Files: Shadow Lake" is offered today as the Daily Deal. I say "NO THANK YOU". I tried the game and didn't like the story line, the graphics, or anything else about it. I wouldn't even want it for FREE.

I own the ones from "Mystery Case Files: Ravenhearst" up to this one... and loved them all, except I felt that "MCF: Escape from Ravenhearst C.E." was unnecessarily "gross" in various areas and that was a turn-off to me. Also in that same one, I felt the bonus game was "lame" and not at all worthy to be called a C.E. bonus game. I was totally disappointed in it. However, I thought the game play was interesting and the graphics were well done. I also bought the "MCF: Fate's Carnival C.E." in November of this year (2013).

But I say NO THANK YOU!!! to "MCF: Shadow Lake". I don't recommend it.

Classicaljazz

Shadow of an MCF

This game is just OK, worth the DD price today, but I would not pay more.

It is not a terrible game, just kind of repetitive, not very challenging and the story is rather linear. It is also a short game.

Many people have been critical of Lea Thompson's performance, however even if she had given an oscar-worthy one it would not have saved this game. It would still be mediocre.

Compared to other MCF games, this one is probably the weakest. So one star as an MCF game, and three stars as an ordinary game.

Utter garbage compared to all the other MCF games.I can only imagine they were having a bad hair day/week/month/year making this.Don't waste your money buying this.Good grief!!

Got about 15 minutes into this game and the bouncing inventory drove me crazy...good grief I hate those bouncing inventories. Way too much clicking around, got bored and frustrated real fast...I think I must have demoed this when it was a CE because it sure looked familiar especially that van full of ghost hunters....no buy for me. Didn't seem quite the quality of the other MCF games....

Let me add to the disappointed chorus - MCFs have always been a "must buy" for me, but I'll be choosier in the future. I can't even tell you how much I hated the rotating puzzle cube things and the issues with the ladder. Ugh. 2 of 5 stars.

First and foremost, I would like to thank Lea Thompson, for taking the time to help produce this game. Like any search and discover game, I would rate it 4 out of 5 for difficulty.. (thank you Hint Button)! But let me tell you, if there was no Hint button, this game would be a real nightmare!

I couldn't play this game initially: it turned out my 11 year old computer could'nt cope. I've just finished it, as I have a new computer: and it is interesting to note the reviews were almost all negative.
It's not a good game, and I must admit the plot is not altogether clear. There are a lot of unanswered questions - i.e what has a North American tribal artifact have to do with demonic possession?
I am glad I finally got to play it, and I don't think it is as bad as Escape from Ravenhurst which was really disturbing: but I am not particuarly impressed.
Lea Thomson is so hammy I think she is doing it on purpose.
I'm still playing Madame Fates Carnival,as I had almost finished it on the old computer, but it wiped, and I had to start again on the new. While not brilliant, it is better than this one. Funny, we only have to wait two months for another effort. I wonder what it will be like?????