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.