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Falling short of a few modern standards

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 3 / 4
Date: March 23, 2007
Author: Amazon User

I love adventure games. Games that are cerebral and taunting. Those puzzles that tug at the corners of your mind. I like the indy nature of this game, but I think it is lacking some of the necessary standards for today's adventure games: mostly panoramic cameras. The click to view all directions still feels as flighty and confusing as it did in the 90's. Panoramic camera has done so much for the genre. Another problem I see is being able to view so much that is useless. There are several areas where you can zoom in and objects look like they could be important, but they are useless within the context of the game: Like the random Jigsaw puzzle in the cafe. The tone of this game is nice and some of the inventory puzzles were 'ok', but overall I think it is lacking substance. The endings were disappointing, but no adventure game I've ever played has had a stellar ending, but there was no sense of finality. I would love to see more from this developer because I think there is a lot of potential, but as for this outing, it would be lower on my priority list.

Fun, mysterious, addicting and nice graphics

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 3 / 4
Date: December 30, 2006
Author: Amazon User

What an enjoyable mystery game! The puzzles are complex enough to make you think, but not too complex to solve...okay I did go to UHS Hints a few times for clues, but I always do that. There is a lot to explore and many clues if you can recognise them. Do take notes during the game, you will reference them for the final solve.

I am a Syberia and Syberia II fan and would rate Barrow Hill up there with them for storyline and puzzles - although it is quite different. For one, there is relatively no interaction with other characters, they just provide information. Your character is pretty much alone which adds to the spooky factor along with the creepy music. The game is not all dark and doom ridden, just mysterious.

Getting around is quick (learn your maps)which helps when you have to go back to get something else. Exploration is fun although you have to orient yourself to moving without periphial vision. For example, you have to move up until you are perpendicular to your turn or you might miss it.

Good edition to a Fortean Collection

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 2 / 2
Date: May 03, 2007
Author: Amazon User

I'm always on the lookout for an excellent paranormal or Fortean type game. When I saw this one, and read the reviews, I gave it a chance. I wasn't disappointed. Beautiful graphics, eerie atmosphere and an engaging story all make it worth playing. My only complaint about it is the length. It's too short. Can't recall how long it took, but I would guess around 2 hours or so to finish. Maybe less. Still, the game is well worth having if you want a good eerie title for your collection. It isn't scary, and though some say you can die, I never did. If you get the walkthrough for it from GameFAQs, you'll complete the game in now time.

Short but sweet

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 2 / 2
Date: July 19, 2007
Author: Amazon User

Barrow Hill is one of those rare independently developed games that jumps to a professional level of quality. The setting is genuinely creepy. Every element of the game contributes to a general sense of unease. The graphics, while outdated, are utilized in such a way to be extremely effective. The sound is probably the most striking part. Crickets, rustling leaves and birds are all represented in the game with stunning execution. The locations are very detailed and feel very realistic. Players will explore and interact with a large number of objects, but only a very small number of these have any purpose in play. While this helps create atmosphere, it may also confuse the player in some cases.

The story is excellently developed and allows the player to roll into it, rather than forcing their hand. This presents the player with a real sense of accomplishment and control that isn't always present in other adventure games.

The game does have some weak spots, unfortunately. Without spoiling anything, the game does lose some fear elements when the player finally encounters the primary antagonist. Additionally, the game may be far too easy and consequently too short for an experienced adventure gamer.

For the price paid, I feel like I got a good amount. There's some bonus materials including a large amount of additional content concerning the game's real world setting of Cornwall, England. Additionally there's some behind-the-scenes information on the game's development.

Eh... so so.

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 2 / 2
Date: October 31, 2007
Author: Amazon User

This game reminds me of those really bad survival horror playstation games. I say this because everything you do has to be precise. For example: You see a door and you can't open it. So you have to search high and low for a rubber band to place it on the doorknob. Still can't open the door, so you have to search high and low for something with substantial weight to balance on the rubber band, so that the rubber band can swing low turning the doorknob opening the door. Couldn't you just turn the doorknob with your hands? This example didn't come from this game, but it's similar stuff like. You can't do things without finding other stuff first. This can be long and frustrating... yet addicting if you're stubborn.

I wish you could do more than just point-and-click. The game is a bit eerie and at times I thought I was going to jump out my seat, but knowing all you could do is just point-and-click really takes away the excitement. There's no way you can go to combat with your fancy point-and-click trick. No no.. it's way too fancy.
A lot of the times I wasn't sure when was the right moment to click. The arrow of your mouse will turn into either a direction (left, right, or up) or a magnifying glass telling you that you can zoom either in or out. But you'd have to place your arrow directly over an item, and it's hard to identify interacting objects because they were random, at least in my opinion. My roommate thinks differently. You'd look at a table with a bunch of boxes on it, and you suspect there's something in there, you move your mouse the box on the left but your arrow doesn't change into the magnifying glass, nor does it change for the box on the right, but sure enough it changes for the box huddled inbetween a broken couch and empty bottles. And you'd have to be careful not to move the arrow so far up or down on the screen because black margin's will show up (containing objects you've picked up and can use).

I did enjoy having to find scraps of paper in various locations especially if they hold important information. My roommate hated this because that meant you had to read everything... and there was A LOT to read. But it made me feel like a real detective. My advice: make notes on everything you think is important. Just so you don't have to kill yourself trying to find that one scrap of paper in that abandoned and random place to figure out the combination of the lock to a room you need to go in.

I give this game a 3.5 because of the reasons I've mentioned. Having a battle would be fun, and only if it wasn't so random. But it did keep me going-- I am a bit stubborn to figure things out so I was always on my computer. I'd play it again in a year or so, just so I can forget the step-by-step process and start anew.

Finished it in One Day................

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 3 / 5
Date: October 17, 2006
Author: Amazon User

Me and my girlfriend spent all Sunday playing this game. We were hooked.

The Good.
Excellent graphics.
Good Story.
Fun to Play.

The Bad.
The Ending was weak.
The monster should have chased the character throughout the game. Only shows up twice.
Short game

Overall, not a bad way to spend a day. Better than Darkfall. If you want a Darker Myst type game with not as many puzzles, but more searching. This game should suit your tastes fine.............

Am I crazy to hate this game?

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 4 / 9
Date: February 09, 2007
Author: Amazon User

Everyone else reviewing this product seems quite happy with this game, but to me, interaction with characters is the most imporant thing. There were no good graphics in this game when it came to people. the scenery is great, I must say, but whenever there was someone talking to you, it was a photo of a person with voiceover work. So lame!

Spooky Fun

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 2 / 3
Date: January 10, 2007
Author: Amazon User

This game is a lot of fun and rather spooky in places. I like the fact that you don't always have to do things in a specific order to solve the mystery and finish the game. The graphics are better than most and the music and voices are very well done.

Not as good as its description

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 3 / 8
Date: April 10, 2007
Author: Amazon User

This game left a lot to be desired. First off, it is supposed to be a "horror" game but about the only real horror in the entire game is the "mess" left in the kitchen. Other than that, there really is very little about the game to put one on the "edge of one's seat". In fact, at several points in the game, I found myself laughing out loud at some of the things that were (I believe) meant to be disturbing but instead just came across as being "hokey". The story line was not too awfully bad but for the most part it seemed as if they had a story and were unable to come up with the goods to create a decently frightening atmosphere, not to mention some decent puzzles. Mostly, you are just stumbling around in the dark (literally) and travelling in circles. It could have been infinitely better. Would I recommend this game to another person? Probably not; that is unless they were looking for a good laugh or two.

Sinister....Not

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 2 / 4
Date: January 06, 2007
Author: Amazon User

If Jonathan Boakes has anything to do with it, I'll buy. I wasn't disappointed. The gameplay is much like that of the Darkfall series(hmm...hope there will be a third???). My only grievance is that it was too short and not as sinister as I was hoping the game to be.

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