Fascination (video game)

Fascination

Company type	Video game
Industry	Video games
Founded	1991
Founder	Tomahawk (developer)
Products	Fascination (video game)
Parent	Coktel Vision (publisher)

Fascination is a graphic adventure game with erotic thriller elements, developed by Tomahawk and released by Coktel Vision in 1991 for the Amiga, Atari ST, and MS-DOS platforms.

Gameplay

In Fascination, players experience a first-person point-and-click interface, interacting with highlighted objects and characters. Items collected are stored in an inventory to be used for solving puzzles and advancing the narrative through character dialogues.

Plot

After arriving in Miami, the pilot Doralice witnesses the death of passenger Fayard Nichols. Before passing, he entrusts her with a briefcase containing a vial, instructing her to deliver it to Jeffery Miller, the head of Q.U.L. In her hotel room, Doralice discovers the vial concealed within an electric toothbrush and contacts Miller, who requests a meeting at his office.

Doralice soon encounters fellow pilot Robaire de la Cafetiere (Rob) and chief hostess Prisca, who has been interrogated about Fayard’s death by an inspector confined to a wheelchair accompanied by a cat. Following interactions with Rob and Prisca, Doralice proceeds to Q.U.L., arranging to meet Rob later that evening.

At Miller’s office, Doralice finds his body along with a cassette tape revealing that the vial is one of three prototypes of Miller's crucial invention. Miller had intended to hand it over to the government due to threats against him. The other two vials are held by Miller’s son Kenneth and a thief named Peter Hillgate (Doc). Doralice is assigned to recover the stolen vial from Doc’s underground laboratory on behalf of Kenneth.

Inside Doc’s secret lab, Doralice discovers two vials—implying Doc also took Kenneth’s—and uncovers photographs taken by Lou Dale as well as evidence that Doc is aware of Doralice’s vial.

Returning to her hotel, Doralice finds Rob unconscious in a ransacked room; he has ingested the vial. She receives a box of chocolates via delivery and learns that an inspector named Pedro di Helgos is waiting for her. During their conversation, Rob escapes from the hotel.

Doralice contacts Lou Dale under false pretenses and rescues her from one of Doc’s henchmen using poison gas. Lou explains she was hired to seduce Kenneth Miller for photographs possibly intended for plastic surgery and directs Doralice to locate Kenneth at a nightclub in the red light district.

At the club, Doralice seduces Kenneth and administers drugs hidden in the chocolates sent earlier. She discovers a tattoo connecting him to Archie and Lucy and finds evidence suggesting he is collaborating with Doc, indicating he may be an imposter. While exploring further, she uncovers a secret passage leading back to Doc’s lab but is rendered unconscious by Doc.

The next morning, Doralice awakens before Pedro, who claims he rescued her from Doc and demands possession of the vials. Using formaldehyde concealed within perfume, she incapacitates Pedro—who reveals himself as Doc—and frees the real Kenneth from captivity. Rob and other characters from her journey then join her; Rob discloses that this entire narrative was created as a prototype for a role-playing game business.

Reception

Upon release, Fascination received mixed critical feedback. The PC version was praised in French publications, earning scores exceeding 90%. Reviews for the Amiga version were more varied: CU Amiga awarded it 80%, while Amiga Power and Amiga Format gave moderate ratings of 67% and 65%, respectively; lower scores included 51% from Amiga Action and 47% from Amiga Computing. Looking back, Richard Cobbett of PC Gamer described its conclusion as "perhaps the most nonsensical ending ever in gaming."

Contrasting this opinion, Polish academic Filip Jankowski argued that Fascination's finale anticipated the ending of David Fincher's 1997 film The Game, while offering a more overt critique of capitalism. The game concludes with all characters participating in a murder party that largely symbolizes the white male establishment responsible for its pornographic content. As she departs from the party, protagonist Doralice questions patriarchal conventions. Jankowski also noted that Fascination was among the earliest video games to feature a female lead character and present events from her perspective.