Howling at the moon
With a great title like Ghosts Dogs of Moon Lake, you'd expect a rip-roaring adventure full of thrills, chills and spills. And indeed, this cracking Nancy Drew mystery delivers on just about every front, making it a vital addition to any fan of the junior detective, alongside The Secret of the Scarlet Hand. This one sees Nancy and her chum enjoying the peace and quiet of a charming lakeside cabin when the sudden appearance of strange, vicious dogs with glowing red eyes indicates there's something rotten here and which needs to be investigated. What follows is fairly typical stuff for the genre, this being a first-person point-and-click romp, where you must explore the lake and surrounding area, questioning the locals to uncover the bizarre history of the area, and solve puzzles to get to the bottom of the mystery. The puzzles are fairly varied but are mostly inventory-based but you'll also need your best detecting hat on as the interrogations of the locals requires paying firm attention to what they say. Ghost Dogs really is a top notch Nancy Drew adventure that ranks as one of the best in the series. It is a pretty scary one so if you're easily freaked out or have younger gamers in the house, you might want to be a bit careful. It's also quite a difficult game so help might be required somewhere along the line, too. However, there's no denying that this is dripping in atmosphere, with superb sound design and splendid visuals that really immerse you in the story. There is an annoying maze but apart from this, this is great stuff.