Still Life

By now, gamers know what to expect from The Adventure Company: adventure games. Lots of them. For a publisher known for pumping out games by various developers of comparable quality levels, Still Life stands out like a Desert Eagle Point-Five-Oh. This is to say, it’s no slouch.
Dark, edgy, and graphic are just a few of the words you can use to describe this serial killer murder mystery. You encounter visceral crime scenes, which you then pour over in search of clues. Puzzles in Still Life are there to guide you to the next scene, much like a movie or RPG. Activate a giant magnetic crane and use it to move crates around with purpose: you need to talk to a witness, and to do so you need to get past that bloodthirsty junkyard dog. It all makes sense without adding too many contrivances.
Although speckled throughout with bad voice acting, the writing and dialogue are generally fantastic. You get a real sense of who the characters are, with the gritty cop talk putting you right there on the team.
Long nights become routine until you finish the game. There’s a real sense of being involved in the crime solving, and for the serious fans of the genre there’s adequate bookkeeping, so you can pour over your notes to look for clues. It’s pretty linear, which is a plus—a game this deep would drown you if it were more open-ended. You’re easily guided to each successive chapter, and you never feel like the plot is routine.
Cinematic cutscenes draw you into the game instead of pulling you out, which is a nice relief. Unlike most game, it continuously feeds you drama like a tasty puppy treat. Creepy effects throughout actually manage to add suspense and atmosphere.
Still Life screws you in the end with a serious cliffhanger that doesn’t actually reveal all of the game’s secrets. It’s a bit infuriating to invest so much only to be left hanging, but in a way, you realize how great the game is when you’re screaming at your monitor asking it “Why!? Why won’t you tell me!” For those who can’t deal without some sort of closure, Still Life should be a no-go. For everyone else, pull up a chair and keep your schedule book open. You have a date with the killer.

This article originally appeared in Computer Games Magazine #177