Barrow Hill: The Dark Path (PC) Review

As is usual for point-and-click adventure games, Barrow Hill: The Dark Path involves a trek through multiple scenes, each housing important clues or items that can be used to solve puzzles. The user interface is crude but effective, relying entirely on mouse-driven controls. The pointer helpfully changes to a magnifying glass, arrow, or toolset. These indicators are welcome, since it's not always obvious where the survivor is supposed to go, or what they should investigate. At least, unlike most adventure games, there's an understandable explanation for why the protagonist would dig through the trash, just for a tin can.

It's important to take notes in this game. While Barrow Hill isn't massive, jotting down anything that looks interesting, will result in less back & forth trips. Being able to draw is helpful, as well, since a number of puzzles rely on symbols. Thankfully, a handy book found early on will make things easier to comprehend. There are a few instances where other visitors to Barrow Hill will call. It's worth paying attention to them, because they'll give players an idea of what to do next. It's not immediately obvious, and the game doesn't provide a checklist that tracks any and all progress, so someone might ignore these calls and then wonder: "What do I do now?"

The world building is great. There's a lot of backstory to sift through, along with letters, cards, newspaper articles, and even a website or two. All of this information not only helps keep the game interesting, but it also serves as a fine introduction for anyone who wants to learn more about Celtic myths and legends. The later puzzles are rewarding for players who take the time to appreciate the details, no matter how minor they seem.

Overall, the presentation is a mixed bag. The landscapes are nicely rendered, and there are some remarkable visuals. However, the character models are very low budget, and they look jarringly inconsistent with the environments. Speaking of inconsistent, this game also has real actors, photos of actual people, and even a few FMV scenes. It's a rather strange look, but understandable. It might have been too hard to convincingly animate the few CG models for certain sequences. While the look is slightly off-putting, it evokes a bit of charm. Although, it is annoying that the graphics don't upscale. Playing at any resolution higher than the default causes the game to run in a window. In full screen, this results in large borders.

The music is well done, and the effects fit the atmosphere, but the voice acting can get really bad. DJ Emma Harry - who apparently plays herself in the game - does a decent enough job. There are a few other minor characters that perform admirably, as well. Mia, one of the main characters, sounds a little disinterested, but she's not nearly as bad as Olly. Olly is a nerdy wannabe actor, and he sounds ridiculous, sort of like a cross between Peter Pettigrew and Roger Rabbit. His incessant whining is reason enough for anyone to wish ill things upon him. He's supposed to be a coward, but the voice actor probably took it too far.

In fairness, having goofy characters doesn't really negatively affect the tone. This can be considered a horror game, but the humorous moments work as they should. They keep everything from coming off as a little too serious. Furthermore, there aren't any fail states. In other words, the protagonist can't die, nor will they fail in solving the mystery, provided the player doesn't give up. This is both a plus and a minus. It's easier to focus on the puzzle solving, but there is less at stake. However, it's impossible to come up with moments where death scenarios would actually work, so it's a wash.