[.ca] Nancy Drew: Message in a Haunted Mansion

From Amazon.com:
Step into the stylish shoes of teen supersleuth Nancy Drew to crack the case of the haunted mansion. As Nancy, you'll hang your hat in San Francisco, where you've been invited to help a family friend renovate a historic Victorian home. Some strange things have been happening in the old house--could it be spirits from the past, or just shifty characters on the make? Use your magnifying glass to search the place from top to bottom for clues. You'll find trap doors, personal papers, keys, tools--all sorts of spots and items to explore or hang onto for later use. You never know when you might need a paint scraper or crowbar to help you out of a bind. To fill in some of the gaps, talk to characters in the game, and choose your responses to their questions based on what you want to know. Play Message in a Haunted Mansion in one of two modes: new or younger players can sign in as junior detectives for more simplified play, while old pros can log in as senior detectives for serious sleuthing. Once you're in, you may never want to leave--the graphic detail of the Victorian-mansion setting is stellar. The Chinese-influenced décor is authentically and exquisitely reproduced, and many elements can be highlighted to better focus on the level of detail. (Those interested in Victorian interiors will be especially pleased.) Also realistic are often-overlooked touches that add a true-to-life ring, such as photos of family and friends on the wall, and sunglasses kept in the kitchen drawer. The sound effects further add to the sense of realism and heighten the air of suspense. You'll hear doors and cabinets creak open and shut, haunting cries, and loose chandeliers swaying overhead. This third installment in the popular Nancy Drew interactive series (a follow-up to Stay Tuned for Danger and Secrets Can Kill) is successful not just for its design and production, but for its thoughtful features that keep players hooked, even as things start to feel hopeless. When you're in a bind, you can call home or old friends Bess and George for help. And if you make a game-ending decision, simply pick up right where you left off before the terminal mistake by utilizing the Second Chance feature. There's even a self-updating journal in Nancy's suitcase that records clues as you find them, to help you keep track of all the facts you unearth. And, of course, you can save your game after each session--no backtracking through clues you've already found, or conversations you've already had. Our only complaint: the game takes some time to install, which can be hard to stomach if you've played the previous Nancy Drew games and are as excited to play the third as we were. But once you're in the game and can see the wealth of what awaits, you'll realize that it's worth a lengthy installation. A nice improvement over previous games is the inclusion of a tutorial to explain gameplay to new users. (Ages 10 and older) --Leah Ball

Amazon.ca Product Description:
In this interactive mystery game, girls play as teenage supersleuth Nancy Drew, called upon to help a friend renovate a beautiful Victorian mansion. But there's trouble afoot ... from collapsing scaffolds to leaking gas, suspect fires to ghostly threats, Nancy is about to stumble onto a secret that someone--living or dead--would rather keep unknown. Follow your hunches as you explore a fully interactive three-dimensional mansion filled with peepholes, trapdoors, and hidden passageways. Interview fellow guests, poke around dusty nooks, and uncover cryptic messages. Clues, dead-ends, and trickery abound. Created especially for girls ages 10 and up, Nancy Drew features two "spy IQ" levels of difficulty, more than 20 hours of gameplay, helpful hints if you need them, 3-D graphics, and much more.

Message in a Haunted Mansion:
In this third game in the series, Nancy is in California visiting a friend at her huge mansion that she is renovating into a bed-and-breakfast. While Nancy is there, strange things and accidents are happening at the mansion. You can explore the whole house, in fact, it's the only place you're at during the whole game. But that doesn't make it any less fun. I loved this game!

Message in a Haunted Mansion review by Christina:
I thought this game was pretty good. I thought the stuff about the seance, ghosts, and "spirit of Valdez" was kind of goofy, becuase I don't believe in the occult or anything. But other than that it was a good game, although easy to solve.

Great game for Boys and Girls!:
My son was 9 when we played this game together. It was a lot of fun and we spent about 2 weeks solving it. It was very satisfying and not as frustrating as other Nancy Drew titles. I highly recommend this game. This game is not for girls only! My son loves most of the Nancy Drew series.

Fantastic!:
This game is the next one to stay tuned for danger and is five times better than it, this is one of the best Nancy Drews by far.The graphics are great and is a bit scary too.At any point in the game, it never got boring and at some parts I had to let my sister control the mouse! If you are getting a Nancy Drew game, get this one(...).

BUY THIS GAME!:
My kids say, "We have played every Nancy Drew game. This is by far our favorite one. It was challenging but not frustrating. It even had spooky moments! Graphics were awesome, never ending sluthing, and excellent ending climax. Overall PERFECT game!" WE BOTH RECOMEND IT