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Then there are the little touches to discover. If you are walking through a decayed structure, don't be surprised to see a very healthy looking rat scuttle across the room, or a bird flapping out from smoke-blackened rafters. These small animations are randomly generated, so expect to be creeped out as various things scurry along your peripheral vision. Each of these touches show the artful hand applied to the game's look and mood.
The voice tracks range from exceptional to merely acceptable, which segues into the one real flaw of an otherwise stellar game. The story is neatly split between the past and present, featuring Gus and Victoria. While Gus' world seems entirely credible, the present day world of Chicago at times feels strained and hard to swallow. Now, the game does carry with it a rating of "Mature," earned in no small part by the foul language used in these segments. For some, like the shivering street cop, it seems a perfectly realistic treatment of the character. However, I do think the designers took a slight misstep with Victoria, who frequently offers that same gritty, expletive-laden commentary. While this might have been believable had she risen through the ranks in the dirty Chicago back streets, as a female senior FBI agent, the characterization just felt wrong. Combined with the occasional valley-girl overtones, this effort to make her character seem more street savvy detracted at times from immersion in the game. Though a noticeable flaw, however, it certainly wasn't enough to diminish my enjoyment. In fact, the character's lines are redeemed by the genuinely funny delivery of many of them, despite their incongruence with her assigned professional role within the game.
The dialogue scheme is also a refreshing change from past games. There are two choices for the gamer with every interaction. A left click on your mouse gives responses that are related to the game goals, while for those interested in a bit more tête-à-tête, the right button gives backstory comments and character asides. Unless you are a person who really can't stand exchanges more than a few words deep, I highly recommend exploring all the options on both sides of your mouse. The characters make up one of the best things in this game, and they become far more personal when all their dialogue is heard.
Of course, the true test for any game is how it plays, and Still Life is firmly grounded in reality. For example, in the first chapter, Victoria has a tray of coffee she has brought to the crime scene. A nice gesture to warm up the chill of the night air and earn some cooperation along the way, except that until she hands out her goodies, she can't access a forensic kit and begin processing the crime scene. Your character has a run option available with a double click of the left mouse button, but would you run with a full tray of coffee in your hands? Nope, and neither does Victoria. There is a natural logic to what you do in the game that makes the gameplay an intuitive treat and never stops you dead in moving through the game. Even in those moments when you wonder what to do next, you never feel completely stuck.
Going back to our initial crime scene, you can look at any number of items as you make your way towards the newly discovered victim, but until you have the proper tools of the trade at your disposal, there is not much to do other than take a note of where the evidence might lie. Once you do have an item and wish to use it, select it and Victoria automatically uses the item. Once it's used, the item vanishes from your briefcase. The same applies to your travels through the streets of Prague with Gus. There are any number of things to make note of and some may be important later on, but you can't interact with what isn't logical to that moment in the story. Such items barely register until their significance is raised at the proper time to interact with it more closely. This adds to the near seamless feel to the gameplay.
The game features an intuitive cursor, which makes these interactions flow well. The developers also built in an auto-recording feature of events and dialogues as the game progresses. These game notes, along with documents you uncover, the inventory, and the main menu are stored in one easily accessible separate screen. The inventory screen may seem cumbersome to some people at first, as it takes up the whole screen when opened, but really it's a minor detail that you'll quickly adjust to. For those who dislike taking notes, there really is no need to have a pen in hand while you play Still Life. Like I said, there is nothing that takes you too far away from flow of this game as you move through its twisted paths.
The natural progression of the game is further enhanced by the integration of story-based challenges. When the game opens with a crime scene, logically the gameplay consists of a thorough search of the premises with appropriate devices. When you are infiltrating a locale, the challenges turn more appropriately to hidden devices and lock mechanisms. There are moments when dialogue challenges occur, or an inventory item is needed to pass a more pedestrian obstacle. There is even a hands-on stealth puzzle; perhaps the first in an adventure game that is clever and fun rather than frustrating.
All this is not to say that the puzzling is a complete walk in the park. Several are very ingenious and involve some time to master. The designers managed a masterful balance between making puzzles challenging without being unduly obstructive or obscure. The mix is diverse, and at no time did a challenge feel like it was put there to kill time or to simply be a puzzle. Granted, there is a slider and a maze of sorts, but they work well within the story and fit the design.
When you get to the end of Still Life, you'll feel as though you have been through a well-crafted tale, challenged along the way, and met memorable characters to keep you thinking past the credits. And should you linger there, you'll find a hint of something more to come… or perhaps not. For not all mysteries are tied up with a nice red bow -- either in life or in fiction.
With Still Life, there are the few inevitable flaws -- there always are even in the best of games. But if it isn't an instant classic, it is nipping at the heels of the all-time greats. Regrets? The only downside to this game is that it represents the last creative effort of the Canadian design team that used to be the heart and soul of Microïds. Still, if there had to be a final curtain call, this is what you would like to leave behind. Let the applause continue on after the lights have all been turned out. What a great game.
| Territory | Date | Publisher |
 Worldwide |
April 14 2005 | The Adventure Company |
Posted by Niclas on Apr 28, 2013
Posted by Lucien21 on May 27, 2012
Let's make Cookies
A mature adventure game. One that doesn't shy away from the brutal murders carried out by a Jack the Ripper type killer. One that dabbles in... Read the review »
While waiting for the sequal to come out I decided to check this game and see what the fuss is all about…
It’s a rare occasion to play a game with a score above four stars with such a demanding reviewers who have seen it all done it all…
So is this game worth its reputation ? Hell ,yea…
I really liked the inventory interface,in full 3D with the ability to zoom in and out ,rotating right and left ,up and down and a detailed description of it with a hint for its purpose…This is what I call a user friendly inventory management…
I also liked the soft touch into details like watching the fog in Prague and when you don’t do anything the main character lady cough gently implying you she feels cold standing freezing not doing anything…
I also loved the music…It’s like the developers knows you are struggling with a puzzle and give you the right background to do it relaxed and calmed…
Everything is done with tender and care for the sake of the player…
I was very determined to crack all the puzzles which occur only when I appreciate the effort of making them for fun sake and not to frustrate you…And eventually with effort and persistence I solved them all with a taste in my mouth that they deserved the struggle to beat them…
Tips : 1) If you are having trouble with the Gingerbread cookie puzzle you can always search the internet for the real recipe…
2) If you are having trouble with the safe with symbols puzzle ,don’t think complicated its really easy once you have the right idea…
My final verdict : Such a delight of a game…a classic…
Excellent detective/adventure game, with some evidence collecting aspects. Story kept me interested the entire way through, although the ending was sort of anti-climactic. A few puzzles had me checking a walkthrough - but overall the game proceeded nicely without any real plot related stumpers. Not recommended for family play, as the detail of the murder victims is fairly graphic.
I’m surprised there aren’t more reader reviews of this game as it is among the top murder/mystery adventure games of all time. Right from the opening cutscene it sets a creepy mood that persists throughout the entire game.
The game has great ambience and mood in both eras (modern day Chicago and early 20th century Prague), and the cutscenes are some of the best I’ve seen in a game (especially the early “chase” scene). The inventory-based puzzles are pretty simple but the puzzles can be very difficult. I’m not a fan of complex slider puzzles and found myself using walkthroughs for both but I won’t let my personal dislike for complex logic puzzles cloud my judgment of what is a great game.
If I have one gripe though it is the ending being something of a cliffhanger after you do all the leg work to reveal the mystery. That said, the sequel has since been released and reveals what you want to know (I couldn’t resist and read spoilers after deciding all the changes in Still Life 2 make it a game I probably wouldn’t enjoy).
The game at times reminded me of one of the much missed Police Quest games with its dark mood, authentic cop work, and occult themes. It wasn’t as strict as some of the Police Quest games were and you are handheld so you can’t really do anything wrong as far as police procedure goes, but it is definitely a great cop game and one to remember. As the above review states though, this is definitely a game that shouldn’t be played by anyone under the age of about 15/16, very dark and graphic.
Way Overrated…
Pros:
- Great graphics
- Awesome Cutscenes that add a lot to the flavor and atmosphere of the game.
- Music / Sound that fits the game beautifully
- Good Story
Cons:
- Poor developed characters for a story driven game
- Shallow Dialogs and uninteresting unfolding. Although I could say that it was a nice story overall, I never felt sucked into it, like something was missing from the whole presentation.
- Little interaction with the beautiful backgrounds whatsoever.
- Too many puzzles that involve unlocking strange devices that feel totally out of place and scope of the game (without being very hard). They are roughly implemented into the storyline (except one of them…)
Not a bad game overall. Recommended to those who like Cop/Detective games. I would rate it around 3,5 - 4 stars.
Adventurer’s Trivia: Copycat murders or Copycat puzzles?
“Victoria, you have to go to the attic and unlock a strange mechanical box that contains your grandfathers stuff”.
Solution: GK1
There’s a lot to enjoy in Still Life. The modern-day Chicago setting with its grit and snow is nicely rendered, as is the secondary, post-WW1 Prague setting - which might as well have been Victorian London with its foggy atmosphere. The story is obviously put together with great care and complimented with great graphics and music.
But that’s not enough to make a great game, and Still Life suffers from major flaws. The inventory puzzles are fine if a bit dull, at least they are of the logical variety but the game pads itself out with the most boring, rehashed puzzles imaginable (sliding puzzle, safe combination where changing an entry changes the others, maze, water container puzzle…) Navigation is slow which can be frustrating as you have access to many locations at once and travelling from one to the other to find items is a bit of a shore. The game world feels a bit empty with very few items to be found compared to how many locations are available. Be warned that the game doesn’t have an ending - although that is perhaps justified as the story was continued in Still Life 2, and you do get some closure in the Prague sequences. Dialogue is linear, some of Victoria’s lines feel out of character and I found the portrayal of some minority characters shockingly stereotypical.
Not a bad game but wildly overrated, I would only recommend it if you are looking for an atmospheric procedural thriller.
I’m playing through this now and while the game doesn’t do anything badly, it doesn’t do anything brilliantly at all - it’s the most conventional, bland adventure game I’ve ever played.
All great adventure games have some edge to them, humour (Monkey Island, Day of the Tentacle, Space Quest), style (Grim Fandango, Sam and Max, Machinarium), a wonderful world (Longest Journey, BladeRunner), a twisting, interesting plot (Gemini Rue, Walking Dead), or at the very least good writing.
Still Life has none of these things.
It’s a predictable, second-hand, thinly composed crime story, strung together with functional, monotone writing, the most basic kind of pixel-hunt, bring thing A to point B gameplay, and puzzles that can be tough, but are never interesting. The graphical detail is nice, but I can’t forgive how dull it is. I’d rather play an extremely flawed game with some character like Moment of Silence or Primordia than something which was made by numbers.
