Point and click adventure games seem to be a rarity these days as the once popular style has seemingly been favoured by the more action orientated adventure titles. Well Still Life rises from the depths of Microids development team to bring you an old school game with a rather spooky subject matter. Still Life tells the tale of female FBI agent Victoria Mcpherson as she is caught up on a case involving gruesome murders from an elusive serial killer. As Victoria it’s up to you to find the clues and secure the evidence even though the case bears a striking resemblance to a case that Victoria’s private detective, grandfather worked on way back in the 1920’s.

Gameplay:

Still Life is a game which involves a heady mix of obscure puzzle solving and talking to various people at a number of varied locations in the present day and back in time in the 1920’s. You get to see the character you are controlling at all times and rather than having a pointer you simply go to points of interest then interact with them. The game starts off pretty slowly and feels like an episode of CSI; however as the plot thickens the story begins to grab and pull you in further as you get the sense of “I need to know what happens next”.

To be honest the game play is very simple, go here talk to such and such person, go somewhere else talk to another person, find clue take it back to lab etc yet some of the puzzles might just have some of you pulling out hair, by the handful. At one point I was all set to give up and throw the disc down in disgust yet something inside gave me the will to carry on, I guess the story is that engrossing.

Graphics:

Whilst the game play in Still Life might not be as action orientated as other titles, the way in which it is presented is of a very high standard. With some excellent flash back scenes and cut scenes which help drive the story along, Still Life certainly creates enough atmosphere for the player. Still Life uses pre-rendered backgrounds as seen in the Resident Evil games of times past which means the graphics remain crisp albeit a little lifeless on occasion. The character models are reasonable but not the most detailed you will have seen. I think overall it would be wrong to focus purely on the graphics of this game as it’s the brain twisting game play that’s the main focus here.

Sound:

Sound is once again handled by a competent cast of voice actors and actresses with reasonable performances for the leading characters. Some of the language used is a little adult orientated which is a good thing as it generally makes the characters more believable. The music is suitably spooky and very fitting of the subject matter. Other sound effects are very low key and sometimes are merely simple things like crows in the background. Overall the sound is pretty good and conveys the story how you would wish for a game that doesn’t rely on guns, guns and more guns.

Longevity:

Not one of Still Life’s strong points and to be honest I see little to no reason to play the game more than once. With no multiplayer or many unlocks other than movie scenes then Still Life is a rather enjoyable yet short lived experience. My advice, enjoy it on the first play through as much as you can.

Overall:

Still Life is a game that will not appeal to everyone, especially those with itchy trigger fingers and a lack of patience. If you are the type of gamer that would rather use brain than brawn then I would say that Still Life might be worth a look. I found the game to be mostly enjoyable bar the odd puzzle that became frustrating after spending plenty of time trying to figure it out. These types of games are rather old school yet I think there is still a place in gaming for them. With plenty of spooky atmosphere and a gripping tale Still Life is an intriguing prospect although I can really only suggest a rental at best.