Surprise! After ten (10) years of waiting, Matt Clark finally has released a sequel to the classic Barrow Hill (that is a link to my review of the game—yes, I reviewed it, as "Enigma" for Four Fat Chicks, back in the day)! OK, I've basically just started Avadon 3, but I only waited one year for that.
I can't resist. My little characters in Avadon will be fine while I do this game! And it's a real adventure! (I know this going in.)
First impressions: things start just as they did in the original game, one I played far more than once over the years, although not recently, as the game was getting pretty creaky and would only run on my Dad's old Vista laptop. Ugh. Another wonderful surprise, Matt has listed the original game on Steam as well as this one! Of course I got it!
I was worried I wouldn't be able to get it to run, because I have an ancient XP program running on my Fusion Virtual Machine on my iMac. Although I'm running out of space on there, I was able to delete a few games that I have on Steam and one that I have on disc to make room for it. And it works! It plays just fine! My specs, of course, are the minimal requirements, but that doesn't seem to matter. Whew!
Now! To the game! Matt has followed the original game really well. We start with a black and white movie of our drive into the site, with Emma Harry on the BHR radio:
A bit of a spooky drive in
Again, it's the autumn equinox, so I'm wondering just why we are returning? To finish old business, apparently.
Again we have a slideshow presentation and I really like that choice, although navigation is way more difficult in this game than in the first. It's going to take me some major time to figure how to get where I want to go. At this point I'm lucky to find anything. By just blundering about, however, I have uncovered some playing areas. Again, it's an inventory game. Good. I've found some stuff, and even managed to knock off an old weathervane from the top of a building. The artwork is just like the original game—I really like that.
We also meet the other characters, Emma and her little friend Mia, on the phone, as in the first game. And that first screen made me think there was a glitch in the game, when you exit the car and approach the motel. A sound plays over and over, and all navigation arrows disappear. Apparently the sound is a common ringtone in Britain, but not in the U.S., so I didn't realize my phone was ringing. Players, you're not going anywhere until you answer the phone. (That isn't a spoiler—it's literally the first thing you do in the game and if you don't do it you'll think your game file is corrupted.)
Update: When I first played this it was just after Matt had released the game. He's done numerous updates on it since, and one of them is that he has changed that ring tone to one that actually sounds like a ring tone that Americans will recognize. Good fix!
Update: When I first played this it was just after Matt had released the game. He's done numerous updates on it since, and one of them is that he has changed that ring tone to one that actually sounds like a ring tone that Americans will recognize. Good fix!
Navigation: I was really sure I was stuck for good. I started out by going behind the motel through the fence, just the way we did it in the original, but I couldn't get back. Found a major node with a computer (have to find the password) and a bunch of nice inventory items. Clearly, I'll be returning to this place.
But what's the password?
After finally stumbling out through the forest, I was able to find my way back to the entrance of the motel. It had to have taken half an hour to find that node. Whew! And then I was able, with an inventory item I had acquired, to access a nice little puzzle, pretty easy actually, to turn on the lights!
So that is standard adventuring: get in the door and turn on the lights. Haven't managed to get in the door yet. Hmm. Maybe I can now that I have the lights on.
I must say that finding objects is a bit different from the first game. All you get is an arrow. Click on the arrows!
But I'm finding the navigation really frustrating, so far. I'm just going to have to get used to the clues. The pathways are not nearly as clear as in the first game. Well, the place has been abandoned for a decade, so I guess that makes sense. So far I've found the picnic area and the druid pool and the wishing stones, but I haven't managed to get to the farm. The game won't let me continue down the road past the phone booth (yet?).
I'm guessing that I'll have to figure out all the magical items I'll need to place in various areas, as we did in the original game. So far, however, I'm just exploring and picking up whatever inventory items I find. Not trying to make any sense of it yet.
One definite glitch: I found Gus's MP3 player, but the game won't let me view it close-up from the inventory. Well, I notice that Matt has already added upgrades to the game just since I bought it, so I'm sure he'll fix that soon. I just hope I'm not missing a vital clue!
Despite the frustration with navigation, I really am making progress and finding stuff. Eventually, things will start to make sense. I saved the game just outside my car at the beginning node of the game, so I ought to be able to try to get into the motel next. If that's possible, of course. But if not, why did we turn on the lights?
To play this, I have moved my computer back out into the den, where I can play while sitting in my recliner chair! If I'm frustrated, at least I'm comfortable!
So tomorrow, I will continue!
Oh it is just wonderful to get back to Barrow Hill! Thank you Matt!
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