What element of Still Life do you believe will be the centerpiece of the game—the story, the characters, the puzzles, or something else?

The story. Of course the puzzles and characters play a very important part in any adventure game but here we tried to bring you a story that has never been told before in a game. We took great care in telling the story but also in presenting it. Cinematic cutscenes, the music and what is said during the dialogues will keep players at the edge of their seats.


Talk about the technical aspects. What are you doing to ensure that Still Life will be the best-looking game released by Microids?

The experienced artistic crew of Syberia 1 and 2 has helped us achieve just that. Also the improved Syberia 2 engine will allow for new artistic effects (fog, water animation, shadow casting, water reflection), which means you’ll be blown away when you get your hands on Still Life!


Myst IV shook things up a lot when it was released on DVD-ROM only, and now there are other projects going that direction. Has any thought been given to a DVD release of Still Life?

No. The game will be available on standard CD-Rom.


One of the criticisms of Syberia is how non-interactive the world is; i.e. Kate couldn't give the player a description of the things around her. Is this something that will be changed in Still Life?

Yes. Victoria has a stronger personality then Kate Walker. Vic tends to comment about things in her environment making the game a little more interactive.


We have heard tell of the dark, adults-only tone of the game; how graphic and disturbing are you going for? Are you planning a lot of visual horror, or will the disturbing elements be mostly psychological?

Still Life does have murder scenes and dodgy subject matter, but I believe that we stayed out of the horror genre and remained in the thriller genre. It’s obvious that you will see dead bodies in Still Life. You have to examine crime scenes and yes, there is the body of the victim present. We did our best to stay away from in-your-face gore and remained more on the psychological side of things.

It seems that many recent adventure games have been pushing more for a somber and mature tone, and away from the "cartoon adventure" type of game. Do you see this as a trend that will last a long time or is it just another cycle in taste?

I think it’s a trend that will last a long time. There will always be a market for somber adventure games. Just ask the people who slow down on the highways to catch a glimpse at a car accident. We’re also seeing TV shows like CSI growing in popularity, so I think people can handle it…


The trailers make it evident that Still Life will be a very intense game, and likely the sort of free-spirited tourism roaming of Syberia would detract from that. How do you implement intensity within the confines of a traditional adventure game? Will there be any action or timed sequences?

There are no action or timed sequences in the in-game portions of the game. Pure action will be handled by the cinematic sequences. The intensity relies on Still Life’s story and the general atmosphere of the game. Since the story has two different time periods, it makes it easy for us to add suspense. We hope that our players, when playing in Chicago, will long to play in Prague and vice versa.


What is it that inspires you to create realistic, more somber adventures rather than humorous, cartoon-influenced ones?

First, as a writer, I sincerely believe that writing humor is harder than just writing about everyday life. Plus, our artistic talent here at Microids is more specialized in “realism” rather than cartoon.


What recent adventure games have inspired you in the development of Still Life?

Honestly, none. The inspiration came mostly from films, books and my slightly demented mind!!! ;)


Still Life presumably will be released on Xbox like the Syberia games. Certainly the console market does not seem to be very enamored with adventure games; what has motivated the release of these games on a console platform?

We have to keep trying!!!


Is there anything else you'd like to tell our readers?

I hope you enjoy Still Life. I know we enjoyed making it and if you have half the fun we had while developing, we know we’ve done our job!