Overall, the gamplay is fairly circumscribed because of the nature of the game. Later on your colleagues at work are being gruesomely murdered one by one and you must face the possibility that you are the murderer - perhaps you are not cured after all. It isn't long, however, before weird things start happening - your computer attacks you and you start having nightmarish flashbacks to your childhood. You have a job as a copywriter with Wyntech, a pharmaceutical company, you have a steady girlfriend, and a pet rat called Blob. The disturbing introduction shows you receiving electroconvulsive therapy in an asylum, but as the story opens your life seems back on track. You control the actions of Curtis Craig, convincingly played by Paul Morgan Stetler, who is a troubled young man with a tormented past. In A Puzzle of Flesh you largely explore a more modern office complex and institutional locations. On the other hand, I thought the first game in this series had more atmosphere and it was much more interesting exploring that spooky old house. There is also a slight improvement in the gameplay, especially in the latter part of the game, though, in my opinion, still not enough to tempt dedicated adventurers.

For a start the video sequences are smoother and more 'realistic' as, for the most part, the actors are not portrayed against a computer-rendered background, and the quality of the acting is, I think, quite good overall. It continues down the same path as its namesake in that it is an 'interactive movie' though, in some respects, it does represent an improvement on the earlier game, especially on the production side. Review by Gordon Aplin (March, 1997) This is not a sequel to the first Phantasmagoria but a completely different story with completely different characters.

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