Modern view of Still Life

Hello to everyone!
Quests, such a thing that requires patience and brain activity. At the same time, the gameplay should not overlap the plot, otherwise everything turns into torture, and not the pleasure of the process.

Therefore, I wanted to share my impressions on the Still Life series of Games, developed by Microids and published Meridian4. They are also known for the famous Syberia series.
These games came out for a long time and were distinguished by a “special” duration and plot, which were considered very good.
For this we start.

Preface
Before starting, I would like to share how I generally found out about this series and why I recently got acquainted.
At the time when MTV started or already rolled into shit, the channel showed the programs from the editorial office of Games-TV.ru (old composition). Considered games, I learned from the top “terribly interesting”.
In the future, I learned that many liked the series and decided to test. Subsequently, an attempt was made to spite, but with a bang failed, due to the inexperience of using the Internet, t.To. I did not know to climb somewhere at that time. After scoring it. Then Still Life 2 came out, but did not attach much importance, so it passed by. Leaving the path of Piratsva and the active use of Steam, I again came across this series, and recalling my interest bought at the Bandle discount and was surprised. And how, now I will sign ..

If you see the name, you got a question, then I’m in a hurry to answer. Despite the name, this is the first game from the series and they are united by the protagonist goose … ahem … Gustav MacPherson – a private detective and artist.

Paris of the twenties of the last century. Gustav MacPherson is trying to draw another picture, but without much success. Knock on the door. At the opening, the hero has a vision: two stained corpses sitting on a luxurious bed, whose heads lie on their own knees.
Having come to his senses, Gus sees in front of him a dark -haired beauty, who is called Sofia Blake.

The girl asks to take up the investigation of the tragic death of her sister and her husband, who were found deciduous in one prestigious hotel. She does not trust the police and turns to the hero, due to his past work by a private detective in New York. Due to good monetary rewards and lack of inspiration in art, GAS decides to begin the investigation.

In the way, asking people and having learned the opinion of Dr. Kaufner, a comrade who examined the bodies of the killed, the hero finds out that a couple was waiting for a mocked man, and the footman knows where to find him. The footman was mistaken in a bar in which Gus was a regular client and the owner of the institution helped with paintings. Having shown the lackey a suspect photobot compiled from witnesses. He sees a mustachioed uncle and runs away, and the protagonist rushes in pursuit of the suspect, but unsuccessfully.

The next day, taking advantage of his connections in New York, Gus finds out that Sofia is not a sister of the victim. After demanding an explanation, the girl says that she hired the dead to help return the artifact called Baphomet skull. This skull belonged to the deceased husband of Sofia, and the local Parisian banker Gregore de Alpin stole it. And she lied to convince Hus to start a matter. Agreeing to continue on, Gus finds out that the footman died (explanations below).

Having decided to exchange information with the police, Gus finds out that the packed uncle’s name is Jaskis Halloin and he is a private detective. Gus invades the mustachioed house, finds his mother, and she says that the mustachioed in the attic. Having discovered the mustachioed, Gus questioning him and finds out that he did not kill anyone and hired an alpine to find the dead and return the same Baphomet skull. And after a conversation with the footman, who gave the dead, I decided to wait for them. When they arrived, he went to their number and saw a man in a silver mask cut their heads, after which he ran away. After the story of the mustachioed, the police who followed the HAS and lead him away.

The next step for Has was a visit to Alpin’s house. Having successfully made his way, the hero rushed into the basement, in which a whole crypt with two pedestals is found, one of which lies the corpse of an alpine, which has been dead for several days. Half a man in a crypt, Gus finds an alpine diary. From him he learns that the skull has always been with him and that he finally met the reincornation of his beloved dark -haired beauty, which is Sofia Blake. And the artifact itself moves the soul to another body, thereby the alpine was able to live several hundred years, and all its incarnations are buried in the crypt.

Having decided to look for the skull, Gus went to the bar to talk with the owner. He somehow mentioned that Berenis, the sculptor girl, is also a regulatory of the bar, made a copy of the artifact. But unfortunately,
The hero learns that the owner was killed, and in order to find out where the skull is located and its copy, you need to decipher the fresco in the bar.

Finding the skull and a copy, Gus calls Sofia, but he finds out that Dr. Kaufner, who moved, was abducted by the alpine, and he is a killer. Having discovered alpine in the house hanging upside down Sofia and pacing Kufner with the revolver, the words between them and dick. As a result, the hero breaks the skull on the floor, the killer flows into the mountain and receives a good bream. The chick continues to hang and asks to remove it, but gets a refusal for brewing this matter. Gus went for the police – the case is closed.

The game represents a first -person quest in which there is no dynamics and you just go through the main locations through the map, and during conversations they transfer the camera from the character to the character and give options for answers.

Well, we start. <br https://nonukcasinosites.co.uk/review/spintime/ />

I painted the whole plot, losing, of course, some details, since I understood it. It seems to be clear, but when you play, there is no fig. Let’s start in order.

In the first passage, I did not use the guide, as a result of which I could not go to the crime scene, which is a script place. To open it, I needed a set of master keys, but I used it on the door of a mustachioed house. The question of what to do? In addition, opposite the crime scene, a grandmother lives, with which we must talk, but, for some unknown reason, the options for answers were such as if a goose and a grandmother had already talked and still where to go and what to do is not clear.

The second passage was completely with Gaid, and then the problem came. The dialogs cannot be missed, and the amount of butthart has increased slightly. I learned from Gaid that you first need to climb into the crime scene before you run after the mustache. Apply brushes on the hotel room, and a hammer that I did not see in the eye of the mustachioed. In this approach, even a conversation with the grandmother was normal. Who is so, damn it programs. Due to the fact that the player can go to any place the map, there is a rather strong gap in the narrative, from which the plot is not clear.

By the way, the question: “When the footman was killed?»Answer:” I don’t know “. No seriously … I don’t know. At some point, I went to the bartender at the hotel and the GG says that the footman died and by the spolcean. No scene, nothing, although when the rest of the murders took place, they showed how visions come to Gusu.
And another problem is a detective intrigue, who is a killer, completely merged. When they show the video in which the goose is chasing the mustachioed, they show how the doctor is chasing behind the footman. Together with the above, who becomes clear.

Puzzles on the other are quite interesting. Here you hacks the door locks, finding differences in paintings and decryption of frescoes with a candle.

The result is this. He played only 10 hours (as Steam says), passed in the second circle due to game design and excessive freedom, no needle. The whole action turned Nudyatin, and not for pleasure. I didn’t like it.

Addition.
At the very beginning, I wrote about attempts to pirate. So this part turned out to be an interesting phenomenon. After showing the opening video, the game began in the wild slum. And this is no fps sitting, the game went smoothly, but very slowly, and the speed of replicas (which I managed to see) was normal.

Before us is the second part, the new hero is Victoria MacPhersen, the granddaughter of the husa, working in the FBI.
Now, I would like to change a lot of the format of describing the plot, because the characters are replaced in the game. Therefore, I want to describe the plot first one character, and then for another.

Prague of the 20s of the 20th century.
Gus, after the events in Paris, decided to leave from there so that nothing reminded him of those terrible days. But in order to earn a living, you have to start again with a private detective, because the paintings in Prague are not as highly appreciated as Paris. For all the time of work, Has managed to earn some reputation and acquired his lover Ida Scalikova, who throws prostitution, for his sake.
But the peaceful days ended, and the Perlovsky Ripper, a killer of prostitutes, appeared in Prague.
Due to the series of murders and helplessness of the police, prostitutes turned to Has.
After the next murder, the head of the local police asks Has for his opinion, and after the answer warns not to go into this matter. Hasa does not stop it and begins to question the local district, and also asks his friend-police to throw a little material in the case.
It turned out that one of the victims of the killer managed to escape. To find her, I had to sort things out with a local pimp, because of Ida. But the pimp is also hunting for the murder to stop and tells where he hid the girl. Having found and interrogated the girl, it turns out the appearance of the killer – a long black cloak, cloak, silver mask. It is also learned that before the murder, all the girls came to pose to the local artist Mark Ackerman, who came from America like Gus. Having asked him, Gus does not know anything new, and therefore decides to get into the office of the police chief, in search of evidence.
Having successfully penetrated, it turns out that the boss was paid so that the evidence was hidden, and the case got up. When the boss comes to the office, he receives wild brewing from Has and it turns out that Mark Ackerman Killer. After leaving the police building, Hasa meets his friend-police, who says that another murder happened in a water mill. Gus, for the last time, asks his friend to detain the police so that he comes first. Having come to the crime scene, Gus finds out that it looks like a picture painted by Mark Ackerman. The police arrived, and HAS has to get out through the collector. In the collector, on the way to the exit, he finds the gutted remains of missing prostitutes. Having reached and opening the iron door, in the same collector, Gus sees some kind of caricature and cuts it off. Gustav wakes up related to a chair, and opposite him, on the couch, lies the bound Ida. Mark appears, tells how death is beautiful as art, and right in front of Hus, it is harshly killing.

After, fearing for his life, Gus decides to dump in America, taking with him friends and some prostitutes, one of whom is called Milen, who he marries, after some time for some time.
In America, in Los Angeles, murders will take place, the same as in Prague and police, Michael Harrison will come to Gustav for help. GAS will tell him everything that knows, about the murders and Mark Ackerman, but he will not get involved again.
At this end of the story of Gustav MacPherson.

Chicago 2004.
A cruel serial killer appeared in Chicago, whose victims are cutting.
Victoria is in a gallery with her boyfriend Richard Valdes, who is going to present a new exhibition. But Vika calls from the FBI and she leaves for the crime scene.
The fifth brutally killed sacrifice. There were no special evidence at the crime scene, as well as with the rest. The only evidence is those that the killer prepared in advance.
Having examined the crime scene, Vika returns to the FBI office for documents in the case and a gift for his father. Goes home to his father, they exchange gifts. Father says that there is a chest in the attic, which was very dear to Grandfather Gustav. Having opened the chest, Vika discovers in it the things of her grandmother Milena and Gustav’s diary.
The next day, a pathologist Claire Ashby, tells Vika that she had finished the opening report and let her come. Entering the opening room, the girl sees that someone put a photo in the corpse. Claire comes, asks Che for Nah, and Vika herself does not know this and runs to the guard room. On the screen of a video of the observation, in the parking lot, some man in a black cloak, cylinder and silver mask leaves. Vika rushes after him in pursuit, as a result of which she overtakes him, but receives a blow under his breath and misses him.

Returning to the opening room, and discussing the pursuit of the photo in the corpse, Vika goes to the office. In the office, the chef arranges her thrashing for the chase and sits her for a trial period, supposedly due to stress. To which the girl says that “first she is kissed, and then e ** t”. But this does not stop her.

Partner David Miller found out that the 4th and 5th victims studied at the University of Chicago and were connected with Vaclav Kolar with their tutor, which was in the photo from the corpse. In this regard, Vika goes to the hostel, to call the Vaclav. He says that in the photo his neighbor Mia Holmes and her friend 5th victim. Vaclav also writes a dissertation about the Perlovsky gip. Vika asks him, make a copy, and quietly picks up a bottle for fingerprints. Vika decides to go to the office to show prints, give them to the Claire, and then again for reading the diary of Grandfather Gustava.
Reading the diary, Vika finds out that her business and the work of Gustava are very similar. Further, Miller says that fingerprints coincide with prints on the body of victims 4 and 5, so he goes to the hostel. Having met with him, the comrades break into the room of Vaclav, but do not find him. At the exit, they meet Mia, who says that Vaclav in the club in which she works. Comrades go to the club, simultaneously leaving the patrol, because the door was broken out. Miller arrives at the club, before Vika arrived, and he was sent to three Soviet letters. Vika leaves Miller, take him when the Vaclav will come out. The girl decides to pretend to be a bouncer, they say she works here, but a pass is needed. The girl goes to Mia for the pass and finds a photo of Mii with a friend. A friend was in a photo from a corpse. Vika learns that Mia was supposed to meet her in one of the Gallery studio. Vika gets to the studio, but with horror he learns that a friend is dead.
Mia, going from the garage door, also sees this scene and runs away. Victoria asks Richard to look for Mia and call the police while she will inspect the crime scene.
Upon the arrival of the police, the FBI chief also comes and says that Miller interrogates him and let Vika go and understand him. It turns out that Vaclav hired victims for services in the club. And Mia and the 5th victim worked in a special place in which there were important cones. At this moment, the chef enters the interrogation room, liberates Vaclav, under the pretext of indirect evidence. Vika leaves, makes himself a pass to the club. After a few passes with puzzles, Vika finds this special room and everything is there to do the BDSM action. There, the girl finds the account book, with all important bumps.

After Vika decides to learn more about the Ackerman brand, so he listens to the presentation from Richard. After comparing the paintings and the notes of Gustav, Victoria does not understand the praise of Ackerman’s paintings. Next, Vika asks Richard to find everyone who helped with the extraction of paintings. To find something on Ackerman, Victoria needs to get into the archive, but she does not have the right tolerance, so she breaks the chef safe for access codes. Having passed through all the technical shit and Spider-robot, Vika uses the terminal and finds out that all the data on Mark Akkerman was taken by her grandfather. After which the FBI chief is declared and begins to report it. In response, Vika states that he leaves and gives his certificate, and if he tries to do something to her, she will issue a accounting book to the public, from the BDSM rooms, in which there is his name.
Vika finds the remaining notes in one of the paintings of Gustav, after which Claire calls her. She says Vaclav called and talked about screams in the hostel. Upon arrival, the killer is injected with a syringe with an anesthetic, and a fight takes place. As a result, Vika is cut down, the killer leaves with Living Mia, having killed Vaclav along the way.
Waking up, Victoria understands that Mia can still be alive and runs to the gallery to find out from the paintings where the murder will be. Upon learning where the killer is, Vika manages to get to the killer and shoots him before he began his job. The killer fell into the river, but his body was not found.
In the future, Vika will go to Los Angeles to dig on the brand of Ackerman, but this is another time.

Gameplay
Unlike the 1st part, everything is classically. The camera is remote and fixed, run and collect objects on the screen.

Well, we continue.
The impression of the plot turned out as well as with the characters, t.e. Double. Because, the interest of his story was preserved by Gustav, not Victoria. Although I did not mention who the Chicago killer, but who can guess due to the logic of the disappearance of this character.
And the question of how the killer entered the opening room if she is under the code castle and access card?
And the second where all the FBROVSTS? Why in the building of the FBI there are only 6 people and there is no guard? It is clear such a imposing killer can climb even wherever such garbage.
The puzzles turned out to be very gathering, but still interesting. Except for a spider robot, because it is not a puzzle, but a constipation for dexterity, because you have to have time to press the desired square in time, otherwise the laser will burn.

The question of what to do often arises. For example, by the end, you don’t tell you where to look for anything, but you need to find the notes of Grandfather Goose, which are behind the picture, which you looked through 10 times.
Very long tightness, you run, run and run, which is very infuriated.

The result, 10 hours. Oddly enough, this turned out to be the most successful part of all, but still the plot seemed not very enthusiastic.

This time, I also decided to divide the story into two parts, only this time not by heroes, but in time. One part tells what Vika did after Still Life, and the other tells about which the case was faced at the moment. And this is despite the fact that there are two characters in the game. These characters will be the same Victoria MacPherson and Paloma Ernandez, who works as a journalist, but at the same time a victim of a maniac. Let’s start!

2005
After the events of the 1st part, Vika left for Los Angeles to further investigate the connection between the killer in the mask and Mark Akkerman. As a result, he finds out that her boyfriend, Richard Waldes, is the grandson of Ackerman.
Returning to Chicago, Vika asks to meet Richard. He asks to come to one of the basements in the Chicago Gallery. Waiting, Vika decides to inspect the room and in one of the lockers finds a bloodied cloak, the same as that of the killer in a mask.
As soon as Richard comes, Vika asks to remove the shirt, by wound from the bullet, but he begins to unlock. In the end, Richard admits – he is a murderer in a mask. I met with Victoria to take revenge on his grandfather ultimately, and killed t.To. believed that true art was comprehended in death. After Richard shows the picture in which he portrayed Victoria and her death, a power conflict begins between the two. As a result, a fire begins in the room, Richard burns alive, and Vika manages to escape.

2008
Victoria returned to the FBI and investigates the murders committed by a maniac called the East Coast killer (East Coast Killer). A feature is that the killer leaves the victims of the victims in a prominent place, without any evidence. In addition, he sends in the media and the FBI, a video with victims.

Vika, returning from the scene of the crime, sees on TV a reporting of Paloma Ernandez, in which she condemns the actions of the FBI and Vicki in particular, as well as a fragment of an interview with a former agent Hoker, who worked on business. After watching, Vika calls Palom and asks to give an interview to which he gets a daring refusal. After the conversation, the killer comes to Paloma, cuts it off and takes it in an unknown direction.
Having come to his senses, Paloma discovers that he is in a living room with cameras, detectors and mannequins, she has an electronic collar on her neck, and she has a killer and takes it off on camera. The girl begs to let her go, but the killer sarcastically replies that he will let go but not now. After he leaves the girl alone, because the detectors did not allow the girl to leave, and the collar receiving a signal from them gave an electric charge.
Using improvised means, Paloma breaks the detectors, finds out what is on the second floor, jumps out into the street. It turns out that she was in a large old house in the middle of the forest. Seeing the car, rushes to it, does not find the keys, but sees his discharged mobile phone. Having found the charge, he returns to the room and calls Victoria, exploring the number of the motel from which the pillar was abducted, together with the newcomer Garrus (not so). The girl manages to give a description of the place where she is, after which she is cut down by the killer.
After some time, Paloma wakes up in a basement with thick walls covered with mud and blood, and broken glasses on the floor. The girl finds her phone in her pocket and tries to call, but the killer answers her. She asks to let her go, but he replies that she should be saved herself and she is poisoned, and the antidote is in the first -aid kit in the room (a catch with a puzzle). Having cured, Paloma removes the electronic collar that was on it, and goes to the next room. In the room, an electric chair and pilma should set the right voltage so that it does not kill.

Deciding this riddle, the girl goes to the open door leading to the stairs with another room. In this room there was a laundry room with a morgue refrigerators and solve a riddle before the gas turned on. Having decided this riddle, the killer says that the girl is well done and she just needs to go through the next door. He opens the door and there … the wall, and the killer says: I’m sorry, but for you I have something cooked, so wait. Not wanting to come to terms with this combination of circumstances, Paloma decides to dump through the elevator of the laundry. Having risen, it turns out in the kitchen of that very house and goes through the back door. Going down from the veranda, the girl, not noticing, tears stretching with a light -school grenade and cuts her down.
A week later, Victoria and Co. find this house, but the police find no one. As a result of the study, Vika and Garrus find out that there is a bunker near the house, but to open it you need a password for one of the computers in the basement. By that time, Hoker came to the place, and after clarification of relations with Vika, it helps with the computer. Hoker was kicked out of the FBI, due to the fact that he shot the suspect during his interrogation (the interrogation was not in the bureau), and Vika at the disciplinary council told everything how it was as it was.

With the help of a hocker, the company was able to open the hatch in the bunker and headed for it. On the way, a crossbow bolt arrives at the police sheriff, a lifting dart in Vika, and the killer shoots all the others.
After some time, Paloma wakes up in the bunker’s prison cell and sees how the killer carries the unconscious body of Vika, after which he leaves. Trying to find a way out, the girl sees opposite the camera in which one of the victims of the killer is sitting – Harry Anderson. He tells how he tried to stuff something in the house, but the killer came, gave him a head and locked in a bunker. With his help, Paloma finds Vika, leads to feelings after a dart.
Then Vika decides to go further to the bunker to find a connection, but other doors are blocked through the same computer in the basement of the house. Leaving Palom in the bunker and getting out of it, Vika finds himself in the backyard of the house and sees behind the fence of a hocerio hanged on a tree with a bag on his head, and next to him is another hatch. Having passed through the mined area around and the house filled with traps, Victoria reaches the computer, but it is blocked. At that moment, the killer calls her and says that he is going to kill her. Not finding a hidden girl, the killer leaves. Vika decides to soak the killer, for this she shamanit with electricity and a fence between the front and backyards.
Having killed the villain, Vika removes the gas mask from him and it turns out there – an incomprehensible Negro. Having bent a black man, the girl gets out with a gun and access codes and goes to the computer. Having unlocked the computer, Vika finds out that Harry is not a fig, but the same killer. Returning to the bunker, he finds neither Paloma nor the killer. In an attempt to find Palom, Vika also finds a computer from which the hatch opens next to the hanged hocer. Having reached the Hoker and taking it off the tree, it turns out that this is not a fig, but Garrus in the clothes of a hocer. Half a man, finds access codes from the video surveillance system in the bunker. Using the system, Vika sees that a real Hoker shot the killer in the corridor of the basement (yes, how much can. ) and runs away with Paloma.
Having headed to the house, and then to the basement, where the door to the bunker is located, finds a hocerus dressed in the clothes of the killer. It turns out Hoker got involved in the actions of the killer and began to help him to take revenge on Victoria for betrayal. Hoker goes to the bunker, leaving a girl with traps and puzzles. Deciding this shit, Vika goes to the hocer. Vika finds a room in the bunker in which Paloma sits on an electric chair behind a soundproof glass, and next. Through the negotiation device, Paloma says that Hoker is sitting in the next room and waiting for it. By your computer, Vika learns that in her phone a bug, which tracks all the movements and tells the Hocher. Entering the room and using a bug, Victoria shoots a Hoker.
Trying to get a pillar from the chair, they turn on the TV next to the girls. It plays the recording of the hacker’s appeal, in case he dies. If for a certain amount of time Vika does not have time to pull out a pillar, then it will fry it.
IIII … Victoria pulls Paloma, they cause help, they are saved. All Happy end!

Moving also goes as the previous part, only now the camera follows the heroines, and not recorded.
Added an inventory system as a Resident Evil 4, T.e. Each item takes so much place, so the boxes under the warehouse are also provided.
A skill system appeared, t.e. When selecting a particular object, skill appears. For example, they took a pistol – you can shoot, took a sledgehammer – you can break, take a first -aid kit – you can treat, take a master key – you can hack. This is true, all skills.

A portable laboratory has also appeared in which you can collect and analyze the evidence found.