DOS

Roberta Williams' Phantasmagoria

With Phantasmagoria, Sierra On-Line made a decisive step into adult games. Until now, the extensive line of products from Sierra On-Line included titles such as the famous King's Quest and Space Quest series which had no restrictions for the audience. It was only two years ago with Gabriel Knight that Sierra On-Line tried an incursion into adult games that met an enormous success. The game, based on the vodoo superstition, has been a revelation and proved there was an audience ready for this kind of adventure games. That's the reason why Phantasmagoria and the soon to be released, Gabriel Knight II: The Beast Within have been developed with multi-million dollars budget. The traditional animations used for so many years became obsolete and were replaced by full-motion videos with the same actors and special effects that you can watch in the film industry.

Multimediales Horror-Adventure mit allen Schikanen und noch mehr Schockeffekten.

C'est beau, plutôt prenant, mais hélas beaucoup trop court et simplet. Pour un joueur confirmé, la résolution de l'aventure est chose faite en deux soirées.

Parin läpipeluukerran jälkeen Phantasmagoria tuntuu valtavalta pettymykseltä. Pelin Dos- ja Windows-versiot pyörivät hyvin, mutta itse pelissä ei ole sisältöä. Tarina on heikko ja hahmot mielikuvituksettomia, eikä seikkailuun ole mahtunut sitä itseään: seikkailua. Peli on liian helppo, lyhyt ja sanalla sanoen tylsä. Ilman näyttävää loppua pisteet putoaisivat vielä roimasti, sillä nyt pelistä jää sentään kohtuullinen jälkimaku. Mitä tapahtui, Sierra?

Sí, el juego tiene muchísimas cosas para criticar. Pero al comienzo del artículo dije que este juego no es un juego olvidable, y tengo razón: es una frikada maravillosa. Todos estos puntos flojísimos que ennumeré se traducen a un experimento que salió mal, pero que no deja de ser de lo más curioso y que cualquier aventurero debería probar. Porque es un juego de Sierra, al fin y al cabo, especialmente creado en una época en donde la empresa todavía sabía lo que hacía. Así que, por más que pueda seguir criticándolo, en el fondo es un juego que me atrae (ya lo jugué dos veces, oigan) por algún motivo, y no puedo entonces dejar de recomendarlo.

Gore permitting, first time gamers may well find Phantasmagoria to be an excellent introduction to the delights of computer game playing as there is plenty of exploration and very little frustration in the form of difficult problems to overcome. More experienced players, however, will no doubt find it all a bit too easy and even 'frustrating' because of the limited interaction.

Phantasmagoria is Sierra's first attempt at a full-blown, live-action, interactive video adventure, and their ambition far outweighs the results. A four-plus-million-dollar budget and over two years in production do not necessarily translate into high quality gaming.

Phantasmagoria. The game that made us all wonder if sweet King's Quest/Mixed Up Mother Goose designer Roberta Williams had secret "daddy issues." The game spoken of in mostly hushed tones and shocked awe - "Did you SEE that part where that girl got killed?" "Did you SEE that rape scene!?" And the game that did or did not revolutionize the "interactive movie," depending on who you talk to. Does it deserve all of this ruckus it has stirred up over the years? Yes. Is it the scariest game ever made? Sadly, no.

Inhaltlich rührt Roberta Williams eine verquaste Genre-Mixtur an und bemüht so ziemlich jedes dumme Horrorfilm-Klischee. Da reiβen auch die wenigen, aber dafür widerlichen Gore-Szenen nichts mehr raus.

Okay, here's where you lose any shred of respect you may have for me. Despite everything I've said, I enjoyed playing Phantasmagoria. It was fun in a very base, trashy way. It had an interface that was intuitive and dependable. It's got some of those sturdy video virtues that I always enjoy. I guess I'm so critical of it because I think Sierra and Roberta Williams squandered an opportunity to make a really fine, groundbreaking, and new type of game and instead went for the low road. It's a pity.

Phantasmagoria es un juego cuyo interés practicamente se reduce al del coleccionista: fue la aventura de vídeo más vendida nunca, y uno puede tener curiosidad por la razón de tantas ventas - aparte del marketing - y por qué esa cantidad de seguidores que casi lo hacen un juego de culto. Porque por lo demás ofrece un entretenimiento muy cogido por los pelos, con una historia demasiado tópica, unos protagonistas antipáticos, unos puzzles rutinarios, y un concepto equivocado de lo que es dirigir un juego al público adulto.