Product Description

The eerie Cornish landscape springs to life in Barrow Hill: Curse of the Ancient Circle, a haunting mystery adventure game for the PC. A detailed and spellbinding story and organic puzzles are woven through the very fabric of Barrow Hill, leading you to explore well trodden pathways across the land, seek clues in almost forgotten shrines, unearth ancient artifacts, and delve into the Celtic legends which haunt the green lanes of the hill.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #3524 in Computer & Video Games
• Brand: Got Game
• Model: 2098657
• Released on: 2006-08-15
• ESRB Rating: Teen
• Platforms: Windows Me, Windows 98, Windows XP, Windows 2000
• Format: DVD-Video
• Dimensions: .45 pounds

Features

• First person non-linear point-and-click adventure
• Solve puzzles using real archaeological techniques
• Spellbinding storyline
• Intricately detailed graphics
• Haunting soundtrack

Customer Reviews

Good Game For Straight RPers
This game is cute and fun. It's easy to immerse yourself in it and become the unnamed main character. It involves some problem solving techniques, though nothing over complicated or too hard. I solved it in about two hours without a walkthrough. There is only one enemy and it will only kill you if you go on the wrong path before the required clues are collected and you don't have to even run from it then, just turn around. And even if you do die, nothing happens. There is no experience to lose, no levels to raise. You are basically in a scavenger hunt for items and clues in a very small playing field. You can set your own pace, but there really is not any point in delaying because unless you are going to the next clue, nothing will happen. The controls are stiff compared to modern controls, you basically click on the four sides of the screen to move with very little finesse, but at least you can cover huge areas with a single click. The sounds are moody and believable, the atmosphere is not scary but somehow compelling, a little creepy and a little... well almost peaceful. It is a horror mystery, but it feels familiar, like an old well worn nightmare you know by heart. There are a couple of gruesome images, a fried slag heap that used to be a kid with twisted glasses, a single sneaker, and scattered coloring crayons, toys, and books and the on-phone killing of a dog, but it is mild enough to be kid safe.

If you are looking for a horror shooter, this isn't it. Get the Silent Hill Games.
If you are looking for something scary, this isn't it. Get the Fatal Frame Games.
If you want challenging puzzles and mind benders or obscure clues, this isn't it. Try Killing Ground for that.

If you want a fun diversion to remind you of simpler times, buy Barrow Hill and enjoy it.

Does not have 360 degree turn...
I've played Myst games and Scratches, and although the first 2 Myst games were without the 360degrees turn, Myst 3 and 4 had 360 degree turn in the game. The reason the first 2 Myst games did not have 360 turn was that they came out in the early 1990's. This game did not have that, and I was expecting it to have it, mainly because its a recently new game that probably came out last year or so. Another thing is I just didn't care for this so I returned it for a refund. Sorry to be the only one here who didn't pick up interest in this one.

Eh... so so.
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.