The opening few seconds of Still Life consists of a gorgeous cinematic sequence that introduces you to the characters, the villain and the painting theme that runs throughout the whole of the game. After the introduction ends, you find yourself playing the part of an FBI agent named Victoria McPherson who is investigating a series of murders that are happening in modern day Chicago. From there the story spreads out into an interwoven tale that switches between Victoria's Chicago case, and the case her grandfather, Gustav McPherson, was investigating in 1920s Prague. The two cases share an eerie similarity, and the truth hides what could potentially be a devastating family secret. The game paces itself very nicely, making sure that you have a good idea of what you need to do next. Cut sequences are frequent, but it is not a bad thing because they are absolutely gorgeous and they help keep the plot moving. The dialogue and voice acting in the game leaves a lot to be desired, and you often find yourself mired in pointless conversation or exposition about a character you don't really care about. The characters you talk to will also have the most unusual accents for their locations. People who are supposed to sound English will obviously be American, and not a single person in Prague speaks Czech, or even has an accent. Luckily, with a good slap of the spacebar you can skim through what the characters have to say. The game has a surprising amount of back-story and tangential information in it. If you check your inventory, you can find previous case files, memos, diary entries, and your character's summations of what happened in the previous scene. Creating the story and placing you inside of it is one of the things that Microids did very well with this game. Some of it might be hackneyed, but you forgive and forget by the time the next plot twist rolls around.

The visual and audio framers for this story are adequate to the task, but do not excel at it. All of the backgrounds are pre-rendered, and anything that moves has a distinctly different character than the objects around it, which is a flaw in almost all adventure games. The backgrounds themselves are gorgeous works of digital art. The 1920s Prague feels like it leapt right out of one of Gustav McPherson's paintings. However, the character models are not so nice. They fall right in the middle of the field, being neither good nor bad, but merely acceptable. However, the audio makes up for this. Every environment in the game has its own unique ambient sound to it, and the sounds really lend themselves to the creepy nature of the game. The musical score that pops up occasionally is absolutely magnificent. I would watch the cinematics repeatedly in the convenient cinematic viewer and just listen to the sound and music. The audio is that good in this game.

The actual play of the game leaves a bit to be desired. The interface is barebones, and you only need your mouse to play this game. You direct your character to move around by clicking on the location you want them. If the mouse icon changes, it means that you can either move to a different location or interact with an object at that location. Walking takes a while for your character, but you can double click and make them run to the location. You collect items that go into your inventory to be used later, and you can inspect and combine those objects in your inventory, fairly standard stuff for the genre. However, there are no tool tips, and the only way you know what an icon means is by looking through the manual, which has some of the smallest type I have ever come across. Still Life tries to set itself apart by having a dialogue system that revolves around the right and left mouse button. While you are talking, a left mouse click is a business-like response that moves the story along, and a right mouse click is a response that is more personal. It does not matter which one you chose, since the game will not let you move on if you do not get enough of the story. The system is essentially pointless, but it does add just enough depth to make it seem like you are getting to pick the direction of the conversation. Much of your time is spent traveling from are to area collecting bits of information from the characters and performing random tasks for them. There are actually only a dozen or so true puzzles in this game, and they range from simple to complex to brain-aneurysm hard. The puzzles can put a huge damper on the game, since you can find yourself stuck for hours while you try to figure out the solution. A quick Internet search can solve that problem and get you moving again.

Still Life was a welcome pass time for me. I have not played an adventure game in years, and was one that I felt was worth my time, even with its flaws. The story is excellent, and the game keeps you wanting to see what is around the next corner. However, due to the nature of the game it is very hard to feel challenged by the game as a whole. The puzzles are singular instances that challenge you, but the puzzles are so bizarre that they feel like a foreign element that was inserted into the game. They do not exist well within the space of the game. That being said, if my biggest complaint is about the feel of the puzzles, then the developers have done a lot right; enough so that I recommend this game. One warning, though, Still Life is meant for an adult audience. It has lots of language, gore and nudity; this is not a game for kids by any stretch of the imagination. Still Life has its flaws, but there is enough of an experience here to appeal to the casual gamer, and to make any adventure game fan squeal with glee.