Many of these puzzles, however, are often shrouded in a type of low-budget gloss that, in fact, makes solving them more complicated than need be. The game, in a sense, hands the player soup can after soup can, but never affords, per se, to provide a can opener. For example, I had unlocked a long-awaited box sitting on my cot and found two very important objects, one of which was a piece of parchment. I then strolled around the church for an hour as I wondered what to do next, searching for a puzzle, a character, a cut scene, a Lifestream maybe. It was not until I got frustrated that I stumbled onto my next metaphorical soup can and its can opener: Out of frustration, I randomly set one inventory object on the parchment in my possession and, voila, a new puzzle had awakened. Such unintended puzzle challenges stem from low production values, and a lack of nuance. So, play through the Lifestream expecting a tightly woven, intricately threaded tapestry of the occult, and you are bound to be disappointed. But dive into the shallow Lifestream head first expecting a crudely meandering, yet entertaining storyline will leave you quite satisfied, especially in the realm of puzzles.

Occult flicks are usually dark, captured on grainy film and grisly. Lifestream is no different. Usually, I truly like the dark; it engulfs you in a sense of mystery and wonder. It can ignite your imagination or even evoke a passionate fear. Or, in the case of Lifestream, it can cause you to smack face first into walls or miss the most obvious blob of gray ever plastered next to a religious painting. Yes, the overall darkness of the game actually hinders a player’s ability to complete a puzzle since a subtle keyhole blends in perfectly with the wall at normal brightness levels on computer monitors. Even the official walkthrough for Lifestream suggests turning up the brightness in order to see this well-shrouded and utterly important slab of gray. When I skimmed through the digital pages of the walkthrough and read about this far-too-hidden chunk of stone, I literally yelped, “Oh, come on! No way.” You know you’ve done it before too…when you saw that movie where that guy who was supposed to be dead came back to life and managed to follow that one family all the way back home and hide in their basement for months without anyone ever noticing, right? Well, that’s B-movie magic that makes passively watching such films a very brainlessly enjoyable experience. When it comes to adventure games, however, where players must be active participants, such obvious and sudden forehead-slapping revelations only cause indigestion. Realizing that you had just wasted two hours roaming around your daddy’s mansion in search of a hidden crucifix that will not come into play for another five chapters can make your lips curl.

Lifestream features a considerable amount of character interaction, considering its short twelve-hour—at most—lifespan. There are not many characters, and there do not need to be. There are not many dialogue trees, and there do not need to be. There are not many intelligent conversations, and, again, there do not need to be. However, there ARE many chances to interact with characters, but—oddly enough—there do not need to be. I will admit, that in such a dark, dank story, running across another life form in an adventure game can be refreshing and break up the monotony of twiddling thumbs and mumbling to your monitor. Yet, some interactions between characters are forced and far too convenient. During one of my roaming moments in Randolph Holton’s house, I came across a Priest who just happened to be in the home with me. As time progressed, he unlocked doors. And, of course, he just happened to find me and unlock the right doors at the right time, a true B-movie convenience.

When I ran across this Father Grandl for a third time, one might think I would have slapped him silly with my new, extra large rosary. Instead I smiled; I smiled wide, in fact, from ear to ear. “Why?” you may ask. Because the voices of Father Grandl, Randolph Holton and his “no-no” son John Holton are performed by John Bell, a professional and distinct voice actor who is also featured in The Mystery of the Mummy and The Arrangement, among others. Without a doubt, he is the highlight voice throughout the game, providing enough zest to the characters to make them interesting, clear and individual. The game, for those moments, shines brighter than others with lesser talents. But…then Randolph Holton must meet and speak to Father Dan and Rose, smacking the player straight across the face and violently shaking him awake to the reality of low-budget adventure game-making. Let’s just say, it is like watching an Ed Wood B-movie featuring Bela Lugosi. John Bell, like Bela, is the only one who makes the dialogue worth listening to.

However flawed the game may be, Unimatrix Productions and Christopher M. Brendel have brought a little piece of drive-in movie theater memorabilia to the PC with the release of Lifestream. All the ingredients exist to create a solid wedge of cheese, not too stinky and not too gourmet: a complex and sometimes convoluted story, a new twist on everyday characters, an all-too-obvious villain, convenient plot points, and an occult overtone. The game’s strength is its ability to establish and maintain an eerie and methodical atmosphere; a Monet picture of a game that does not require you to look too closely in order to “get it.” In fact, the game begs you to keep your distance because the harder you look to fill in the gaps, the uglier the Lifestream becomes.

Plain and simple, Lifestream ranks higher than many games because I wanted to come back to it again and again. It is that B-movie you never expected to rip your eyes away from the gorgeous, blonde bombshell sitting next to you. So I suggest you grab a bag of popcorn, pop in the Lifestream, and enjoy the surprising entertainment. Oh, and make sure to snuggle up real close with someone you love for those moments when you lose track or lose interest in the story. Because until Lifestream rips your eyes back to the screen or startles you with some sudden bloody death, you can just make out…like in the good old days.