STORY

 

Tim & Kate were on their way to visit Kate’s mum. They took the scenic route through the woods, which is not the route they usually take. Unfortunately, their trip was cut short, when the car accidentally crashed into a tree after Tim tried to avoid hitting a deer. The car is a wreck, leaving them completely stranded! To top it off, Tim can’t get any reception on his mobile phone, so he can’t even call for help. There’s nothing else for it - they have to go and find help themselves if they’re ever going to make it to Kate’s mum. The problem is… the road is completely deserted.

 

With no other option, Tim & Kate decide to start walking. Eventually, they come across the town of Rabbit Hill. Maybe they could find someone to help fix their car, as well as finding a phone to call Kate’s mum. While Tim tries to get help in the service station shop, Kate thinks she hears another car, and goes off to investigate…

 

… Only to disappear without a trace. One minute, Tim watched her walk out the door… the next minute, she has vanished into thin air!

 

But… how? How is this possible? People don’t just disappear like that, do they? So where is she?

 

Tim begins searching for his wife. But as he delves deeper into Rabbit Hill, he begins to realise that there’s a lot more to this quiet little town than meets the eye! What happened to that dead body in the public toilets? Why is that man from the service station shop so afraid? What exactly is ‘It’? And most importantly… WHERE IS KATE?

 

Help Tim, as he tries to make sense of this nightmare.

 

 

 

GAMEPLAY

 

Rabbit Hill is a lovely little horror adventure game. A mouse is used to interact with Tim’s world, with the Left Mouse Button being used for Pick Up \ Open \ Use, and the Right Mouse Button being used for Look.

 

The Game Menu can be brought up by clicking on the Power Switch icon at bottom right of the screen. From here, you can Exit the game or Continue the game. There is also a handy little Progress Bar in this menu, showing how much of the game you have completed - a nice touch.

 

Your Game Progress can be Saved at any time by pressing ‘S’ on the keyboard. As always, I recommend Saving often, using different Save slots.

 

Exits are indicated by the word ‘Exit’, and you can just click there to leave the screen in that direction. I like how some Exits are blocked with a padlock, indicating you can’t go there yet, but come back later. Having said that, sometimes Exits are hard to spot, so it’s fairly easy to miss new areas.

 

One thing I found very frustrating about this game, is the ‘Shoot The Birds’ arcade mini-game. You are warned beforehand that it’s a good idea to Save your game now, and I really recommend you do just that! The crows are attacking you, and you have to shoot them. It’s a hard game. It’s dark so you can’t see the crows very well. You only have limited bullets. You have to be quick. If you run out of bullets, the crows kill you. If they attack too many times, they kill you. And it’s non-skippable! I found it best to only fire once at each bird, and if you miss, just go on to the next one.

 

It’s a wonderful, spooky atmosphere though, so once you can get past the bird arcade game, you’re in for a treat. The spooky woods just sets things off nicely, emphasising how isolated you are in your quest.

 

 

 

GRAPHICS

 

The FMV graphics are gorgeous! The backgrounds are actual locations found in East Sussex, and Two Tales (the game creator) has cleverly digitised them and placed them into the game.

 

Every so often, a leaf falls from a tree in the forest, and it’s lovely to see. Inventory items are shown as pictures along the bottom of the screen - simply right-click to get a better description of them.

 

The dialogue font is really creepy and unsettling, and really fits the horror theme of the game.

 

 

 

SOUND AND MUSIC

 

Music in the Title Screen is hauntingly beautiful, and sets the tone nicely.

 

As the game begins, the immersive sound effects are just gorgeous, and really help draw you in. Everything from animals calling out to each other in the woods, to dripping water in the bathroom, to that squeaky door on the phone box, to static on TV. It’s just wonderful, and really brings the game to life. There’s even a bell on the shop door that rings as you enter.

 

There are no voices in the game, except for 2 answer phone messages in the cafe. I love those phone messages - it’s another hint that Rabbit Hill was once just a normal town, and something has gone horribly wrong! Where are Mike and Jane now? Are they still alive?

 

 

 

SUMMARY

 

Rabbit Hill is a lovely little horror adventure game that will give you plenty of scares, frights, and jumps. The story about Tim & Kate ending up in this haunted, deserted town is superb, and the setting with the woods only adds to the isolation from the outside world. Backgrounds are actual photos that have been cleverly brought into the game. Sound effects are very immersive, and bring the game to life. My only complaint, as I said above, is that non-skippable arcade game with the birds.

 

A lot of love has been poured into the game, and it shows. Kudos to Two Tales for bringing us to Rabbit Hill.