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Phantasmagoria makes murder look as sexy as it was in the Old Days

8:35 AM on 10.15.2007, Nex 26 comments

     video

I-Mockery.com -- the Internet's answer to Jesus Christ Vampire Hunter -- recently featured a piece on the horrific kills in the seminal Roberta Williams classic Phantasmagoria. You may remember Ms. Williams as the naked chick on the right hand side in this picture, but since no one ever actually played that game, you probably know her better as the game designer behind the King's Quest series.

She also happened to have worked on Phantasmagoria, which some of you will recall was one of the most horrifically violent games in the history of violent gaming that still somehow managed to avoid the political scrutiny that befell the Mortal Kombat's and GTA's of the world. Of course, as you can tell from the clips in their article (and the one found above), either the politicos ignored the title because it wasn't as well known as the latest single from 2 Live Crew (and thus not as beneficial for their careers), or because everyone in Washington heartily supports the idea of killing insolent women with sharpened garden implements.

Notice I never once made a 'ho' joke. It took a lot of restraint.

(Also, in case you're wondering, there isn't any good reason for me to have posted this, aside from wanting to draw attention to just how insanely violent that game was. I-Mockery brought back a flood of terror from my childhood, and since it is October, I felt I ought to pass it on. That's the Kwanzaa spirit!) 


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Jim Sterling's Avatar
Jim Sterling at 10/15/2007 09:00
YES! TO YOUR PLANTS!
Lucca's Avatar
Lucca at 10/15/2007 09:09
I so *want* this game. Never was able to find it. :/
Mxyzptlk's Avatar
Mxyzptlk at 10/15/2007 09:31
I heard a rumor that Roberta Williams engages in sexual congress with Lucifer.
brainderailment's Avatar
brainderailment at 10/15/2007 09:33
Yeah, I spent a bunch of time showing my friends videos of this game to show how freaking rediculous this game is/was.
Edarios's Avatar
Edarios at 10/15/2007 09:50
announced for XBLA
trydizon's Avatar
trydizon at 10/15/2007 09:59
Wow. It's been ages since I've heard of this game. I used to rock this game, and The Daedalus Encounter. The boobage always made me marvel at the game, especially because I was only 8 at the time. Good times.
windexwindex's Avatar
windexwindex at 10/15/2007 10:10
Y'know now that you mention it, the cover for Softporn Adventure DOES remind me of Phantasmagoria's cheesy/scary atmosphere:



creeepy
king3vbo's Avatar
king3vbo at 10/15/2007 10:34
Softporn's cover is quite frightening
SlavedHeart's Avatar
SlavedHeart at 10/15/2007 10:54
11th Hour, The Seventh Guest, and Phantasamagoria defined a long stretch of time in my brothers room with his girlfriend back in the day... course, they had to go in on a 16mb simm for the PC that put them back 700$ large, so I guess we all see why we need to stop complaining about the PS3.. (How the frig did I turn that around into a troll post?)

But seriously, this game was a lot more gruesome than many games that followed it, we played it to completion several times, and I don't have ONE felony CONVICTION to my name.. plenty of accusations, but not convictions... (the trick is, hide the evidence... sometimes I think I'm SO freaking funny)
shipero's Avatar
shipero at 10/15/2007 11:23
I kinda miss the old FMV point and click adventure games. This game, the 7th Guest Series, Tex Murphy, Gabrial Knight, so much fun.
LostCrichton's Avatar
LostCrichton at 10/15/2007 11:53
Hell yes! I still have Phantasmagoria and Puzzle of Flesh. I remember the sex scene and the disturbing rape that was in Phantasmagoria. I used to love playing game like this but my favorite was The Dark Eye with the Edgar Allan Poe stories in FMV claymation.
bluemeep's Avatar
bluemeep at 10/15/2007 13:52
Sadly I only ever played the demo of this one. One day I should make an effort to find an actual copy of it, as it was one of the last games the "good" Sierra put out before their untimely demise.

Always wanted to play Rama too. Could've. I once won a contest that let me choose any Sierra adventure game that had been released at that point. I went with Space Quest 6. Not a bad choice, but I also have the Space Quest Collection now. Still no Rama...
Cheeburga's Avatar
Cheeburga at 10/15/2007 14:03
Holy shit.
kadosho's Avatar
kadosho at 10/15/2007 14:31
I remember reading gaming mags and other editorials that covered pieces based on horror titles awhile back. Man i miss those fun "horror" issues.

Phantasmagoria, quite a name, and game. Goes to show how far we've come since then, and it was made by a female director (which many hadnt heard of in gaming). In perspective, there are many female leads in game dev, which is a great accomplishment. And many more.

I honestly think we've seen some captivating ideas coming from unexpected individuals. Maybe someday we'll see someone take the mantle and deliver another gorefest that will cater to the hardcore viewers (and players). Dream a little dream.
scott78945's Avatar
scott78945 at 10/15/2007 15:08
Gosh I remember this game. I finished it along with he 2nd one, Puzzle of Flesh. Sierra did make some really good games. Lighthouse, Rama, Phantasmagoria I and II, Shivers, and Shivers 2. I would love to see some of these again. Shivers was also one of my favorites!
ArrestedDeveloper's Avatar
ArrestedDeveloper at 10/15/2007 15:12
I bought Phantasmagoria on ebay last year but only played a few minutes . I think I just bought it to have it really.
akaryan18's Avatar
akaryan18 at 10/15/2007 15:13
I was pretty young when I played that game. I remember just getting a computer and getting that game. It ran pretty laggy and got pretty crazy.
Faith's Avatar
Faith at 10/15/2007 16:43
This game scared the crap out of me. I finally had to play it on the censored version. The rape scene was so horrible, especially for a 13 year-old to watch
Fading Star's Avatar
Fading Star at 10/15/2007 17:56
Hurray for violence. I've heard that this a good game. I might try it some day.
Im OK's Avatar
Im OK at 10/15/2007 19:25
I played the first one a few months ago, and it was pretty good. As far as Sierra FMV adventure games go, Gabriel Knight 2 was better, but this one was still worthwhile. I've never played Phantasmagoria 2 though.
Necros's Avatar
Necros at 10/16/2007 16:17
That was actually pretty funny.
Donoho's Avatar
Donoho at 10/23/2007 02:09
Tell me I'm not the only one who played Noctropolis.
Omnipro's Avatar
Omnipro at 11/01/2007 20:02
Man does this bring back memories.
I loved this game back then and the sequel wans't bad either.
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