Phantasmagoria Stagefright

by Vivendi Universal

Product Details

• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B00001LDC2
• Media: CD-ROM
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (30 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #19,037 in Video Games (See Top 100 in Video Games)
• Discontinued by manufacturer: Yes

Product Description

Amazon.com Product Description

This collection contains two terrifying adventures by Roberta Williams from the bestselling horror series in gaming history. The package's extensive film footage, realistic graphics, and orchestrated soundtrack will easily pull you into this world of psychological horrors. (Ages 17 and older)

GameSpot

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.

Much of Phantasmagoria is spent on typical adventure activities: exploring, grabbing items, and problem solving. And on that level, the game is reasonably enjoyable. In addition, the graphics are excellent, the music is emotive, and there are many pleasant surprises. But problems arise in several areas: experienced adventurers will find Phantasmagoria generally unchallenging, the characters weak, the violence over-the-top, and the script just lame. For instance, during day one Adrienne discovers a secret chapel full of bizarre items yet doesn’t think it important enough to tell her husband. On day two, she barely breaks a sweat over the fact that her hubby has transformed from a loving partner to a crazed lunatic.

Many of this title’s problems come from complexities inherent in taking a huge concept and trying to wring a game out of it. Somebody forgot to do some detailed planning and fine-tuning. This is clear from the character interactions, the repetitive nature of some scenes, and the unrealistic puzzles--the telescope eyepiece "glints" in the sand only after you discover you need it, even though you’ve walked by that spot several times already.

So why is Phantasmagoria so darned popular? It's accessible to newbies, it's a new genre, and Sierra has promoted the hell out of it. The built-in hint system can turn this into a cakewalk and you'll be wowed by the occasional top notch production values. Unfortunately, the repetitive violence may turn the newcomers off just as quickly. My recommendation: Phantasmagoria is only for the gaming-challenged. Otherwise try Gabriel Knight: The Beast Within. It's Sierra's second big-time video adventure and they learned from their mistakes.--Jeff Sengstack/SpotMedia Communications
--Copyright ©1998 GameSpot Inc. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part in any form or medium without express written permission of GameSpot is prohibited.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Game, November 15, 1999

By 

Kimberly P.Curtis - See all my reviews

This review is from: Phantasmagoria Stagefright (CD-ROM)

I found these games highly impressive and exciting. They were well written and created. I will never tire of playing these games they ultimately captivated me. If you are a person, who likes adventures and mysteries and If you like to snoop for things, then this is the game for you! Well worth the price!

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Scary!, July 5, 2001

By 

Jennifer (NC) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Phantasmagoria Stagefright (CD-ROM)

These are some Roberta Williams Sierra games, and this lady knows how the scare the crap out of people. My favorite was the first phantasmagoria game of the two part series. This one takes place in this creepy old house that Adrienne (the character you play) and her husband just moved into. Well Adrienne kind of inadvertantly lets lose this evil demonic force while exploring the house and all heck breaks loose. The visuals of this game are excellent for a 1995 game, the game has lots of video segments and the characters look real (I actually prefer this kind of game play over the more modern 3-D stuff). The interface is good and the plot line is fabulous the story goes into the whole history of the house and even into the surrounding town. Some of the scenes are way disturbing though including flashback murders and a rape scene, but the most disturbing scene is the realistic final scenes at the end of the game that happen if you (Adrienne) lose and she is killed in various horrible ways, this happened to me quite a few times and that night I had to watch cartoons for hours before I would even think about turning off the lights to go to sleep. But this is a horror game and it does it's job it will give you goosebumps, make you scream, and freak you out. I really liked it, because it scared me. The second game Phantasmagoria II: A Puzzle of Flesh, is good but it's not the award winning game the first was. This one follows Curtis through a dark, bizare, and mind-bending tale. This game gave me the creeps, even more so then Phantasmagoria I did, but this game was for my taste too dark and surreal. In the first game it was easy to identify with Adrienne she was the heroine, but its hard to tell if Curtis is hero or villian or both. Curtis even though he is the character I played creeped me out, there is just something about him, and of course you'll find out what in the end, but it makes it hard to identify with him. The gameplay in this game also does the real life (television quality) visuals. Other pluses are the easy to use interface, interesting characters, and well laid plot. Worth the play but too creepy to be as fun as the first phantasmagoria in the set.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The scariest game I have ever played..., December 7, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: Phantasmagoria Stagefright (CD-ROM)

This game (Phantasmagoria) scared ... me the first time I played it. It is one of the richest games I have ever played, with elaborate, beautifully rendered settings, an intriguing story, horrific movie clips that play out in front of you like a horror movie, and an excellent score that will send chills down your spine. It is not so much a strategy game, but rather a slow adventure game (the "slow" being a positive quality, for you become immersed in the creepy atmosphere of it all). It has an awesome chase-scene ending that takes you all over the sprawling mansion and into the bowels of the mansion- you find your knowledge of the house which had served as your background on the past 6 discs being put to the test as you flee your attacker- perhaps one of the best- and scariest- game endings ever. If you are intrigued by all of the things I just mentioned, don't hesitate, BUY IT, YOU WILL LOVE IT. (This test refers to the out-of-print "Phantasmagoria".)