Mystery Case Files: Shadow Lake

Mystery Case Files: Shadow Lake is an adventure-puzzle casual game developed by Big Fish Studios and distributed by Big Fish Games. It is the ninth installment in the Mystery Case Files series and was released on November 26, 2012. This game was the one to introduce the interactive map in the Mystery Case Files series in the adventure games part.^[1][2]

Plot

The Master Detective seeks assistance from a psychic medium named Cassandra Williams while investigating the mysterious destruction of Bitterford, a ghost town near Sebec Lake in Maine which had been destroyed by an earthquake. After meeting the Ghost Patrol, a news reporting team, they depart immediately. The Master Detective makes his way into Cassandra's room where she asks they player to solve the mysterious haunting in the destroyed town and assists the Detective with Auto-Drawings which allow them to see what has recently happened in a place that the Detective has visited. During their quest, the Detective encounters a mysterious hooded figure and meets a ghost named Ellen, who helps the Detective on their quest. A backstory is also revealed while meditating with Cassandra. A prisoner finds a strange horn-like relic with odd symbols in a mysterious shine. When attempting to escape, he loses it to the warden (who is Ellen's husband) that was chasing him. The warden took the relic home and his son later stole it when going to school. While up on the balcony, a girl tries to steal the relic but ends up making the boy fall to his death. His teacher finds his dead body along with the relic and takes it with him. The teacher later dies and while the nurse examines him, she finds mysterious symbols on his arm which look like the symbols on the relic. His arm suddenly attacks her before returning to normal. Later, the sheriff finds the warden's truck with his dead body in it and his arm suddenly moves with the relic's symbols shown on the truck's window. The nurse informs the sheriff of the cursed relic and they take it to the minister of the church. When they attempt to destroy it, the church collapses, killing them. Cassandra then realizes that the spirits of the people who touched that relic are trapped in it and the hooded figure is the evil spirit of the relic. After the Detective retrieves the relic, Cassandra triggers another flashback, which reveals the prisoner from before drawing something on a train tunnel wall before the earthquake happens and causes the tunnel to collapse, killing him. The Detective goes to examine the drawing, which is a map that shows where the prisoner found the relic. Cassandra then mysteriously disappears. The Detective then locates an escape tunnel inside the prisoner's cell, which leads to a mysterious shrine, where he/she finds Cassandra, now possessed by the relic's evil spirit and is attempting to communicate with its master, an evil demon king. After the Detective steals the relic and replaces it with a fake one, he/she finds a strange pedestal in the back of the shrine and after solving its puzzle, it breaks the curse and frees the trapped spirits and Cassandra from the evil spirit's control. Ellen briefly possess Cassandra and asks the Detective to bring the relic to Shadow Lake. Arriving there, the Detective sees Ellen's hand come out of the water and he/she tosses it to her and she takes the relic underwater. With the cursed relic gone, the player has one last meeting with Cassandra, who is now planning to become a Master Detective herself.

In the post credit scene, one of the Ghost Patrol workers is shown to be wearing a piece of the relic around her neck, implying that the evil spirit is still active.

In the Bonus Content, the player finds a safe inside the Quarry and discovers a mask-like object inside the safe. Opening the mask reveals a ticket to Madame Fate's Carnival.

Cast

This is the fifth Mystery Case Files game to feature a live-action cast after Return to Ravenhearst, Dire Grove, 13th Skull and Escape From Ravenhearst.

It was announced by Big Fish Games that actress Lea Thompson would star in the game on October 15, 2012. Thompson plays a psychic medium that assists the Master Detective solve puzzles during their investigation of a ghost town’s mysterious destruction. Thompson's daughter, Madelyn Deutch, also stars as a co-host of a Ghost Patrol TV show that’s filming on-scene to uncover the haunted legacy of the town.^[1] The remainder of the games cast was revealed on November 10, 2012, but many of their characters have yet to be revealed.^[3]

• Lea Thompson as Cassandra Williams
• Brandon O'Neill as Jack Talon
• Madelyn Deutch as Ghost Patrol Tech Kelli
• Colleen Carey as Dr. Janet Flemming
• Jim Iorio as Sheriff Dale O'Connor
• Sean G. Griffin as Pastor Roberts
• Iain Dunn as Billy Denney
• Araceli Meager-Reyes as Sam
• Terry Edward Moore as Warden Melvin M. Denney
• Kristen Hebenstreit as Ellen Denney
• Michael Patten as Convict Jaime Monihan
• Jenna Poffenroth as News Anchor

Promotion

Big Fish Games announced Mystery Case Files: Shadow Lake on their blog on October 15, 2012.^[1] The official speculation forum for Shadow Lake was opened on October 31, 2012, for fans of the game series to speculate about the forthcoming game.^[4] A trailer for the game was released on November 15, 2012.^[5] An interview with the games developers was posted to the Big Fish Games blog on November 15, 2012, featuring concept art from the game.^[6] Big Fish Games held a live Twitter Q&A with actress Lea Thompson on November 16, 2012. When submitting questions, fans were asked to use the hashtag, "#AskLea".^[7] A sneak peek of the Collector's Edition of Shadow Lake was also revealed on November 16, 2012.^[2]

Ties to Madame Fate

During the bonus gameplay of Shadow Lake, the player is given a special mask and is tasked with finding all 50 morphing objects hidden throughout the entire game. Once all are found, the mask then spits out an admit one ticket to Fate's Carnival, a reference to the fourth game in the Mystery Case Files series, Madame Fate. Also within the game is a Madame Fate pachinko game, in which the player must score up to 100,000 points to reveal a hidden key.

Collectors Edition Extras

This is the fourth game in the Mystery Case Files with a collectors edition to be made. Mystery Case Files: Shadow Lake you are to find a special key to get a bonus map location called "Grimes Quarry". Like the rest of the collectors editions this game also features bonus wallpapers, screensavers, and a special "behind the scenes" video.

External links

• Mystery Case Files: Shadow Lake Official Site
• Mystery Case Files: Shadow Lake on Big Fish Games
• Mystery Case Files Official Facebook Page

References