games anime toys
Don't just stand there!
Contribute to Dtoid:
Members login
About us RSS  
   All updates Xbox 360 PlayStation 3 Nintendo Wii PC / Windows DS PSP Retro Indie




Staff Columns

Ten Golden Rules
If you disagree ... you are wrong.
Hey Ash,
Whatcha Playin

A teenage girl's video saga
The Great Retro Quiz
Test your retro brain
Games Time Forgot
Great games of the past
Bargain Bin Laden
The best game bargains
The Memory Card
Amazing moments in games
Indie Nation
Killer independent games
Friday Night Fights
Game with us online
An RPG draws near
Remembering great RPGs
You're the
man now, dog!
This fad defies explanation
Nerdcore Culture
Trends in gamer culture
Debate to the death
May the best games win
Monday mind teasers
Do you know your box art?
Art Attack Friday
The artists of gaming
Best of the week
News from our network
Weekend reading
Let it simmer


   
Nick Chester
Editor-in-Chief
Anthony Burch
Features Editor
Jim Sterling
Reviews Editor
Hamza Aziz
Community Mgr
Niero
Robot-in-Chief
Bloggiest this week
Alan Johnson
Brad Nicholson
Brad Rice
Chad Concelmo
Colette Bennett
Dale North
Justin Villasenor
Samit Sarkar
Associate editors
Conrad Zimmerman
Dyson
Jonathan Holmes
Joseph Leray
Jordan Devore
Mike Ferry
Tom Fronczak
Topher Cantler
Tiffany Chow
Qais Fulton
Contributors
Adam Dork
Charlie Suh
Joe Burling
Jonathan Ross

 
Podcasts
Rev on Podtoid
Chad on Retroforce GO!
Jim on The Podcastle

Elephant Software
Thomas Lackner

Destructoid is made by
ModernMethod



Phantasmagoria makes murder look as sexy as it was in the Old Days
by Nex on 10.15.2007 26 comments

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!) 

MORE IN OUR Violence SECTION

Latest comment by acroma |view all 26 comments
[/b] ...





ShawnKelfonne's Avatar
ShawnKelfonne at 10/15/2007 08:40

I remember Phantasmagoria and the sequel. Man, people complain about something like Blue Dragon coming on 3 discs... Phantasmagoria 2 came on SEVEN. It was a fun game though.
Cowzilla3's Avatar
Cowzilla3 at 10/15/2007 08:55

Completely and totally forgot I had played this game at all tilll this post and now I have vivid memories flooding back to me making me want to stab people violently. This and the elventh hour I think I played non-stop.
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.
Christina Faith Winterburn's Avatar
Christina Faith Winterburn 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.

You must be logged in to post a comment. Click here to login or create a user account now.

RELATED ARTICLES

New cinematic trailer for Wrath of the Lich King
16 comments

Ride to Hell with these screenshots: There is riding, and maybe some Hell
9 comments

Consuming darkness lurks in this Jumpgate Evolution trailer
9 comments

Blizzard releases a sexy Wrath of the Lich King cinematic
7 comments

Fiesta Online Free Level 89 Expansion Update Released!
4 comments


Post a new community blog
This month's theme: Instant Replay
Game with us: Friday Night Fights
Meet Dtoiders near you

DTOID CONTEST ALERTS
Balls deep for Top Spin 3 contest winners announced!
Contest reminder: Get your ball-hitting pics in for a Top Spin 3 prize package!
Destructoid/Blast Works contest winners announced
Contest: Devil May Cry 4 PC and Age of Booty contest winner announcement!
The most jawdropping SoulCalibur cosplay in the world: We have our winners
MORE CONTEST ALERTS

GAME FIGURES & TOYS
more video game toys and collectibles

     
Confirmed: Weird golden dragonfly sidekick thing in latest Spyro game
Prince of Persia footage, now 46% longer and with 100% less German narration!
Darksiders: Wrath of War screens are full of wrath. Also, war
Confirmed: Weird golden dragonfly sidekick thing in latest Spyro game
Prince of Persia footage, now 46% longer and with 100% less German narration!
PlayStation Store Update: Questing for booty, Kratos, and Star Wars
An easy guide for easy stuff: Wii for Dummies
Iron Chef: Supreme Cuisine to feature Batali, Morimoto [update]
PopStar Guitar for the Wii manages to look worse than Rock Revolution
 
     
The Great Retro Olympics!: Fencing
Seal away your great games forever
The Great Retro Olympics!: 200 meter freestyle
DS: Tales of Hearts gets two versions: CGI and anime
PSP: Sony confirms UK prices for new PS3 and PSP 3000
PHONE: Mega Man III now available on mobile phones
Blizzard releases a sexy Wrath of the Lich King cinematic
Ride to Hell with these screenshots: There is riding, and maybe some Hell
Consuming darkness lurks in this Jumpgate Evolution trailer
 
         
Contribute

Post a blog
Submit a news tip
This month's theme
Video game forums
Support

Login issues
Community Blogs
Report abuse
Terms of Use
Privacy Policy
Keep in touch

RSS Feed
Facebook
Myspace
Flickr
Game with us
Meet ups
Seriously

Advertising

Our software
Jobs - We're hiring!
Our Network

About Destructoid

Japanator
Tomopop
ModernMethod Publishing