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Phantasmagoria (computer game)

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Phantasmagoria is a CD-ROM horror-themed computer game series created by Sierra On-line for the DOS and Windows platforms. The series is composed of two games: Phantasmagoria and Phantasmagoria: A Puzzle of Flesh was released in 1995 and 1996, respectively.

1 Phantasmagoria
- 1.1 Plot
- 1.2 Reception
2 Phantasmagoria: A Puzzle of Flesh
- 2.1 Reception
3 Phantasmagoria Stagefright
4 References
5 External links

Phantasmagoria

Phantasmagoria

Developer(s)	Sierra On-Line/Kronos Digital
Publisher(s)	Sierra On-Line/
Engine	SCI Engine v2
Released	1995
Genre	Horror / Adventure
Mode(s)	Single player
Ratings	RSAC: V3: Blood and gore NS3: Partial nudity, Non-explicit sexual activity L3: Strong, vulgar language ESRB: Mature BBFC: 18, USK: 18
Platform(s)	MS-DOS, Windows, Mac OS, Sega Saturn^[1]
Media	CD-ROM (7)

Made during the height of the "interactive movie" boom in the computer game industry, Phantasmagoria is notable for being one of the first adventure games to use a human being as an on-screen avatar. Actress Victoria Morsell spent months in front of a bluescreen filming the hundreds of actions players could direct her character to perform. The game was released on seven CDs to accommodate the massive amount of video generated by this process, the creation of which was contracted by Sierra to Kronos Digital Entertainment (who had previously worked on Sierra's King's Quest 6). Today it still stands as a record of sorts for the largest number of media cuts used in a game, though several other games, including an adventure game based on The X-Files television series have matched it in the sheer number of CDs used. Large portions of data were repeated on each CD, to avoid disk swapping when playing the game. The game script was nearly 400 pages long, four times the size of a regular movie script, and an additional 100 pages of storyboards set the style for the over 800 scenes in the game. The game required four months of filming alone and over 200 persons were involved in the production, not counting the Gregorian choir of 135 persons that was used for parts of the music in the game.

Plot

The story by Roberta Williams, somewhat similar to that of The Shining, revolves around paperback writer Adrienne Delaney, who has together with her husband Donald Gordon just bought a remote, enormous mansion previously owned by a famous magician in the late 19th century, Zoltan Carnovasch (Carno). Adrienne is hoping to get in the mood for writing her next novel and Don, a photographer, wants to photograph things. Immediately upon moving into the house, Adrienne begins having nightmares. Unbeknownst to the happy two, Zoltan the magician was into black magic and had summoned an evil demon which possessed him and made him murder his wives in grotesque ways remotely connected to their enjoyed hobby or career. For example, in one of the most controversial film sequences, the food-loving Regina is force fed animal entrails through a funnel until she suffocates and dies. As far as the townspeople know, the wives died naturally however tragically, but as Adrienne explores the house she starts to see visions of the murders taking place. She finds out that Zoltan met his demise when his last wife realized he was a murderer. She conspired with her lover to kill Zoltan by sabotaging the equipment for his most famous and dangerous escapology trick; inspired by "The Pit and the Pendulum" by Edgar Allan Poe, Zoltan would escape from being strapped to a chair with a built-in axe that swung back and forth above him and lowering until it killed him, all while his head was covered with a burning hood. The plan went wrong and both the wife and the lover as well as Zoltan died, and the demon escaped into a secret room of the mansion. Adrienne unwittingly releases it shortly after moving in and it possesses Don. Seeking help from, among others, the repenting spirit of Zoltan and a 110 year old man who as a boy was a witness to the demon's escape, Adrienne manages to banish the demon forever, although by then the completely insane Don gets killed.

Reception

Phantasmagoria was a notable outing for designer Roberta Williams, best known for her family games like the King's Quest series. Featuring graphic gore, violence and a rape scene, the game stirred controversy over age restrictions and target audiences in the maturing game industry. It was banned in Australia; while CompUSA and other major retailers simply refused to carry it. The game was never banned in Germany, but had an 18-Rating. Despite the controversy (or maybe due to the controversy), Phantasmagoria was Sierra's best-selling game in 1995 and one of the best-selling PC games of the year. Reviews from the major editorials of the time were positive: Computer Gaming World (now Games for Windows) gave the game 4 and a half (out of 5 stars) and an Editor's Choice Award; PC Gamer scored it an 88% and also rewarded it with its Editor's Choice distinction. Computer Game Review (now defunct) applauded Phantasmagoria with its Golden Triad Award.

Phantasmagoria: A Puzzle of Flesh

Phantasmagoria: A Puzzle of Flesh

Developer(s)	Sierra On-Line
Publisher(s)	Sierra On-Line
Released	1996
Genre	Horror / Adventure
Mode(s)	Single player
Ratings	BBFC: 18 RSAC: V3: Blood and gore NS4: Provocative frontal nudity, Non-explicit sexual activity L3: Strong, vulgar language
Platform(s)	MS-DOS or Windows
Media	CD-ROM (5)

In 1996, Phantasmagoria: A Puzzle of Flesh by Lorelei Shannon was released, coming on five separate CDs. Also known as Phantasmagoria 2, it is notable for being the first computer game to establish the playable character as being bisexual. The game was to be rated Adults Only by the ESRB, meaning it would not be allowed to be sold at most retail chains, so the publisher had the game rated by the RSAC instead. The plot of the second game in the series revolves around the character of Curtis Craig, a 30-year-old man working in a company managed by the enigmatic Paul Warner. Curtis' mysterious and traumatic past is a key element in the plot, as he pieces together his experience to form a picture of his soul, one whose discovery might lead to his demise. Harassed by quasi-delusions which seem all too real, Curtis aims to uncover the truth about his family, co-workers and most importantly, his own existence. As his delusions become more and more real and begin to have an enormous, terrible impact on his surroundings, Curtis must confront his fears or risk getting devoured by what lives within him. A Puzzle of Flesh has a fairly standard interface, with the cursor shaped into the distinctive logo of WynTech, the company employing Craig. The inventory is accessible practically at any time, while events of some importance can be recalled using an option that plays the clip the player selects from any single chapter. In Phantasmagoria 2, the real-life location where the fetish club scenes were shot was actually the original location of a popular downtown Seattle fetish club called The Vogue. Most of the extras in the club scene were Technical Support phone representatives from Sierra Online.

Reception

Dropping the unique adventure game style interaction in favor of an interactive movie format, A Puzzle of Flesh was more expensive to produce and less popular with audiences tiring of video clip-driven games. Though some concluded that it was a substantial improvement over the original in several areas, others dismissed the game, criticizing it for its completely different atmosphere, lack of creativity, interactivity and excessive violence. The game was considered a financial failure that could be linked to the result of a rapidly falling interest in interactive movies, and no further titles in the series were produced. The US and German uncut-version was put on The Index in Germany, but not the heavily-cut UK version.