Customer Reviews

Mystery Case Files: Huntsville

5 star:		(17)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

"Mystery Case Files: Huntsville" is the first in the Mystery Case Files series - and I've been hooked on this series since I first played this game a couple of years ago.

The goal of these games is to search for a list of hidden items that have been embedded within various pictures/locations - and to do it within a specified period of time.

In "Huntsville", the ultimate goal is to determine who the culprits are in a series of crimes & then who sits at the head of this crime syndicate (you just might be surprised when you see who it is!). You do this by first locating the hidden items listed in each location within the time allotted. Once you find the clues/items for each crime, you have to solve another puzzle through the "crime computer" in order to find out just who each culprit is.

This second puzzle involves reconstructing the pictures of each crime scene - but with a catch - this time the culprit is in the picture too. Because you aren't given any extra time to complete this puzzle, be sure to work fast at finding the clues/items so that you have enough time to complete the picture reconstruction as well - lest you have to start at the beginning again for that particular crime.

Overall, I've found the "Mystery Case Files" games to be great fun and highly addictive! If you enjoy "search & find"-type games, you can't go wrong with "Huntsville"!

The premise of "Mystery Case Files: Huntsville" is a simple one - there is a crime spree in Huntsville that is baffling police and players need to find hidden objects to solve the crimes. Once enough objects are found in a round, the players have to solve a puzzle that identifies the criminal and they move on to the next round. There are 16 crimes to solve (including the final one in Big Boss's secret hideout); dozens of locations (including Alice's Diner, a Bookstore, Ivan's Café, Pete's Pawnshop, and the Art Museum); and dozens of objects to find like paper clips, marbles, bats, clocks, playing cards, coins and dice. Each level is timed so you have to find the objects before time runs out.

"Mystery Case Files: Huntsville" is the first hidden object game in the Mystery Case Files series, in my opinion the best hidden object series. The games starts off easily enough with two locations, 16 clues to find (8 in each location), and 20 minutes to find them all, and gets progressively harder as the game goes along until the final round which gives you only four minutes to find the objects and solve the puzzle. If you are new to the series, you may find you run of time in the beginning before finding al the objects, but that's okay because you can start over again with different objects to find. Don't click too fast when looking for objects or you'll lose time. Some of the objects are out in the open and easy to find while others are well hidden. If you find yourself stuck, leave the location and go to another one, you'll find objects are easier to find the next time you return to that location. Some of the clues are a bit tricky, for example if you need to find a bat, you could be looking for either a baseball bat or the mammal. Each level has three hints that can be used to either find an object or move a puzzle piece. Make sure you use the hints wisely - sometime you need to find more than one object (like three stamps) and the hint will only show one of these items, not all three.

Since this is the first Mystery Case Files game, it's not as complex as some of the later games in the series (like Madame Fate) and is perfect for people new to the Hidden Objects games. Since some of the locations are repeated throughout the game, you'll be able to locate clues quicker in those locations as the game progresses. It doesn't take a long time to play, maybe five or six hours total, but it can be played over and over again since you need to find different items every time you play. Although this is a single player game, others can sign on in another name and play separately without losing the place you are in. The final level, Big Boss's Hideout, is the most frustrating level since there is only four minutes to solve the whole thing.

"Mystery Case Files: Huntsville" is hours of puzzling fun.

I bought this game because I love adventure games. When I first started playing it, I thought, what a bummer, it is a hunt and seek game, made for kids, I'll just play it anyway. Boy, was I wrong! This game is super fun and addicting, and actually kind of difficult! You have to find hidden items within a given amount of time, and the artists have done a remarkable job hiding objects within objects. It is an awesome game and if you like puzzles, you will love this game!

Mystery Case Files: Huntsville
Product by ACTIVISION
Review by SpeekNDaTruuf

"Mystery Case Files: Huntsville" by ACTIVISION is a hidden object game with hours of endless fun! Huntsville is a city plagued with crimes that the Huntsville Police Department just simply cannot solve. This is where YOU come in. You have to race against the clock to find several hidden objects (and each new game provides new objects to seek) in order to find out who is committing these heinous crimes. There is a ranking system, somewhat like a promotion, where you start at the lowest rank and eventually end up at Master Detective, and there are timed puzzles after completing each level that shows you who the culprit is. Can you find all of the hidden objects and nail the dirtbag before time runs out?

"Mystery Case Files: Huntsville" is a great game, if you're into that kind of thing. I happen to be very into that kind of thing, so I enjoyed it immensely. While I usually play these games by my Self, my sister wanted to play along with me, and she really loved it. In fact, I originally bought it as a birthday present for her because she and I had played several other free and downloadable trial hidden object games before, and she really enjoyed those.

So, what made me choose this one over several other hidden object games? Well, the price was fair; not too expensive, but definitely nothing close to free. Also, having played other "Mystery Case Files" games, I knew that the graphics would be nice and that the objects wouldn't be too hard to find. I hate playing a hidden object game where the "hidden objective" is to have you strain your eyes for hours on end without actually finding the "hidden object." "Mystery Case Files: Huntsville" is easy on the eyes and you actually feel as if you are accomplishing something as opposed to just wasting time. Before long, you are wrapped up in searching for the hidden objects that you forget other routine things, i.e. answering the phone, watching television, checking e-mail, etc. In other words, it's very addictive, and you actually look forward to playing it each time. Or maybe that's just me. THREE AND A HALF/FOUR STARS.

My husband bought this game for me, and he and I spent hours playing as a team - we had a great time together and found it very satifying working together (it was amusing to me to discover what my strengths were compared with his, and it was entertaining learning to complement each other with those strengths) to beat the clock and finish a puzzle in time! We both love the variety in different places to hunt for clues, and the challenge of being in the same scene but having different clues to find!

We also play alone, under our own name, and we talk about how much slower it is for each of us to find the clues ... playing on your own is fun (and competing with someone else to see who can get to the next level first), playing as a team is even more fun.

I like how this game encourages vocabulary growth ... I've had to use the dictionary more than once to figure out what I was supposed to be looking for! I don't have much time to play computer games, but I've gotten quickly hooked and sneak a level in whenever I can (it's nice to be able to leave at any point and not have to start all over again later)!

I just wanted to add a comment for parents whose children enjoy the "I Spy" PC games and want to move on to other "hidden objects" games. In the "I Spy" games you can click over the list of words and the computer will read them aloud to you. In "Huntsville" you are just presented with a list, so if your children cannot read or are not good readers, you will need to read them the multiple lists. I know that I really appreciate the "I Spy" read-aloud feature (as do my children who get to play independently), and I just wanted to point that difference out to anyone who might be wondering if that feature is included in "Huntsville."

This opens the way to a series of fun explorations of rooms where you must find the objects and then solve puzzles to achieve the final reward of the games. Others have become more elaborate but this is definitely fun, even addictive. If you want a game without kill'um, slugfest violence, this is a good place to start.

Love "hidden object" games with beautiful graphics. This one was not as difficult as some of the others - such as Prime Suspects, where some of the locations are only seen through a circle of light or a limited area via a magnifying glass.

It's not so much a mystery as a search and find, puzzle solving type game. It only took a few hours to complete... it was fun, but too easy and got repetitive after a short time. I'd play another game in the series, but I certainly wouldn't pay more than 5 or 10 dollars for it.

This game was very boring and repetitive. No action or story line. No actual detective work. Just a lot of I spy in the same old rooms, finding the same old objects.