User Reviews

An adventure like this always should have a good story backed up by some reasonable game play. Yes,I said reasonable. Since the story is so strong I am willing to forgive certain frustrating game play elements. Still Life starts with a bang. The game draws the player into a story where a serial killer who seems invincible is causing havoc. The fact that Gus Mcpherson,Vic's grandfather also had to deal with what seems like the same killer more than 80 years ago makes the story more compelling. The supernatural ambiance that is surrounding the serial killer gives this game an edge that makes it fun to play this game. (You really want to find out who the killer is.) That you have to bake cookies following a certain recipe in order to advance is just to lighten the tension and provide some humor in a very grim and gory tale. While there are elements in the game which were very frustrating and easily could have been avoided it doesn't compare to the much discussed ending. It leaves you a bit hanging. The sequel Still Life 2 does provide an answer if you hadn't a clue. But for the very observant player you could have deduced the outcome your self. I do want to make a note of that the sequel shows how brilliant Still Life really is. Because the frustrating game play in the sequel has multiplied by ten times and the story isn't nearly as strong as it could have been. It did had some of the dark elements that made you play. But the Saw style timed sequences weren't nearly as exciting as the crime solving elements in the first part. For that reason alone I could recommend playing Still Life. Compared to other adventures made after Still Life that have similar themes I can say without a doubt that Still Life is one of the best games in it's genre.

I can't find words for this game. It's brilliant. The voice acting is superb, the story is exciting from minute 1 on and the gameplay is decent. I also really enjoy those pretty cinematic cut-scenes, which are very well-made. Thumbs up for this thrilling, little game! Its predecessor "Post Mortem" isn't that good and "Still Life 2" is such a pain in the ass. All I want is Victoria and her cool jokes! :-) By the way: The character development in this game is surprisingly good. Not every adventure game can claim that to itself. Although the story is captivating, the puzzles are partly a little bit weird. But all in all they're well done and you can deal with them. I love this game! Don't miss it.

Microids has done it once again! After their terrific classic 'Syberia I' and 'II' they knock it out of the ballpark with this game...and it's brilliant.

The game is incredibly creepy, the main character is a badass, smart woman, the premise is interesting, and the graphics are incredible for their time (they're still great even to this day). I have played almost a hundred crime adventure games before and this still remains to be one of m favorites. This game is superbly underrated and overlooked. I really do think it will become a cult classic like Syberia has become.

I do warn you all, this game can be intense. There is graphic violence throughout so do not play this if you are queasy.

The soundtrack for this game is so perfect. No need for more words.

'Still Life' is the 2004 Graphic Adventure computer came from the French developers Microids, and is a sequel to their 2002 game 'Post Mortem'. 'Post Mortem' follows the exploits of the American private detective Gus McPherson as he attempts to unravel the mystery surrounding his new client. 'Still Life' relocates the action to two separate locales and decades: modern day Chicago and 1929 Prague. Gus McPherson returns for the 1929 segments, while for the modern day segments his granddaughter Victoria, an agent for the FBI, is our main character.

Beginning in modern day Chicago, Victoria is investigating a series of murders of young women around the city, and the first task is to help the forensic scientist gather any evidence you can find, and to help photograph what's left of the latest victim. With not much to go on and her boss on her case, you direct Victoria to take a little break at her father's place, and while there, she discovers her grandfather's journals regarding a case strangely similar in to her own. This leads on to the player taking control of Gus McPherson as he travels across Prague investigating the murder of several prostitutes. Thus the game continues, alternating between Victoria's case and Gus's, and over the course of the game you uncover secrets linking both sets of murders, taking place over seventy years apart.

The game has a nice atmosphere, dark and foreboding, and the murder sequences and crime scene bring such stylish crime thriller films like 'Seven' to mind. The fact that Victoria looks a lot like Angelina Jolie, herself starring in several similar thrillers like 'The Bone Collector' and 'Taking Lives', adds to this feel. Both Prague and Chicago are depicted in a film noir style, filled with darkened streets and cluttered, dilapidated buildings housing terrible secrets. With the exception of the main characters, the other character designs are rather cartoon-ish, considering how much attention to detail the main characters and the settings have, but this is a minor point with the visuals, which are overall nicely captured. The cut-scenes occurring in each of the seven chapters of the game owe a lot to films like 'Seven' in their stylish execution, not only in terms of looks but also how it is edited and stylised. In the actual gameplay, the pre-rendered backgrounds retain this attention to detail, and it also allows for the game to be run on less powerful computers, which is a nice added bonus.

While the story is intriguing enough to continue with the gaming, it is not that great, leading to situations that either we have seen before in the films the game is emulating, or so out of the blue and left-field you do not know how they came to be. A lot of events and clues are offered but only a few of them are actually followed up or even referenced again. This is not because of playing the game to a successful conclusion either; the player simply is not given many choices but to follow the one path. There is not that much interactivity in the game, with few places to go in the atmospheric locations, few items to pick up for your inventory and few characters to speak to, and even fewer characters to actually see. The streets seem deserted for the most part, and police stations seem to be run by only a handful of characters. Dialogue choices, where available, are limited to asking an important story-based question or a miscellaneous, everyday question. There is not that much variety here. Key events in the game are depicted in cut-scenes instead of the player actually experiencing them or discovering them in a natural way, and this is especially true towards the end of the game. The dialogue ranges from being decently written, cast and performed to the other side of the spectrum, without dropping any real clangers at least. Sadly, this means that rather than being memorable for whatever reason, it just makes things by the book and dull. Occasional moments of interest are not really capitalised upon. The realism that is promised early in the game seems to be forgotten later on.

That is not to say this is even remotely a bad game. It is just disappointing that yet another modern Graphic Adventure game has gone the way of so many others, of promising much and putting in a respectable effort, but missing out on several areas. You can forgive a game a lot of its faults if there is at least the illusion of the game being limitless. 'Still Life' is among those games that could have been so much more, but it is just too limited in its execution. It is still an honourable effort and worth playing. The sequel was made a few years later, and hopefully this will expand a lot more in a story and set of characters with so much potential.