March 03, 2011
Mystery Case Files: Dire Grove
Posted by: kk : Category: PC Games
Mystery Case Files: Dire Grove
The Celtic legend of Dire Grove has been passed down from generation to generation for centuries. When a recently unearthed artifact in the United Kingdom corroborates the legend there begins a journey of survival for a small band of researchers in the small resort of Dire Grove. Discover the secrets hidden deep within the snow that now blanket the once peaceful community of Dire Grove!
List Price: $ 19.99
Price: $ 7.11
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3 Responses to “Mystery Case Files: Dire Grove”
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March 3rd, 2011 at 4:25 am
Blew me away!,
I don’t know about you, but I play casual games as an escape, to go someplace where there are no utility bills to pay or meals to cook. Somewhere new and exciting. “Dire Grove” is the perfect escape, so immersive you’ll shiver in your computer chair, as it never stops snowing in the strange, isolated little English town where you’re marooned behind an abandoned car, its lights on, its doors open, a cryptic note on the front seat.
The graphics are gorgeous and “Dire Grove” is a worthy successor to “Return to Ravenhearst” both as an art production and a drama. Most of the action takes place before you arrive on the scene but near the abandoned car you find the first of 20 videotapes scattered around the area which document the adventures of four graduate students who seek to find the truth behind a Celtic legend and quickly get into deep, deep trouble. The tapes are very well done and as you pick them up and listen to each one you’ll detect the palpable rising distress of the students as they get sucked into a strange world from which they cannot escape.
Of course, you’ve got to find the twenty-somethings! You’ve got to rescue them! With the snow crunching under your boots and the wild wind whistling in your ear, you’ll explore the lonely, bleak cold area, including a creepy old bed and breakfast inn, a cemetery guarded by a hungry wolf, a sabotaged historical museum, an old mill, an abandoned barn, a boat shack and much more.
Sparkles will let you know there’s a hidden object cache for you to explore and you save one tool from each hidden object location to use somewhere, somehow- a saw, a plank, a hammer, nails, a fire extinguisher. All of the tools are utilitarian and perform a sensible function. There’s no combining of odd or inappropriate objects, but you will have to use your ingenuity to put the tools in the proper place such as powering up a generator to provide lights for the inn.
There are many stand-alone puzzles for you to solve as you trudge along in the snow. They are hard enough to be interesting but not so difficult that you become a basket case of frustration. From tile rotation to code deciphering, sliders, pattern connections and at the end a nifty riddle and alphabet sequencing puzzle, your brain will get a good workout. However, you can by-pass the puzzles if you wish.
“Dire Grove” pulls you into an atmosphere of dread: gloomy orchestral music is interrupted by eerie ambient sounds, crunches, squeaks, groans. You’ll get so immersed you’ll forget where you are! All in all, Grove is a cut above the rest. Perhaps you can call it class, but whatever you call it, don’t miss this one!
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|March 3rd, 2011 at 4:32 am
Game is worth it but…,
This game is definitely worth buying if you’re into hidden object games. And while I love Amazon the developer sells this version for 6.99. Catch the “this version”? There is another one. It’s called the collector’s edition and available only to members of Big Fish Games, the developer. It’s the same price as what this one sells for here but has a built in strategy guide, a couple more scenes and behind the scene material. It also has objects that morph from one object to another (spoon to bowl to spoon) and various achievements.
Fantastic series especially from Ravenhearst to Dire Grove. Definite must buy!
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|March 3rd, 2011 at 4:40 am
Really good hidden object game,
search online I got it for $6.99 (downloadable) (from a famous online game company) don’t pay this price! You can also play it for an hour free to see if you like it.
This is a hidden object game and an adventure game combined. I really like hidden object games but to be frank the old type gets boring. This takes it up a notch and has ‘point n click’ – pick up an item then combine with other items or use it somewhere later in the game. Also a nice amount of puzzles thrown in. Nice amount of time – not too short and not too easy either – quite logical with the items and requres some thinking for puzzles which is refreshing.
For those a fan of hidden object this is a must play game, and if you pick up like I did cheaper – it’s worth the price.
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