Preview Barrow Hill Developer: Shadow Tor Studios Publisher: TBD Release Date: 2nd Qtr 2005 Platform: Preview by Ugur Sener February 4, 2005

Shadow Tor Studios takes on an ambitious project with the recently announced Barrow Hill. Inspired by an ancient stone circle of the same name, Barrow Hill promises to be a horror-themed adventure game full of mystery and intrigue, challenging players to explore and reveal the secrets behind an interesting historical location.

The Barrow Hill project was launched following an invitation from Conrad Morse of Middlestone University. Shadow Tor Studios will participate in surveying the historical site, taking pictures and creating video and sound recordings, which will be used to digitally rebuild Barrow Hill. The rest of us will get a creepy adventure game out of the deal!

According to the Barrow Hill Web site, the stone circle is at least 4500 years old, standing since 2500 BC. A single monolith marks the entrance of the circle formed by seven standing stones. The entire site is on a hill and surrounded by a forest. Despite its long history, the site has never been surveyed. Morse explains that “There are wild stories regarding why the circle has yet to be surveyed, everything from bad leylines to murderous neo-druids.”

The press release announcing the game states that there are a number of mysteries surrounding Barrow Hill. For instance, “Two construction workers vanished in 1967, while building the nearby service station.” When one of the men finally returned, “scratches and bruises scarred his skin, and his mind was broken.” He was in a state of shock and refused to speak of his experience. While Morse is determined not to let the stories about the site get in the way of the project, the stories about Barrow Hill will undoubtedly make great source material for the game. Shadow Tor Studios president Matt Clark announces that “the legends, myths and folktales are fascinating, and will be driving the game in many creepy directions.”

Barrow Hill will be played from a first-person perspective. Clark assures gamers that “many tricks and devices are being employed to provide an exciting and immersive gaming experience. From eerie woodlands to desolate farm buildings, the game world of Barrow Hill will feel very much alive, and keep the player[s] looking over their shoulder[s].” Pure adventurists will be thrilled to hear that while the story of Barrow Hill “includes spine tingling twists, there are no specific action sequences or aspects of the role-playing genre.” Clark explains that Shadow Tor Studios decided early on in the project “to create a classic game in the style of the timeless adventures.”

The story will be based on the myths and legends surrounding the historical site. Clark explains that after finding themselves “stranded on the lonely road to the barrow” players will follow “in the footsteps of the well-known archaeologist, Conrad Morse, [and] discover that the barrow is more than just a mound of earth and a collection of forgotten standing stones.” However, Clark warns players: “Not all archaeology is constructive, for some things should be left buried and undisturbed…”

The screenshots that were available with the press release are promising. For instance, the following pictures illustrate that a great deal of effort is going into recreating the historical site accurately. The picture to the left is a photograph from the actual excavation site. The picture to the right is the same location digitally recreated by Shadow Tor Studios.

Shadow Tor Studios seems to be very motivated about Barrow Hill. Clark expresses that he loves “creepy adventure games, so this title is going to be a pleasure to produce, and hopefully give a few gamers sleepless nights.” Apparently gamers will not be only ones with sleepless nights as he also states that the developers are “unaware that many long, lonely nights await them, huddled on the moors with only a flask of coffee and a laptop computer.”

Shadow Tor Studios invite gamers to the official Web site for Barrow Hill. The site will not only include detailed information about the game, but also cover Morse’s excavation. If you like the idea of a scary adventure game based on the mysteries surrounding an ancient archeological site, keep an eye out for Barrow Hill. The game is expected to ship out on the second quarter of 2005.