Still Life 2 Review
2022-06-17
When Still Life came out some years ago, it left fans hugely divided in their reactions to the game – on one hand, mostly everyone was impressed with how well the game had been designed; on the other, its ending left many to criticize it and according to most, it degraded their overall experience of the game.
If you haven't played Still Life, all you need to know is that it basically finished without revealing anything of importance about its storyline – it remained unknown who the main antagonist was, or how the game's story even finished.
Gameplay
Naturally, Still Life 2 picks up from the end of the first game. The killer has moved their location though, and the game's main protagonist, Agent Victoria McPherson of the FBI is steadily on his trail. The game's played from the perspectives of two characters – Agent McPherson, as well as a journalist who had been investigating the killer but subsequently became a victim herself. Still Life 2 offers an intense blend of exploration/adventure mixed in with pure survival horror, depending on which character you're currently in control of.
The game is played through a standard point-and-click interface, and it's very easy and intuitive to navigate. The puzzles are easy enough that you won't stall for too long in one place, while still giving you enough challenge to keep you interested until the end. You'll have to pay close attention to some of the scenes that are shared by both characters, as sometimes one of them can see clues that the other needs in order to progress.
Graphics and System Requirements
Still Life 2 initially looks a bit outdated, but upon closer examination it's actually a very pleasing game to look at. The pre-rendered scenes are very heavily detailed, with very realistic lighting effects illuminating everything and helping draw your attention to objects of importance.
Furthermore, the characters, which are basically the only dynamic elements on the screen, have been modeled with extreme care, looking lifelike and realistic. The initial impressions we were talking about can manifest themselves at some moment where lighting incorrectly shines upon the player's model (as its lighting is not calculated simultaneously with the scene's), but other than that the game looks very smooth.
Plus, it doesn't take a good computer to run it either – a 1.5 GHz single core processor, 1 GB of RAM and a mediocre video card should get you all set for playing Still Life 2. Make sure you play it on a high enough resolution though, as sometimes the important items can become too small and difficult to spot if your resolution is too small.
Other
Still Life 2 finally sees the revelation of the mysterious killer (which we're not going to spoil for you, of course), and the conclusion was mostly satisfactory. It wasn't exactly a masterpiece of writing, but it tied up the loose ends and was original enough.
Conclusion
Another decent attempt at reviving the adventure genre, Still Life 2 easily reminds us why we love those games so much in the first place.
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