Nice detailed review. I’m not sure if I will bother with this; whilst I know its important that story etc should come first, I am becoming increasingly frustrated and dissapointed to find companies simply can’t take care about getting the basics right. First the latest Sherlock Holmes can not use widescreen and now this with a resolution from the 1980s.

Excellent review! Think I’m going to wait for a first patch before laying my hands on what sounds like an intresting game.

Extremely well put review however, I would go as far to say the item/discovery conceits are so common as to be not-glitches (As mentioned once in your article)  but poor design - about 3 times during the game I have had to re-examine the entire gaming area only to find that what was holding back the next event in the game (critical phone call etc) was some superfluous clue that didn’t effect anything at all.

Glitches aside, the mainstream are right to avoid such obviously badly designed gameplay. That might sound silly, but think - literally every screen you enter is hindered by at least 5 or 10 seconds of waiting for a cursor to become active, or waiting for the craply animated character to turn. (Even within so-called ‘timed-events’) Thats its expected of you to backtrack through this game for hours is unbelievable for me.

I could go on, but yeah :p 3 stars out of 5 was very generous. It is 2009. Cmon >< arghhhh *loads up fallout3*

If there’s enough negative criticism in a review to fill a whole page then that’s a strong sign not to buy the game. General rule of thumb :-P

I would agree with seek83 that 3 stars seems a bit more positive than the text itself. I’ll be avoiding this one like the plague.

They shouldn’t have changed the main theme….I am ok with everything else, but it would have been better if they had kept it to 2 or 2.5D

Great review! Enjoyed reading it.
Only one correction: you do not need any medi kit throughout the entire game (otherwise it would imply a dead-end). Though I can imagine which in-game situation the author is refering to with this claim.
However you can get around any obstacle in Still Life 2 without ever getting hurt.

I haven’t played the game and don’t think I’m ever going to.  Just looking at the screenshots turn me off, those graphics are awful compared to the first one. What did they do?

Then you mention time puzzles, no way, almost everybody hates those things. 

It’s good you mentioned the positive things, however, because it might sound like some people would like this game - but a suspenseful story with plenty of twist and turns won’t be enough to satisfy me.

They should have just kept to the original formula, there were plenty of fans of the first Still Life. Now it seems like they just ruined it.

I was skeptical of the criticisms of this review, but I’m now playing the game and it’s dead-on. The second Vic appeared on screen I was absolutely struck by how awful the graphics were. They are literally no better than GK3, yet that game was literally 20x as fast and smooth. And the art design so far has a few hits, but more really staggering misses. The beauty of the last game was its immersiveness and the diversity of the settings. Old Prague just emanated atmosphere and art, and this is like a Dire Straits video. The limited inventory thing is just like a cruel joke that serves no purpose.

It’s just crazy how cumbersome it is to move and take action in the game, it threatens to suck all the fun out of it. It’s a real shame because the story and game itself is starting out quite nicely. Shoot! I just LOVED the first one, and have been looking forward to this for years with high hopes. Sucks to be disappointed by something so preventable.

This review tries too hard to be impartial in my opinion and the final score doesn’t match the text.

I agree with the weak points highlighted but must say that the positive aspects are overrated. The story is by no means a good one and, although there are what you’d call “twists”, they feel forced and are there just for the sake of it.

I’d say the only enjoyable parts of this game are the cinematics, the Saw-esque sequences (if you don’t mind some time pressure) and maybe some of the soundtracks. But to rescue this few points you have to dig very deep in the pile of bugs, awful visuals, amateur art direction, lifeless characters and poor game design.

Come on, guys, the graphics aren’t THAT bad!  Make sure you have set your anti-aliasing to 4x, though, which admittedly still is not quite enough to completely smooth it out, but still- it’s definitely not GK3 caliber!       

As for the progressively slow movement, it does seem as if the game’s coding has a memory leak similar to that of the pre-patched Gothic 3.  However, in this case, attempting to renew your cache by exiting and re-entering the game did not help as much as (strangely, I know) deleting a bunch of the gamesaves out of the gamesave folder.     

Yup, every time my character started moving frustratingly slowly, (about twice throughout the game) I cut and pasted my entire gamesave folder to another file, and then deleted a bunch of older saves, and viola! movement was restored to normal.       

I must say, that slow movement was the only “glitch” that I encountered. the game never crashed or froze up on me. Areas loaded normally once I had deleted saves as described above.   

I use Windows XPsp2, and I’m using an Nvidia card - maybe it’s the ATI people and or Vista people experiencing problems?
 

Regarding the use of the first-aid kit: I opted to reload an earlier save when I got hurt, and I can attest that it is possible to play through without having to use the kit at all. It’s just a safety net.
 

In any case, Still Life 1 is up there amongst my biggest favourites of all time, and I completely agree with the people who had seen the original game as a “work of art”.  So I admit I was initially disappointed that SL2 did not follow on with that tradition.

In spite of that, I found it a very satisfying and gripping game, and as a standalone game, definitely worth playing - but it would be even more so if they release a patch to fix up whatever it is that causes movement to slow down as the game progresses.  It does seem as if the team who did the game are relatively inexperienced with 3-D engines?

I think at least one point should be detracted for the sole fact that you cannot change resolution so you are forced to play in 1024x768 like it’s 1999. Not to mention lack of widescreen which is also unacceptable in a 2009 3D game. Sheesh, even 2.5D game Secret Files has a widescreen and custom resolution support! A 2.5D game! GameCo and Microids should be ashamed of themselv for releasing such pile of manure.
I am not gentle because I loved first Still Life and hope the sequel will live up to its predecessor.

Me I’d actually give it 4 or at least 3.5. I found Still Life 2 immersive in a way I havn’t found an adventure game in a long time. The textures aren’t the prettiest, but the 3D still made the game feel very real. I felt I was living the game much more than with the original game.

The animations aren’t the best for sure, but they are pretty much adventure game standard so they didn’t bother me.

Puzzles were decent and only one time did I encounter tedious pixel hunting. Backtracking and inventory management were slight annoyances a couple of times, but only very slight. The game didn’t cover a large geographic area anyway and I didn’t mind not being able to carry a truckload of stuff.

The story was pretty good by genre standards, but what’s more important than what was actually being told was the way it helped give tension to the game. Because tension is what makes Still Life 2 good in my book, tension and excitement. I played this game for 6 hours straight one evening which has never happened before with an adventure game, never ever. I just loved the tension and felt I had to help the people survive this horrible ordeal (and had a blast doing so).

To me Still Life 2 is easily the best adventure game since Dreamfall (for PC at least), but since that hinges on the way the game made me feel rather than tangible production values I suppose many wont agree.

Oh and I had no peformance issues at all (not even during my 6 hour stint), though I did encounter a couple of bugs that forced me to reload (no biggie since I save A LOT).

I finished the game last night and I have to say that I literally suffered through the game merely for the sake of reaching the story conclusion .  By the time I bought the game I was thinking about an experience as qualified as first Still Life which is simply the best Adventure game I have ever played followed by Run Away 2 .

Still life 2 lacked in so many different elements that made the first game such a blast .

The first thing that irritated me was huge number of bugs some of which almost halted my progression , the second thing that I could not tolerate was the low quality of voice acting (except for Vic herself) that totally took me out of the experience and reminded me that I am playing a game . Visuals do not need any description simply because they were not that great . The environments were plausible whereas the character models and animation were questionable at best .

The story while somehow predictable was well written but the presentation and delivery of voice actors and the game engine ultimately prevented it from reaching its true potential. Game play wise the game was quite intriguing and wonderful .  Overall the game was not bad and had its own moments and was worth playing . By The way I guessed the killer ‘s identity correctly back when I finished Still Life 1 . 

I was looking forward to SL2 so much, and after playing it, I thought it was a horrid disappointment. I expected more and was flabbergasted by how bad the game design was - ranging from the graphics to voice acting to the awful inventory system to its ridiculous plot and twist. I’m seriously let down by how they wrote the closure for the first SL game. We waited for 4 years for *that* revelation??! Switching to 3D environment was a mistake. Why fix something that ain’t broke in the first place? 3.5 stars is too generous. It was an excruciating experience to just move the protagonist from one room to another. A score of 1 would have been more apt. Not impressed.

I experienced a similar kind of excitement and tension as HeinzHarald during gameplay. I was pretty sucked into this game after a while and it made me curious and motivated to finish. It’s been a long time since I experienced something like this playing an adventure game.

Haven’t finished playing yet but it’s definitely a better experience than expected after reading the review here. As like others, I found the graphics, inventory system (sucks!) and some puzzles lacking.

Still life 2 certainly cannot measure up to the standards of Still life 1, but it is still worth playing.

‘At one very important juncture, however, the game may simply not trigger an important conversation, and you’ll suspect you’ve missed an action the game expects you to accomplish first, but this time there appears to be nothing you can do’

Where exactly does this happen?
Right now im at the spot where you just meet Hawker(after the flashback where vic confronts her boyfriend).
Does the bug occur before or after this?

The story was pretty good I think with the requisite twists and turns. It was good to finally learn the identity of the killer from the first game. Great menu music. Other than that well… the inventory system was just ridiculous I thought. It seemed like the developers themselves weren’t sure they were trying to accomplish with it. Art design was also really drab. I wish they had retained the 2D style they used in the last game. The timed sequences.. and death in an adventure game. Just didn’t work for me..

Never mind, I finished the game.
I had to say the game was a hell of a lot of fun and I the suspense kept me glued to the monitor.  The inventory system wasnt much of a problem till the final puzzle which you had to get right to get the right ending.

I’m not sure why most of players “dislike” this game.
Perhaps noone saw a movie “Saw”? If there is a game that goes along with that movie, Still Life 2 is that one.

Although it’s not a masterpiece of course, I love this game. Bad graphics? C’mon, get serious. It’s not that bad at all. Bugs? I had only one, and that was at the bomb puzzle when the game didn’t react to a solution. Twists are forced? Excuse me? Where? I foud them completely logical. Timed puzzels? Please… If you’re referring to the snake puzzle, and you’re real adventurer, then you already have what you need in your inventory. That goes for all of those timed puzzles.

But I believe ppl here wanted more of that stupid robot puzzle that made me mad at the end from the first Still Life. Sorry pals, this ain’t that kind of a game. I also remeber that cursed key puzzle that took me more than a few hours to solve. To be honest, I didn’t like first Still Life at all.

But this game is a story rich one, there is fun, there is suspense, there are doubts, twists, turns and elements of a horror, and too bad there are some glitches that may ruin your experience with it (as I’ve said, I’ve encountered only one which went away when I’ve restarted the game). I’d give it 4 out of 5.

You’ve heard me. Can’t wait for the next episode.

Why why why why WHY change from pre-rendered backgrounds to 3D?  Do these people not have EYES?  The aesthetic is obviously inferior and aesthetics are so important in adventure games.  I know 3D is seen as being likely to sell more but will it really make a big difference in the case of 3D?  The first one allowed you to move around either by keyboard or mouse and the evocative backdrops were a big part of the game.  It seemed to me to have captured the best of both worlds.  If they’re not going to spend the necessary time and effort making the 3D work on both visual and practical levels, I really don’t see the point.

“Ties well with the original game” It most certainly doesn’t!

This is the worst sequel ever!!! Do not spend money on game which original title is used for ripping off Still Life fans. There is nothing in common between original game and sequel except few stupid scenes. And story is so stupid that, if you decide to finish game, you will laugh out loud. Read other gamers reviews about this game before you purchase SL2.

Sold by its own, with a different title, Still Life 2, might be a decent but not great game. Taken by its own the rating of three stars is appropriate. However, it is sold as a Still Life sequel, riding on that one’s success but failing to meet expectations, and that is cheating.

I got this game in anticipation of continuing the story of Still Life, so I was quite disappointed that this game only relates to the original by having Victoria and Claire the coroner in it. A short tie-in as flash-backs is provided to wrap up the old game but there the connection ends.

I loved the original Still Life. While I did not hate Still Life 2, I did not really like it either. It is long enough, and certainly has elements of tension (I found it scarier than the original) but I am missing something that I can’t quite put my finger on. I agree that the visuals are worse than the original but that’s not what is bothering me (technical merits of adventure games rate pretty low with me).

The voice acting of Paloma is horrendous - worse, an action that is not possible uses Paloma’s voice, even if Victoria is attempting it.

The story offers few surprises.

I did not find it particularly hard. The only time I used a walk-through it turned out it was a misunderstanding of the user interface.

Using keypads for a puzzle the umpteenth time was annoying.

Forcing the player to deposit and re-take items to fit into the inventory definitely kills enjoyment. I suppose it was done to make the puzzles a little harder by preventing you from trying out everything in your inventory.

A very weak game, particularly if you are hoping for a follow-up to Still Life.

If you treat the game as a stand-alone title, then it is moderately enjoyable at times. The idea of using a killer’s house of horrors as the setting for an adventure game is actually a rather clever one, though the puzzles soon become tedious. The switch between two protagonists (one a cop, one a victim) is interesting, too bad the voice acting for one of those characters is simply awful. The cinematics are fine, if limited.

But as a follow-up to the fantastic Still Life, this game is terrible. It spends a lot of time at the start getting the player up to speed on the unsolved mysteries of the first game…and then basically throws them out the window. It’s like they purchased a game that had nothing to do with Still Life, then stuck the title on the box just as a way to boost sales.

The very dated graphics and lack of widescreen support do not help.

The original Still Life featured multiple locations, in two different cities in two different time periods. This game features exactly one setting. That’s it. If you like spending the entire game in one house, going back and forth between the same bland, grimly rooms, then this game is for you.

Rating:
- 2/5 if approached as a stand-alone game
- 0/5 as a sequel to Still Life.

I played the game on PC and the rendering is so slow. I got bored during the game to be honest. The dialogues are too long and the puzzles are silly. I give 2/5 to this game.

SL2 was a disappointment for me - like most, big fan of 1 but the persistent time sequences and cutscene galore, amongst other irritating elements, turned me off from getting very far in the game and I don’t plan on finishing.  I’m waiting on my mother to finish it so she can tell me about it afterwards.  I didn’t mind the graphics actually, however do feel SL1 was more refined.

Well, i’ve just played this for the first time and i’m not sure i’ve ever played a game that left me with so much ill will towards its creators - and not in a good way!
Your review is excellent and spot on in pretty much every way - except for the score. I cannot see how this game can merit 3 stars. The appalling programming, glitchy graphics, buggy gameplay and excruciating load times alone would forbid a score over three by my reckoning, even if the other aspects of the game were masterful and they are far from that.
What generates so much ill will from me about this game is that there were some very good ideas that were totally wasted through poor execution or just simply weighed down by all of the technical difficulties. If it were simply awful in all respects I could just shrug it off. But there was just enough good stuff there to make me want to see it out. Ultimately I just couldn’t bring myself to finish the game however, after the umpteenth timed sequence, the THIRD game killing bug and the terrible inventory design which made it impossible for me pick up the items I needed and all of this right towards the end of the game - I just couldn’t face going back to an earlier save and wrestling my way through all that again. The story was decent enough (tacky and unrealistic but fine if you like horror movies) but not enough to fight against all that.
Regarding the ‘ultimate’ murderer: i had him pegged from the very first session of gameplay so I can’t say that the story really kept me hooked from that perspective either, although it tried hard to convince me I was wrong.
At the end of the day, the decent elements of this game are those which damn it most because I was left with the feeling that with competent implementation this COULD have been a 3 star game, or even higher.

Still Life 2 has a great story. Picks up where the first game left off, and provides a great thrill-ride for the player - storywise. Gameplay is another issue. Bugs with Vic getting stuck (literally…having to reload because she would stop walking and interacting with environment…although this happened only a handful of times). As seek84 mentioned, it was very frustrating to search and RE-search the entire gamescape to find a superfluous clue (such as another drop of blood, when 3 others had already been found to verify someone’s identity) - in order to make the story progress.

Adventure games that kill you just bug me. It forces one to start repeatedly saving the game every step, which takes the fun out of the investigation. There are some timed sequences as well - some which I would argue are impossible the first time through. There was one timed sequence that gave me exactly enough time to simply inspect all the necessary environment items, and then I died. Ugh.

Graphics were very tolerable, I would say. Disappointing that a 2009 game didn’t have a widescreen resolution, but I think those that are saying this game doesn’t look any better than GK3 might be remembering GK3 a little too nostalgically.

Anyways - if you don’t mind using a walkthrough or hint guide, (which I had to start using about half-way through), then SL2 can be a very enjoyable thriller. I would actually rate it the same as SL1, storywise - but it’s technical glitches and poor gameplay in many spots drop it’s overall rating considerably. I agree that the current rating is “generous”, although I’m glad I played it.

I just beat the game last night, and I had incredibly mixed feelings. First things first, I have to agree with everyone else that the graphics were not dated, per se, but that the 3D environment the game is set in have so many technical limitations that it all just looks bad! The pre-rendered backgrounds of the first game were gorgeous and atmospheric, the house in Still Life 2 looks just kinda dull… almost ugly (I guess that was the point). Also, the bugs: yes, yes, and yes. When the setting turned to nightfall, walking in the main hallway of the house was SO SLOW, and it was so glitchy. Also, I swear Vic fell through the floor at points. And at one point, she was typing on the computer and the sound of keyclicks kept looping forever! And numerous other things like hotspots not appearing if you approach at certain angles, and getting stuck and not being able to retrieve an item again (particularly the cell phone tracker near the end of the game). Inventory system was okay, but just running around the house took so long it got tedious transferring items! More complaints: someone mentioned this, but the voice acting was terrible and the worst thing was Paloma’s voice was recycled for Vic’s failed object interactions. This pissed me off so much, it was just laziness from Microids. And jeez, the lip syncing was AWFUL and the awkward movements of Vic + Paloma when they reach a door or try to move around a corner, terrible, terrible.

And the timed sequences were so stressful. I could never do them in one shot, and especially for some near the end I just resorted to hints to get through them. It was too annoying to figure things out through multiple deaths. I also thought some puzzles were just plain annoying (all the keypad stuff) and ridiculously unfair (near the end apparently Hawker’s lockpick is a red herring, I used it on the drawer and it didn’t work so I first assumed a lockpick was not the answer. Vic’s lockpick was stored far away, so why would I invest time going back to get it and try it again? I got stuck and failed a timed sequence because I couldn’t get the drawer open in time!) I also did think that some combination of items in inventory were kinda weird (I still don’t get electric cable + soldering iron…) and at a certain point I got tired of neutralizing traps. It was just frustrating… and one more thing certain small factors were needed to go forward at some points and sometimes if I just missed walking around a corner or checking a door or checking a certain camera I could not advance! AHHHHHHH And that tracker puzzle at the end, I swear I tried so many combinations of tracker locations and they all should’ve worked but only one worked at the end. I just can’t explain how frustrating this is…

Wow, I did not know I had so many complaints. I loved the first Still Life, even if there were some sanity-pushing puzzles (like the lock pick, cookie, door number puzzle) but it was gorgeous with great characterizations. Still Life 2 admittedly had a great story (maybe it’s because I like the Saw movies) but it got too repetitive and not in the same vein as its predecessor, adventure game! I thought SL2 had horrible characters. All in all, I did enjoy it but so many little things took me away from the game’s experience, and in the end I got so annoyed walking around I had to consult a walktrhough, especially the second half.