Phantasmagoria: Vintage Gore In FMV!
Some games are "game changers", if you pardon the pun. Phantasmagoria the survival horror adventure game from 1995 is one of those games. Not only for being one of the first and most expansive games to feature Full Motion Video, but also for its depth of story-telling, its level of gore, and the controversy that surrounded it on its release. Created by the famous co-founder of Sierra On-Line, Roberta Williams, the production of the game was even more epic than the game itself.
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In a 1999 interview Roberta Williams said that she had to learn the techniques of movie writing, and creation, while attempting at the same time design an "interactive" adventure game. The script extended to a huge 550 pages, all of which was filmed and included in the massive 7 CDs that the game sprawled across. The Full Motion Video (FMV) sequences were directed by Peter Maris, who has directed a number of low-budget bad b-movies in his time. Including the 1979 cult film that made the UK "video nasties" list, Delirium. And that's an almost lost film, the only reason it's thought of as a cult film, is its inclusion on the DPP list.
Phantasmagoria being no exception to bad film-making. As despite its gore, and Its The Shining type story-line, it is in essence a cringe-worthy straight-to-video embarrassment. It would have ended in the bargain bin of the local video store, without even making it to the shelves. What saves Phantasmagoria from the bargain bin of gaming history however, is the adult themes and level of gore that the FMV provided players in a video game. The likes of which at that point had never been seen in a game before. And to be fair, the death scenes are pretty well done. Lots of blood and guts, that wouldn't look out of place in even a half-decent schlock horror flick. So if just for that alone, the game is worth playing, if you can get through the endless and often pointless wandering around of the 800 locations. |
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Apart from Phantasmagoria being a daytime soap with gore, it did immerse the player in the action eventually. Although a wrong choice, and you could easily miss some of the choicest gore moments. And lets be honest, the only reason anyone has ever played Phantasmagoria is for the death scenes. The story of Phantasmagoria in a nut-shell is, a wife and husband who buy a haunted mansion, once owned by a famous 19th century magician. Typically the magician was a practitioner of the dark arts, and had summoned an evil demon (is there any other kind?) who possessed him. The demon is released by the wife (the player), and it possess her husband. The wife begins to see the grisly murders of the magicians numerous wives, so now we get to the gore. From impalements to one woman's head being twisted almost off, to the renowned force feeding of one wife with animal entrails until she suffocates to death.
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Meanwhile the husband is going more and more insane from the demonic possession he is suffering. To the point that he apparently rapes his wife. Another "controversial scene" in the game, that doesn't actually happen on screen. After being chased around the mansion, the wife is caught and put into the magicians Throne of Terror. (I know, I know, it's a weak ass story! But hey, so are most horrors. One gory death to the next, that's all we want right?) Anyway, she manages to lure her deranged husband over, and impales him on the scythe blade of the throne. Thus releasing the demon. Now we get more chasing, but also one of my favourite death scenes. As the wife, you the player... And as the player, you won't like your own character... The wife is killed by having her face torn apart. Never in the history of gaming will you be happy to see your avatars face being torn to pieces.
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Anyway, if you don't want to see yourself killed by the demon, and just happily leave it at that, you can cast a spell, trap the demon and kill it. Hurrah! Congratulations you've completed the game. Your high waisted jeans heroine can now walk fee from the house, her life in pieces, having killed her own husband and witnessed a series of brutal deaths, oh and killed a demon. Well done you. Personally, I'd have left it at "my" face being torn apart and celebrated that.
Back then some people simply couldn't get their heads around video games could actually be made that weren't just for kids. So due to its content the game received mixed reviews, and many retailers refused to stock it. It was banned in Australia. Then again it seems almost every video game that is even the slightest bit "adult" in its content is banned in Australia. So no surprises there. As a game it's an interesting piece of gaming history, I wouldn't advise anyone to go seek it out and play it. Why would you bother, you can watch all the death scenes on YouTube.
Back then some people simply couldn't get their heads around video games could actually be made that weren't just for kids. So due to its content the game received mixed reviews, and many retailers refused to stock it. It was banned in Australia. Then again it seems almost every video game that is even the slightest bit "adult" in its content is banned in Australia. So no surprises there. As a game it's an interesting piece of gaming history, I wouldn't advise anyone to go seek it out and play it. Why would you bother, you can watch all the death scenes on YouTube.
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