Phantasmagoria

(Sierra On-Line, 1995)

Perhaps (hopefully!) the highest budget ever approved for a game, this 4-million-dollar money pit was an accident waiting to happen...and then it happened! Roberta Williams, better known for her fairy-tale King's Quest saga, allegedly wanted to show a "different side" of herself as a storyteller. However, the plan to change her image, via a gorish thriller, was as bad as the thought of Walt Disney trying to be Clive Barker.

While that concept may appeal to some --an elite few-- the game had too many additional flaws. One simple, point-and-click cursor for all commands meant "puzzles" were simple and uninspired. Along the way, you must save the alleged "heroine" Adrienne from her cursed husband --by killing him-- even though her mistake is what made him cursed in the first place...talk about bad protagonists! The resulting one-two punch --no puzzles per se, no real heroine per se-- reduced any grip between this game and its audience. Lastly, the 4-mil budget was inevitably the beginning of the end for the whole Sierra company, which soon lost Roberta's husband Ken Williams as President, and was later sold out to Cendant...and then, Havas Interactive! Talk about a low point in Sierra's history; being sold out, twice!

The best final words to summarize Phantasmagoria is in regards to its awful ending; you know, the one where Adrienne "has to" kill her cursed husband (um...Exorcist, sweetie? Does that movie ring a bell?). When even the Official Hint Manual of the game asks the question of whether that was the ending, the manual merely says, "Sometimes life's a bummer, isn't it?" Yes indeed, Sierra --I mean, Havas-- sometimes it certainly is.

See also : What Went Wrong...? column #7, which covers Phantasmagoria.

	Rating : Burnout.
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