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Great game!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 32 / 33
Date: September 01, 2006
Author: Amazon User

I give this game a 5 star rating - the game was engrossing and logical, but very free - you weren't forced to do A so that B would happen, and then allowed to move on to C. While there were some elements that needed to happen in a certain order, it wasn't the driving force behind this game.

Great graphics, very spooky environment, great audio. I even liked the voice acting.

It reminded me of Myst, in that there is a puzzle to solve, and you are given all the clues you need to solve the puzzle. It wasn't nearly as scary as Scratches, but more along the lines of the Darkfall series.

As an added bonus, there seemed to be no glitches or bugs in the program, and I didn't need any patches to run this on XP. The interface was very easy to use, and it was easy to install and start playing fast.

I hope more adventure games are made like this one, it was great!

Engaging Horror Mystery

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 33 / 35
Date: November 04, 2006
Author: Amazon User

Conrad Morse, a noted Archaeologist, has received permission to excavate the mound at Barrow Hill, a site in Cornwall that has remained undisturbed since its construction in 2500 B.C.E., according to local legends. A mysterious force seems to surround the mound, as former attempts to survey the area have resulted in disapearances. Morse's excavations have drawn the interest of the press as well as aroused the ire of several conservation groups. Matters seem about to come to a head, and on the night of the Autumn Equinox they do--but not in a way that any might have dreamed. That night you--an unnamed character with an unspecified role--are driving down the Barrow Hill road listening to the radio when, shortly after sunset, your car stalls. Behind you, some sort of forcefield prevents you from returning the way you came. Your only choice is to go on, and in the process, solve the mystery of Barrow Hill.

Barrow Hill is a lovely 1st-person slideshow game in the style of the Dark Fall series (no wonder, as Jonathan Boakes and developer Matt Clark are sometime collaborators). The action takes place in a relatively limited area, all in the course of a single night. As your surroundings are mostly deserted, you have to rely on collecting inventory and clues to find out what has happened and heal the breach that is allowing a dark force to run ramampant in the area. MOst of the puzzles involve accessing locked or blocked areas and putting together information.

Despite the dark subject matter and the literal darkness of the screen, I did not find this game quite as spooky as it might have been. Some things startled me, but I never felt personally threatened. Of course, I never encountered the large glowing stone that, by most accounts, is capable of bringing your explorations to an abrupt end. I have heard that these encounters are the result of not having completed tasks in one area before going on to the next, so I think making a logical exploration of central areas before proceeding to peripheral ones may be a lifesaver in this game.

Sounds effect and music are understated. Sometimes you'll hear a spooky chord that seems to herald a momentuous event, only to have nothing really happen. You hear quite a few birds, but don't see many. Voice acting was quite good, however. I especially enjoyed the many amusing commercials you could hear on various radio stations.

Collecting inventory was mainly easy, barring one or two pixel hunts and a few places where I had to get a hint because I wasn't quite sure what I was looking for. Collating information was more complicated, partly because you could not keep the many documents you found during the course of the game. This made taking voluminous notes a necessity. Also, there were a number of red herrings: notes that seemed to have no bearing on the case and items you could interact with that didn't have any purpose. It was easy to get bogged down trying to do something with these items other than pick them up and put them down again. One puzzle seemed unnecessary, because by the time I solved it, I had already figured out what the clues it contained revealed.

I found the ending a little abrupt and disatisfying. Once you solved the final puzzle, things happened very quickly. There was not a lot of time to look around the last area you came to. I also was left wondering about the connections between some of the elements; I wasn't quite sure who were the good guys and who were the bad. A cut scene at the end seemed sort of tacked on.

All in all, I enjoyed this game, which took me maybe 10 hours to complete. It had a level of complexity in the puzzles which I have found lacking in many inventory-based games, and the plot line was engaging and well thought out. My main critique is that I wuld have liked to have seen some of the elements developed more. However, I look forward to more games from Matt Clark and company.

Something wicked this way comes...

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 11 / 12
Date: June 05, 2007
Author: Amazon User

A barrow is an ancient burial ground, often in the form of mounds of earth or with standing stones such as Stonehenge. England is dotted with these ancient sites, labeled as "tumuli" on maps. In 18th century England, digging up barrows was a favorite hobby of the educated, resulting in damage of the sites.

Cornwall, the southwestern tip of England, has a rich history of barrows. In Barrow Hill, a team of archaeologists is proceeding on a dig of the local barrow that features seven mysterious stones. The barrow has been left undisturbed except for the building of a service station and motel nearby, but once the team begins excavating, an ancient evil is unleashed on the land. The barrow in the game is based on Looe, Cornwall, and features parallel structures such as an ancient pagan well, barrow, swamp and service station.

Creator Matt Clark has put a phenomenal amount of time and energy into doing justice to the barrows and Cornish legends, and as a bonus there is a link to a webpage talking about the history of Cornwall, barrows, and the making of the game (I was expecting something more polished from the blurb on the back of the box). Clark was aided on Barrow Hill by horror master Jonathan Boakes, creator of Dark Fall: The Journal and Dark Fall: Lights Out.

I had difficulties installing this on my Windows XP laptop; I had to try four or five times, as each time I would begin to install, the installer would launch another copy and freeze completely. My perseverance finally paid off, though, and once I'd launched the game, I didn't encounter any bugs, crashes, or freezes.

The game begins with a grainy black-and-white film of you driving along the Cornish country roads as night begins to fall. There is a sense of dread as local radio personality Emma Harry talks about the onset of the Autumn Equinox, and dark clouds race ominously across the sky. Suddenly, your car goes dead, and you're stranded in the middle of a dark forest. But are you alone? There are strange rustles and cries from the bushes, and you're certain that something's watching...

Barrow Hill is a first-person slideshow similar to Myst in format. You advance one screen at a time (no 360-degree panning here), which can be terrifying when you're crashing through the undergrowth with only a weak battery flashlight to light the darkness. The photorealistic graphics are based on thousands of pictures of the Cornish countryside. The architecture of the few featured buildings shines, from the ruins of an ancient chapel to the worn-down service station. Little touches make each screen come to life, and there are innumerable close-ups of objects just for exploration's sake (which can be confusing at first trying to determine if it's a hotspot or not). Also like Myst, you'll soon discover that Barrow Hill is devoid of people other than yourself and one or two secondary characters that you interact with only briefly. Where has everyone gone? What happened to the archaeological team? Why are there idling cars with no occupants?

The sound deserves special mention, as thousands of ambient sounds were recorded in Cornwall to add to the authenticity, including the chirp of the Cornish cricket. The soundtrack is sparse but effective, underscoring moments of danger or discovery. Voice acting is satisfactory, if a bit melodramatic at times.

On your quest, you're aided by several high-tech gadgets, including a cell phone, PDA, GPS, and a metal detector. All of these tools play a part in your quest to restore balance to the barrow. There are plenty of well-scattered clues to the nature of your task, informative background reading in the form of pamphlets, diaries, and mock websites, and many locations to explore.

The puzzles are inventory-based and generally intuitive. You pick up only what you need to aid you on your quest, and once you've used it, it disappears from inventory. The journals and gadgets left behind by the team give you plenty of fodder to consider your next move. You can die, and if you do, you're placed one step before your fatal mishap.

The biggest achievement after the outstanding sound and graphics is the immersive atmosphere of utter dread...although not gory, you constantly feel hunted by the sense that something evil is looking over your shoulder, from creepy voices on disconnected telephones to ominous smoldering piles of ash next to idled vehicles, or the crash of something following you in the pitch-black woods. My only disappointment was in the super-brief ending that didn't seem to resolve much of the detailed storyline that had unfolded throughout the game, but in Barrow Hill it's the journey, not the destination, that counts.

Good promiseat the start, lackluster followthrough

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 9 / 13
Date: September 10, 2006
Author: Amazon User

The premise of the game seemed great - finding the proper offerings to appease a centuries-old curse. Even the puzzles were of a decent calibre, though nothing overly taxing. Some of the puzzle for me was figuring out just how to use anything to begin with, as there was no instruction on how to do so ("When you get this specific cursor, call up your inventory and click on what you would like to use").

That's when the giant, walking, french toast stick showed up.

Yes, your ultimate nemesis, the Sentry Stone ("He's watching you....he's after you!"), looks more like a blown-up Burger King breakfast snack. Of course, he does have the power to incinerate you, so I guess that's something. Just run away, and then, poof! He's gone!

And it just went downhill from there. The 'acting' is nothing more than 3 or 4 still shots of people in different poses shifting randomly (America's Best Eyeware commercials, anyone?). The graphics are okay, but nothing to write home about. And I swear, if that girl galled me to ramble on about the thing following her and watching her ONE more time, I was about to find her MYSELF and torch her! Not being able to stop things like that was a little annoying.

Like I said, the puzzles were kind of clever, but the clues for them were often a little too close together and gave the WHOLE answer practically...very little to figure out or reason. I will be perfectly honest - I did look at a walkthrough to find the location of ONE ingredient for one of the offerings...a little half-inch by half-inch square that practically blends into the background is kind of tough to spot in a game where mostly EVERYTHING is dark and/or a repetetive forest print.

Finished it in a sitting, wasn't overly impressed.

Guess I'm crazy to hate this one too.....

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 7 / 11
Date: March 11, 2007
Author: Amazon User

I have to say upfront that I hated this game! It's boring. It sounds like a much better story than it actually is. Most of the time, you're just wandering around trying to figure out just what the authors of this game are trying to get you to do. Some things are ridiculously easy, while others make little sense and and time-consuming and frustrating.

The graphics are decent but rather dark throughout most of the game.

You simply don't get 'involved' with this game. It doesn't hold your interest. It's the only game I've ever stopped playing because I didn't care how it ended.....it's that boring! Save your money.

Nice Atmosphere, Decent Story

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 6 / 10
Date: September 06, 2006
Author: Amazon User

I really enjoy the horror genre, so I've been trying out a variety of different games that are supposed to be spooky and atmospheric. I don't enjoy gore and splatter that much, so I've been looking for something that focuses on creating a creepy supernatural landscape that you can explore.

This game does a pretty good job. The story is pretty cool, the actually "monster" stalking you isn't all that scary, but I enjoyed the landscapes: the misty swamp, the dark forest, the abandoned dig site. It has a pretty cool ending and believe it or not, it has an environmental message to it as well, making it a sort of eco-friendly horror, Cornish cultural mystery.

I'm still looking for something a little more shocking and intense, though. Maybe I'll try Scrathces.

I started playing Call of Cthulhu, being a fan of H.P. Lovecraft, and while the game had promise, it seriously degenerated into a lame piece of crap. The game play literally started giving me a headache. I did enjoy the world they created, and the creatures are cool, but you get killed so many times that it takes hours to get anywhere interesting. You have to arrive at a save point to save your progress, but sometimes that takes 3-4 tries to wade through the murky darkness through dozens of guys trying to kill you.

Still looking for the perfect horror game, one that's intense, exciting, interesting atmoshperic, engaging, and not centered on killing endless numbers of zombies. That's just not scary, that's frustrating.

Something between Barrow Hill and Call of Cthulhu would be nice.

Cheers!

engaging adventure game

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 4 / 5
Date: January 06, 2007
Author: Amazon User

Creative gameplay doesn't necessarily require a big budget as this game proves. This engaging adventure expands an existing megalithic monument to a mystic game realm, where you have to solve the disappearances in a small hammock somewhere in the British country side. The puzzles are logical and advance the game. Although the murderous entity may be surprising and a little clumsily presented, it is fun until the end. Then just visit the real sites that acted as the basis for the locations in the game.

Not the greatest...

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 4 / 5
Date: November 16, 2006
Author: Amazon User

The enjoyment factor of this game depends on how much you imagine yourself "in" the game. If you can imagine yourself walking around the actual environments, then the game might feel a bit spooky and you can appreciate it for what it's worth. If you can't see past some of the game's silliness, then you might not enjoy it too much.

The game is a simple point-and-click game. Puzzles aren't too hard, and you can probably finish the game in one day. The graphics are pretty good, but I think they shouldv'e been better considering how long it took to install all the data on my computer. The story is, again, a bit silly, or "cheesy", but overall the game is a pretty good adventure. I I don't know if it is worth 20 bucks, but you can always resell it after you play it. :)

A great little point and click...

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 4 / 5
Date: April 13, 2007
Author: Amazon User

This game is not for people who equate horror with gore or worse the old, pop out suddenly with loud music/sound to give you a start. It's what I consider smart-scary. You need to be able to immerse yourself in the story and in the atmosphere and allow you imagination to take over. I really, really enjoyed this game. I had a few creeped out moments, and 1 (or 2) genuine shivers that stayed with me. The puzzles are sensible and don't distract from the story. I strongly recommend you play this in a quiet house, in the dark, by yourself, with earphones so that you can hear all the little nuances to get the full effect. You don't want to have distractions break you out of the spell this game can cast.

spookymystery

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 5 / 9
Date: September 04, 2006
Author: Amazon User

LOVED THE GAME. JUST FUN SEARCH AND FIND. NO FIGHTING (WHICH I DISLIKE-RUINS THE GAME). YOU WILL NOT BE DISAPPOINTED. GREAT STORY AND INFORMATION. THANKS GOT GAME.

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