Roberta Williams' PHANTASMAGORIA Reviewed by David Froude Phantasmagoria has got to be the biggest adventure game yet. It comes on seven, yes seven CD ROMs. If there are around 600Mbytes each CD, then there will be in the region of 4,200Mbytes. Pause for thought! Phantasmagoria is a Sierra product which is designed and written by Roberta Williams. The credits cover a whole host of additional names. It can be played under DOS, Windows 3 and Windows 95. This review is based on Windows 95 usage. Phantasmagoria is a graphic adventure with an emphasis on the graphic. It is firmly implanted in the horror genre and features numerous puzzles, live actors moving through lush digitized backgrounds and plenty of full motion video sequences. This latest from Roberta Williams is a far cry from her King's Quest series. In fact, Phantasmagoria's gruesome horror may put off some gamers. The story tells the tale of a typical young American couple Don Gordon and Adrianne Delaney who are rich, happy and deeply in love. He's a photographer: she's a best selling novelist. They buy an estate near Nipawomsett. They move into their mansion which retains its old furnishings, some more than a century old. The tale starts after breakfast one day when Adrianne decides to explore her house. It appears she had not looked over it when she bought it. She finds a hidden chapel with a fireplace and finds a box. Like any inquisitive person she opens the box. Oops! That was a mistake without which the tale would have ended here. Her husband becomes possessed. He turns from being attentive and loving to being possessive, self-absorbed and abusive. So when Don gets weirder, and the house mirror starts acting up, Adrianne does precisely what any intelligent woman would do. She goes into more dark passages and crypts, looking for trouble! Of course I cannot say anything else without giving away the plot. In a nutshell, the game is a story of a woman, Adrianne, fighting for her life against the forces of evil. The story unfolds in novel like chapters with film sequences, digital effects, computer rendered graphics with interaction by the player. The Box ------- The outside of the glossy box holding the CDs advises that the game is suitable for only persons of 18 years and over and the game gives players the option to exclude access to explicit scenes. There is a manual in CD1 case which provides information on installation, playing the game, the interface, hints etc. Installation + some technical bits ---------------------------------- Installation is easy. Switch on the computer and when the W95 screen comes up, insert CD1. The CD self-starts with a picture of a girl looking out at an old house. It detects you have not installed the game and asks whether you wish to or not. Clicking on OK installs the game. Your system is tested and its performance tabulated against the minimum requirements: Display 256 colours, 640 x 480, 456kpixels/sec Sound WAV capability, MIDI required CD-ROM Double speed or greater Memory 7,600KB Misc Windows 3.1, 486-66 CPU Joystick Not required These requirements are little different to those written on the box: DOS 5.0+ 486/25, 8MB RAM 5MB on hard drive SVGA (640 x 480, 256 colours) 2x CD ROM drive Windows compatible sound cards DAC required (WAV capability) Supports: Sound Blaster and 100% compatibles, Pro Audio Spectrum, Roland MT-32, General Midi Since this review is being carried out on a Pentium I cannot comment further on the above. On leaving the "system test" screen you are asked if installation on C:\SIERRA\SCARY is OK. On proceeding the installation is quick. On completion of the installation a "Readme" file provides the latest documentation update and trouble shooting tips. Getting started --------------- Clicking on the Phantasmagoria icon will then start the game. In future when you switch on the computer and insert the CD ROM the game will self start with a requester asking "Are you ready to face the horror of Phantasmagoria?". If "O/K" a screen comes with the following options: Watch Intro Click on this button to watch the opening movie of the game. Start New Game Click on this button to start a new game. You will be prompted to name your game. You must give it a unique name that is not already being used. Continue Old Game Click on this button to continue a game you've already been playing. This will put you back where you dropped your bookmark so you can continue right from this point. Quit Click on this button to quit the game. When you quit (if you've been playing a game), a "bookmark" will be placed where you left off. The next time you start you will be able to continue this game by clicking on the "Continue Old Game" button and selecting the game with the name you gave it. About Click on this button to get information about the game, hints on how to play, help with the interface, customer support questions, credits, etc. The interface ------------- The Interface is based on a single cursor which resembles a Celtic Cross. This allows you to explore and interact with the characters and objects in the game. Clicking on anything which causes the cursor to highlight (turn red) will allow you to interact with it. A click with the left mouse button initiates a response from the highlighted area. This cursor is inoperative during movie sequences. A movie sequence you can fast forward by using the ESC key. Sometimes when your cursor highlights on an object it is brought into your inventory. These objects can be examined by clicking on the object in the inventory and then clicking the object on the EYE. This will display the object in 3 dimensions and can be rotated by clicking and holding done the right mouse button and moving the mouse in the direction you wish to rotate the object. Each inventory item needs to be carefully checked as it may contain something important. To obtain a verbal description the object must be clicked on the hint skull. By clicking on the control item P at the bottom centre of the screen you can view progress, restore from a previously saved position and save your current position. Additional options are to return to where you were in the game or quit. Movies can be played full screen or half screen. If you want to keep younger member from seeing the gory details you have the option of the uncensored and censored modes. In the censored mode you have to provide a password and once the password is entered all games will be censored including previously uncensored games. To revert back the password needs to be typed in again. The "More" button on the first screen allows customisation of the game - If you are playing in Windows, you can turn the Windows title bar back on (default is off). You must quit and restart Phantasmagoria for a title bar change to take effect. If the movies seem to be playing slowly, the detail can be turned off. If they still seem to play slowly, the half size screen is an option. MIDI is primarily used for background music inside the house. If it is playing too soft or loud, you can adjust the volume by clicking on the up or down arrows. DAC (also called WAV) is the sampled sound. All the voices, outside sounds, movie music, and special effects are DAC. If they are playing too soft or loud, you can adjust the volume by clicking on the up or down arrows. If the movie detail is turned off, the movies may appear darker. You can adjust the brightness of the movies by clicking on the up or down arrows. That's enough about the control and the like, what about the game itself? Well, here goes. The intro movie --------------- Clicking on intro launches into a sequence you can only sit back and watch. I will say no more on this intro apart that the quality of the graphics and movie sequences are the best I've seen yet on the PC. This intro only lasts a few minutes. On completion of the intro you return to start screen. Clicking "start game" launches the game. The game -------- Like most adventures each location must be carefully explored so that nothing is missed. You need to click on anything and everything that causes your cursor to highlight. Creative thinking is required for sometimes there is more than one solution to a puzzle and the most obvious is not necessarily the right one. If you get "stuck", you can click on the Hintkeeper (the red skull) on the bottom left corner of the screen. The first location where the game commences is the kitchen with a movie sequence. Adrianne is washing the breakfast things at the sink, chatting to her husband. He decides to turn an old bathroom into a photolab while Adrianne decides to explore. Both the 3D graphics and sound are excellent. The "picture screen" covers the top 2/3rds of the screen with the bottom 1/3rd reserved for the skull, eye, inventory areas, the end film sequence character ">>" (when the cursor is available - use Esc for other sequences") and the "P". Clicking the P will take you to a screen which enables you to Restore Move Save Play Quit Full Screen/Half Screen Uncensored "More" will take you to a screen where you can change sound levels etc. After the short film sequence has finished, Adrianne is left alone sitting at the kitchen table with a cup of coffee. If left alone, her image is still animated, waiting for you to use the interface to determine her actions. The floor area highlights the cursor and when clicked she stands, waiting for your next command. Entrances/exits are highlighted by the cursor as an arrow. Clicking the left mouse button will move you in that direction. A cupboard is highlighted, a click and she opens the drawer. There are various objects in the drawer but only one can be highlighted. Clicking on this item puts it in the inventory. Clicking on this inventory item and moving it to the Eye and clicking it on the Eye displays the 3D picture which can rotated to see the sides and rear of the object. In this case it is easy to see that it is a book of matches. This also enables you to read what is printed on the book of matches. Should you wish a verbal description you need to click the object upon on the left hand icon (skull). Taking the "down" arrow moves you further into the kitchen and you are struck by the quality of the graphics. The sound is also excellent, the opening and shuttling of doors, the haunting music, all add to the atmosphere of the game. As the game moves along the urgency and expectation of something is going to happen builds up. In the garden, birds sing and other sounds complete the outdoor scene. In the dining room, a fire flickers and its image may also be seen flickering in the mirror. There is great attention to detail. Clicking on this mirror allows Adrianne to view her image. Clicking on highlighted portrait enable closer inspection. Objects may be used when taken out of the inventory and cause highlighting on the screen. When a trapdoor is found, Adrianne cannot open it alone. Taking the ***** (no clues) it highlights on the trap door and a click enables Adrianne to open it. Attempt to get her to enter the trapdoor opening are unsuccessful, it's too dark down there. There is a lot to explore in this game. Being relatively new to CD-ROM adventure games, my previous ones were disk ones, I am very impressed by the quality of this game. The graphics and sound as I enthused above are excellent. Interaction between the characters is very good. Some may consider that with the highlighting of areas and items this makes it too easy, but not for me. The hint idea I think is excellent. Frustration when you get thoroughly stuck in a game is "very frustrating"! The hint gives you other paths for thought when your thought processes may have become stuck or objects have not yet been located that you need for a particular puzzle. Phantasmagoria is a creepy and sometimes gruesome game. So hats off to Sierra and Roberta Williams for something different --- at least for me. Phantasmagoria is very impressive. What detracts slightly in playing the game is when the character is inactive (not being moved by the player) the character stays still. Some of the player controlled actions are tricky. Also, Adrianne wears the same outfit for days on end. I had no interrupted animations with my system but the minimum suggested may have some interrupt when the CD is accessed. There are genuine moments of unease and participation adds a new dimension to a horror story. This is an attempt to make a normal adventure look like a movie Why --- Why did I buy this game? I'm not a horror fanatic. Curiosity I think. Having picked up the box a number of times in a software store I was intrigued to discover what the latest thing since sliced bread had to offer. At first the price put me off. At around œ50.00 I coughed and walked away. Then at a software fair at Kempton Park I saw it for just under œ30.00. My fingers itched. I picked up the box, read the box and then put it down. I circled around comparing prices and returned and then picked up again. Other prices were higher, will I find it cheaper? In the end I put it down and left it. A few days, on a day's holiday from work I strolled into Virgin in Kingston and there it was for œ24.00, I couldn't resist it. Am I sorry I bought it? Definitely not! - o -