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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!

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.

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.

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.

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.

Could've Been DARK FALL3

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 1 / 1
Date: May 26, 2007
Author: Amazon User

For those of you who are, like myself, anxiously awaiting Dark Fall 3, get Barrow Hill! Could've been titled ( with all due respect to Mr. Clark and his team) "Prepare for What Happens After 'Lights Out': Barrow Hill." The atmosphere is familiar and even some of the sounds from Lights Out are in here (Jonathan Boakes is involved, of course). Looks great and user friendly. Highly recommend.

ABSOLUTELY WONDERFUL!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: August 08, 2007
Author: Amazon User

I have to say that I watched the development of this game before Matt Clark went 'public' and out of the 'independent game' category. I'm actually one of the 1st 100 people who ordered it. I was NOT EVEN REMOTELY disappointed!!!! HURRAY. I'm only sorry that I'm so late in posting my review here, because Mr. Clark has done such a wonderful job!

I admit to having a real weakness for adventure games of the Celtic/mystery supernatural gendre, so I'm real picky. I was NOT disappointed - even slightly!

Even from the beginning, the game doesn't let up, and at all points, it is appropiately spooky. It's night, after all, so everything is dark. The parts that are in the "present" seem like islands in a much larger scheme of things. Yours to discover how and why.

The whole game fits together PERFECTLY - and as I've said, I'm real picky!

Mr. Clark, I continue to play your wonderful game, and I'm so proud that my vigilance paid off. It's a play again - over and over. How many games does one play about which that can be said?!

If you love Celtic myth and mystery as much as I do - BUY IT!!!!!

BTaylor

Very Impressive with Great Attention to Detail

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 1 / 1
Date: October 29, 2007
Author: Amazon User

This is one of the best "point 'n click" adventures I have played in a long time, for MANY reasons.

-great atmosphere, super spooky lighting and shadows with creepy
unsettling sounds and music track. Eerie footsteps and breathing sounds follow you wherever you go.

-Logical puzzles that are not randomly put in. Basically, all the puzzles have a why along with the how. They use more realistic ways of putting in "puzzles" like having to use a GPS system or metal detector to find important items instead of having to solve some silly puzzle to open a secret door to get to the loot (heck, in this game sometimes you can just go for the practical "prying open" solution to a locked object).

-VERY accurate details regarding Cornish history and legends (they even went out of their way to record real Cornish crickets for the background sounds).

-VERY accurate info on Wiccan and Pagan practices and philosophies. I actually am Wiccan/Pagan and a lot of their info was spot on in regards to what we actually practice.

-They included a bunch of information regarding the game and things portrayed in the game on the disc. So, even when you've finished the game, you can go find out about the real "Barrow Hill" and some general stuff about Paganism.

Some might not care, but being a Pagan myself it was very refreshing to see such an accurate (at least when it comes to the information provided), positive approach to a spooky story involving Pagan practices. It shows the Pagan ideas and beliefs as forgotten and misunderstood instead of the typical picture of us as wild, Satan-worshiping, human-sacrificing heathens. So many suspense or horror stories involving Pagans are so inaccurate, as if we need to be shown as monsters to have the story be frightening. This story accomplishes BOTH, scaring the pants off of you while still using accurate information (except for the super fantastical elements in the story. Once you play, you will know what I mean...)

There were, however, some shortcomings, but they were so small I didn't think they really called for a subtraction of stars from my review (maybe a half a star, but since I can't give it 4 1/2 stars I've given it 5).

-It was short. Yep, really short. I finished it in about 2 days of on and off playing (I had to take breaks it would creep me out so much). I only payed about 5 bucks for my copy, so it being so short really didn't bug me (except that I wanted to keep playing it!)

-It was a little low budget, but not as much as I would expect from a smaller company. The scenes were beautiful and and the atmosphere was great, but you could tell they were trying to save money whenever you had to talk to someone...they just had a lot of still pics instead of a movie of the person talking to you. This really didn't take away from the game though.

Anyway, the pros far outweigh the cons and I would DEFINITELY recommend this to:
-Wiccans or Pagans (or those interested in Paganism or "Witchcraft")
-Suspense or Psychological Thriller fans
-Beginning players or players that don't have a lot of time to obsess over a game

However, I would NOT recommend this game to:
-People who have a hard time with Witchcraft or Paganism being shown as a positive thing
-Horror fans who like gore (this game has none...)
-People who have a lot of free time and want a game they can really sink their teeth into for a long while...

Absolutely GREAT game!

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.

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!

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