Phantasmagoria: A Puzzle of Flesh

The Good
Phantasmagoria: A Puzzle of Flesh is a FMV (Full-Motion Video) adventure game that puts the "graphic" in the graphic adventure game genre.

Much like the first Phantasmagoria game, this game is set in the same universe but is not a direct sequel, the player bears witness to a mid-1990s environment awash in a digital sea of mature content.

The player takes control of a 30-something office nerd, who works for the same shadowy corporation as his late father, as his average workday becomes tainted with graphic violence, blood & gore, multiple murders, mental illness, romance, bisexuality, kinky S&M sex and even a bit of gender identity confusion tossed in for good measure. Suffice it to say, this game earns its "Mature" (17+) classification rating.

Progress in the game requires the player to travel to various locations, interact with various people and collect numerous items needed to solve an assortment of point and click, puzzles.

Fans of say, the Kings Quest franchise (a much more family friendly adventure game series by Roberta Williams) will quickly pick up the game play mechanics and the quality of the FMV was quite impressive for a video game at that time.

The story smoothly combines science fiction and horror elements that fans of of the genre will be familiar with. If you watched the X-Files and read Stephen King novels in the 1990s, then this game's story should hit many familiar notes.

The Bad
Phantasmagoria: A Puzzle Of The Flesh can take awhile to get going, storywise. Much of the initial game play involves you doing office work and chatting with coworkers (in person and on the phone). Gamers without patience may have a hard time getting to the more adult sci-fi/horror elements in the game.

The quality of the game's puzzles is also very uneven. Either the puzzles you encounter are too easy, or (near the game's end) so incredibly difficult that you will probably have to read a playthrough to get past.

Last, but not least, the technology used to create the FMV and 3D inventory images has not aged well. It looks better then the first Phantasmagoria game, and again, was quite ambitious for the mid-1990s, but some of the impact of the game may be lost to gamers used to the next generation gaming hardware capabilities.

The Bottom Line
Phantasmagoria: A Puzzle of Flesh is an ambitious point and click, graphic adventure game from the fine folks of Sierra On-Line. Think King's Quest, if the quest involved used FMV and featured a serial killer and an actual S&M nightclub. Does the ambition pay off? Well, mostly.

If you can accept that the game's storyline starts off slow, the game's puzzles have no middle ground when it comes to difficulty and yes, the FMV and 3D graphics are a product of their time, then Phantasmagoria: A Puzzle Of The Flesh will be worth your time.

If nothing else, playthrough the game just to enjoy the B-minus acting, the gory details, the frank sexuality, the water cooler conversations and a talking pet rat name, "Blob".