Phantasmagoria

About Phantasmagoria

Phantasmagoria is a point-and-click horror adventure designed by Roberta Williams and released by Sierra in 1995, at the height of the interactive movie. Its cast of twenty-five actors was filmed in front of a blue screen, directed by Peter Maris, and set into more than a thousand pre-rendered backgrounds; it first shipped on seven CDs. Activision sells it today on Steam and GOG for Windows: the GOG version runs through ScummVM, the Steam one through DOSBox.

You play Adrienne Delaney, a successful mystery writer who has just bought a remote mansion off a small New England island with her photographer husband Don. The house once belonged to Zoltan Carnovasch, a 19th-century magician whose five wives all died mysteriously. Adrienne's nightmares start soon after they move in, and as she explores she is shown, in visions, how those wives really died.

Adrienne is always on screen. You click where she should go, and the camera cuts to a new angle or room as she moves. There are only four actions: walk, look (which becomes talk when you point at a person), pick up and use. The cursor turns red over anything you can act on, and once that action is done it stays plain. The story moves on chapter by chapter, with a gauge on the options screen showing how much of the current chapter is left.

The game earned its place in horror history through controversy. Its filmed death scenes are graphic and it contains a rape scene; some retailers, CompUSA among them, would not carry it, and it was refused classification in Australia. Sierra marketed it for adults and built in a password-protected setting that tones down the graphic content. Reviews at the time were mixed: critics praised its pictures and suspense and faulted its slow pace and easy puzzles. It still sold strongly, and today it is rated Very Positive on Steam.

It suits players curious about 1990s horror and the FMV era, and anyone who liked Harvester, Realms of the Haunting or Sierra's Gabriel Knight 2. The acting and pictures are of their time; the violence still lands.

How to play Phantasmagoria

1. Buy it on Steam or GOG for Windows and start a new game.
2. Click where you want Adrienne to walk; the view cuts to a new camera angle or room as she moves.
3. Click on people and objects to look at or talk to them, pick them up or use them; the cursor turns red over anything you can act on.
4. Use items from the inventory slots at the bottom of the screen to move each chapter on.
5. Press the P button for the options screen: save, load, screen size, volume, the censor setting and the chapter gauge.
6. Click the red skull on the left of the interface for a hint when you are stuck.

Tips

• Before playing, decide whether to turn on the password-protected censor setting, which tones down the graphic scenes.
• Explore every room of the mansion and its grounds between story scenes; the house changes from chapter to chapter.
• Keep an eye on the chapter gauge in the options screen to see how much of a chapter is left.
• Some key items and events are easy to miss, so look closely at each room; a cursor that stays plain means there is nothing more to do there.

Questions