| Barrow Hill: Curse of the Ancient Circle | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Developer(s) | Shadow Tor Studios |
| Publisher(s) |
|
| Platform(s) | Windows |
| Release | |
| Genre(s) | Adventure |
| Mode(s) | Single-player |
Barrow Hill: Curse of the Ancient Circle is a horror adventure game developed by Shadow Tor Studios. Released in 2006, it is set in the site of Barrow Hill, based on real geographical locations in Cornwall, England.
Forced to spend a sinister night there, the player will investigate what is happening to the local people and why an archeological dig, led by professor Conrad Morse, has created so much unrest and hostility among the local community. During the exploration of the local legends and superstitions, the mystery will be unfold while using modern electronic devices like PDAs, GPS and metal detectors to unfold the mystery.
It is played as a classic first person "point and click" adventure, with the world being represented by pre-rendered, animated screens. The adventure is based on a non linear structure, that gives the players a lot of freedom in exploring the environment and collecting clues at their own pace.
| Aggregator | Score |
|---|---|
| Metacritic | 65/100 [4] |
| Publication | Score |
|---|---|
| 4Players | 73% [5] |
| Adventure Gamers |   [6] |
| Computer Games Magazine |  [7] |
| Eurogamer | 5/10 [8] |
| GameSpot | 2.6/10 [9] |
| GameZone | 7.6/10 [10] |
| IGN | 8.1/10 [11] |
| PC Gamer (US) | 62% [12] |
| PC Zone | 62% [13] |
| VideoGamer.com | 6/10 [14] |
| The New York Times | (positive) [15] |
The game received "mixed or average reviews" according to the review aggregation website Metacritic. [4] Some of the reviewers praised the creepy atmosphere, the quality of both audiovisual aspects and the logical game structure. The game puzzles were considered to be very well integrated with the story and the environment, never seeming like artificial obstacles to the player. [6] [16] Eurogamer said that the storyline "fizzles disappointingly as the game comes to its rather abrupt end." [8] GameSpot criticized the lack of engagement and scare factor, comparing the game to "a wait in a doctor's office." [9]
Castlevania, known in Japan as Akumajō Dracula, is a gothic horror action-adventure video game series and media franchise created by Konami. The series is largely set in the castle of Count Dracula, the main antagonist of the Belmont clan of vampire hunters.
Broken Sword is a series of adventure games. The first game in the series, Broken Sword: The Shadow of the Templars, was released and developed in 1996 by British developer Revolution Software. Its sequel, Broken Sword II: The Smoking Mirror, was released a year later, and was followed by Broken Sword: The Sleeping Dragon in 2003, Broken Sword: The Angel of Death in 2006, and Broken Sword 5: The Serpent's Curse in 2013. A remake of the first game in the series, known as Broken Sword: Shadow of the Templars – The Director's Cut, was released in 2009, and a remake of the second game in the series, Broken Sword: The Smoking Mirror – Remastered, in 2010 for iOS devices; other platforms followed in 2011.
Zeus: Master of Olympus is a single-player strategy game developed by Impressions Games and published by Sierra Studios. It is considered to be an additional installment in the City Building series of games. Like previous titles in the series, Zeus focuses on the building and development of a city in ancient times. The game features a number of changes from previous titles in the series, including being set in Ancient Greece as well as changes to certain gameplay mechanics; however, it is considered to be in most aspects very similar to its predecessor, Caesar III.
City Life is a city-building video game developed by Monte Cristo. It is the first modern building game to allow the player to work in full 3D environment. It was published in France by Monte Cristo, in the UK and Germany by Deep Silver and in North America by CDV. It was released in May 2006.
Ankh is a graphic adventure game by German developer Deck13 and published by bhv Software in 2005. It has a 3D environment with cinematic camera movement and incorporates humor. Ankh is a remake of Ankh: The Tales of Mystery, a 1998 adventure game developed by Artex Software for the Acorn Archimedes.
Heroes of Might and Magic V: Hammers of Fate is the first expansion pack to the turn-based strategy game Heroes of Might and Magic V. Like the original game, it was developed by Nival Interactive, under the guidance of Ubisoft.
Curse: The Eye of Isis is a survival horror video game that was developed by British studio Asylum Entertainment and published by DreamCatcher Interactive and Wanadoo for the Xbox, PlayStation 2 and Windows. It was released stateside for Windows in October 2003 and for Xbox in April 2004. The PlayStation 2 version was only released in Europe.
The Black Mirror is a third-person point-and-click horror adventure game developed in 2003 by Czech company Future Games. Its original name is Posel Smrti. The game features 150 locations and 5 hours of spoken dialogue. The Black Mirror became a commercial success, with 500,000 units sold worldwide by 2008. It was particularly successful in Germany, under publisher DTP Entertainment. Two sequels, Black Mirror II: Reigning Evil and Black Mirror III: Final Fear, were released. Additionally, a reboot titled Black Mirror was released in November 2017.
Knights of the Temple II is an open-world action-adventure game, developed by Cauldron and published by Playlogic Entertainment. It is the sequel to Knights of the Temple: Infernal Crusade.
The Mystery of the Druids is a single-player adventure video game developed by the German company House of Tales and published by cdv Software Entertainment. The game was first released in March 2001 for Microsoft Windows.
Sherlock Holmes is a series of adventure games developed by Frogwares. The games are based on Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes stories, featuring the detective Sherlock Holmes and his companion Dr. John H. Watson. While the franchise is based on Doyle's stories, each game has an original plot and storyline.
Mini Ninjas is a 2009 action-adventure game developed by IO Interactive and published by Eidos Interactive for Microsoft Windows, Nintendo DS, PlayStation 3, Wii and Xbox 360. A Mac OS X version of the game was released on July 8, 2010, by Feral Interactive. In December 2011, it was announced that the game would be also made available as a browser game for Google Chrome.
The Cursed Crusade is an action hack and slash game developed by Kylotonn and published by DTP Entertainment for Europe and Atlus USA for North America.
Impire is a real-time strategy video game developed by Cyanide Studios and published by Paradox Interactive, and released for Microsoft Windows via Steam on February 14, 2013.
The Dark Eye: Chains of Satinav is a 2012 graphic adventure game developed by the German studio Daedalic Entertainment and published by Deep Silver. Part of The Dark Eye series, the game is set in the fictional place of Aventuria within the Kingdom of Andergast. The player controls the protagonist, Geron, who tries to save the town from disaster.
Dropsy is a 2015 point-and-click adventure game developed by US-based indie developer Tendershoot and indie development studio A Jolly Corpse, and published by Devolver Digital. The game was released on September 10, 2015 for Microsoft Windows, OS X, Linux. The iOS port of Dropsy was released on December 17, 2015. The Nintendo Switch version was released on September 29, 2022.
The Immortals of Terra: A Perry Rhodan Adventure, known in the United Kingdom as Rhodan: Myth of the Illochim, is an adventure game developed by Braingame and published by Koch Media and Viva Media for Microsoft Windows in 2008.
The Excavation of Hob's Barrow is a folk horror point-and-click adventure game developed by Cloak and Dagger Games and published by Wadjet Eye Games in 2022. Players attempt to solve a mystery in rural England during the Victorian era.
Arkham Horror: Mother's Embrace is a digital adaptation of the board game Arkham Horror developed by Artefacts Studio and published by Asmodee Digital. It combines gameplay from adventure games and tactical role-playing games.