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| 20 AUG 2009 at 8:39pm | |
glavniIntergalactic Janitor  Posts : 3 Joined: 20 AUG 2009 Status : Online | Well, i am very very very disappointed. People would think that when you make great game such as Still Life (best adventure game ever), you must be really really "do not want to be profitable" company to ruin quality and glory of the original game. So typical for the sequel. But let me explain. I bought Still Life game 3,4 years ago (maybe more) by accident. I was on vacation and I wanted to relax with my notebook (i have been working as web designer and 3d artist) so I wanted a game that could be played slowly, with one hand, no shooting or driving. After couple of minutes I was amazed! 8-) This was first time I was so excited about the game (and I am playing games since spectrum and commodore 64) that I could not stop playing. Serial killer, suspense, cinematics, great puzzles, murderers outfit (cape, mask, hat = perfect choice), everything was perfect! Graphic details, past and present time, map locations, mouse interface, various characters, and best of all: STORY! I was talking to all my friends about it! So, what happened with all that crucial elements? It must be "curse of sequels". I don`t know what happened but beside same names there is nothing similar between Still Life 1 and 2 (by the way, name of the game should be East Coast Killer or something like that because it has nothing in common with original game except few dull moments). I have been waiting so long for the sequel that I was prepared to pay any price (like a junky)! When I finished a game few weeks ago.... i don`t really have words to explain how I felt - best word is "insulted". First things first: > They needed years to make a game where you have 1 place of action: house in the middle of nowhere where you are walking from A to B for a whole game trying to open 100 doors with a passwords which are, by the way, extremely unimaginative!?! After so much waiting time for the sequel, I thought that they are making the best and longest game ever made! When I saw that game is played in one place (house, i don`t count dull and stupid scenes in gallery), that was boiling point. Even the great cutscene didn`t help. Don`t you think it is better when you have a game map or at least 3,4 different locations in the game instead of running around a small house? > Spoiler Alert3 killers!!?!! They should really fire the writer. Story is predictable. After halfway through the game I was aware that killer is one of that 3 characters. But when i saw they are all killers, I began to laugh. Seriously, what were they thinking? > Puzzles! Oh my god! Did they removed hole stuff from the first game and hired a new crew just to ruin the sequel? > What kind of testers do they have? I don't think these people are experts or somehow competent for adventure games since they gave green light for the sequel. :-? Or they could give green light but to publish game under different name. etc...etc...etc...(there is so much bad things I could write that would take me 3 hours, but in respect for the original game I will stop now. Still Life 2 must be made again, from scratch. Take a look at Still life 2 game review at gamespot.com and you wouldnt beleive what they wrote. They actually think that it`s better then 1st part. OH my god! Let me quote part of review from some guy Brett Todd (?), maybe official reviewer of the site (should be fired for spitting Still Life fans in the face): Quote: “Because the original Still Life came out in 2005 and remains memorable today largely for its disappointing nonending and slavish devotion to adventure game cliches, the arrival of a sequel comes as a surprise. Regardless of whether or not the original left you hungry for a sequel, Still Life 2 is actually a better game than its four-year-old predecessor. It remains a strongly traditional adventure loaded with formulaic puzzles that feel a bit clunky in this day and age, but the plot is now at least more emotionally involving and offers a real conclusion.” Can you beleive this? He probably took money to improve game selling! There is no other explanation. Conclusion: Most important rule for the sequel: NEVER CHANGE THE WINNING CONCEPT! For example, Syberia 2 was a great sequel. They changed nothing and that is why they had great success. So, when you begin to play Still Life 2 you are so excited that you are finally playing new Still Life (who is killer from the 1st part?) but during the game you are realizing that they put no effort in continuing previous story (just a few disappointing conversation scenes). By the way, as a Still Life fan, I was so insulted with this game that I am posting my review in any adventure site I can find. That is the only way to tell companies NOT to use original game labels just for profit! One piece of advice for future: When you prepare to make a sequel, CONSULT the fans!!! Before you start the game, do some research! That is only way to have success with a sequel (unless you have Martin Scorsese as a writer) |
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| 21 AUG 2009 at 12:37am | |
Ex-JAStaff3Private Detective  Posts : 734 Joined: 10 MAR 2004 Location: US Status : Offline | I added spoiler tags. Please do so if you are going to reveal major plot points. Retired Spam Zapper & Troll Tackler |
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| 25 AUG 2009 at 4:56am | |
karlaAdministrator  Posts : 2591 Joined: 27 JUL 2003 Location: US, Close to the Edge Status : Offline | I have similar feelings, glavni. I've played Still Life 1 several times and I've enjoyed it each time. It's one of my very favorite games. I've been trying to get through Still Life 2 for at least six weeks now. I'm not really enjoying it; in fact, I keep having to push myself back into the thing. I keep hoping something will happen to engage my interest, but so far, nothing has. Playing the game remains sheer drudgery, and I sure am tired of being in that house. I've noticed a lot of clipping and faulty collision planes in SL2. For instance, feet have disappeared into floors and Vic has ended up standing inside solid objects such as metal shelving. To me, this is rather sloppy workmanship (although it has given me a few laughs). Also, while playing Vic, if I try to use the wrong tool on something I'll be told "That'll never work" or words to that effect. This is all well and good, except the voice that speaks these words is Paloma's. Say what??!!? I don't understand why things were done this way at all. IMO, SL1 is a classy game. In comparison, SL2 is quite amateurish. This is made even more disconcerting by the fact that the release date for SL2 was pushed back several times. I cringe to think what the game would have been like had it been rushed out the door. So yes, I'm disappointed but I'm not surprised. I had a feeling something like this was going to happen. But what are you gonna do? [smiley=shrug.gif] See my portfolio of original artwork at http://home1.gte.net/res0b8zk/portfolio/resources/portfolio.htm I put my heart and soul into my work, and have lost my mind in the process. - Vincent van Gogh |
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| 26 AUG 2009 at 4:05pm | |
glavniIntergalactic JanitorPosts : 3 Joined: 20 AUG 2009 Status : Online | karla, thx for support. I have been browsing game sites and there is 99% adventure gamers with similar opinions about SL2. Only few major game site wrote good reviews but that is because they are payed to do that. I have also spent money on this game and I want to stop other adventure gamers from purchasing SL2 and throwing their money. I am not a person who will criticize someone else`s work without a good reason but I feel like someone cheated on me. I have been playing point&click adventures for more then 10 years and I have never been so "insulted". That is why I decided to try to do something about it and inform other adventure gamers. I don`t know if you have finished the game but I will say this (as Still Life fan): The disappointment you now feel is nothing comparing to condition in which you will be if you choose to finish the game. You must finish the game, you will not believe the way story ends! It is 1st class stupidity and I guarantee that you will laugh out loud! One question: Official reviewer of this site (Greg Collns) gave this game an A- grade. Why? :-? And he didn`t even played the first part (original)!?! :-?. So he gave an A grade for a thriller game that has more serial killers then Sing Sing and god knows how many faults and stupid puzzles? Quote: "I can't say it's a great game -- too flawed and at times annoying for that -- but it does deliver the goods". What goods? Story? Or Graphics? Or Puzzles? What in that game deserves an A grade? |
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| 26 AUG 2009 at 5:18pm | |
| Deleted User | Still Life is definitely one of my most favourite Adventure games of all time - you probably will not find a greater fan of Still Life 1 than myself, and I agree that Still life 2 has a very different style to that of Still Life 1. Still Life 2 did not come close to having the pathos and rich artistry that Still Life had. Nevertheless, I greatly enjoyed Still Life 2 , and played it through in 2 - 3 days, - I just couldn't tear myself away from it. It was very immersive with a great story and gameplay, IMO (except for Paloma's irritating voice, perhaps, and the frustrating inventory system) Btw, sadly I did notice that they were cheap enough to have used Paloma's voice for Victoria at times... Even though it was not very well polished- I will also admit that I encountered a few movement glitches here and there; I found myself very immersed in the game, and really enjoyed it very much - to the extent that I actually even missed the game and felt rather sad to say good-beye to it, once I had finished with it. Although very different from SL1, and IMO not as good as SL1 in many aspects, I was definitely not disappointed that I had bought it and played it. It was a nice game in its own right. You did not seriously expect it to be a clone of SL1, did you? I don't think I would have wanted that. I think what I would have probably preferred, was for Still Life 1 itself to have carried on longer to a more definite conclusion. It was rather unsatisfactory to have the first game's story ending the way it did in Still Life 2, and SL 2 would have been better off as a game on it's own. They should not even have called it SL2, as it withers in the shadow of that greater game. However, SL1 is an exceptional game, as far as I am concerned, so any other game would have to be truly exceptional to match it. I think you are being pretty harsh to say that gamers should not buy SL2 at all, and that it has no worth of its own. True, as a conclusion to SL1, it was pretty unsatisfactory, but as a standalone game by itself, there is absolutely nothing wrong with it, save for the few technical glitches mentioned. Just btw, it is not in other gamer's interest to give out spoilers of any kind in a review of a game, so I would respectfully request that you please use spoiler tags if you are going to be giving away any plot details in this thread, as the thread currently doesn't have a spoiler warning in the heading. PS: I was most definitely not paid to play the game and to enjoy it, I just did; - because perhaps it falls within my personal taste category. Obviously, (judging by the 2 poster's above's comments), it does not fall into many SL1 lover's tastes, but everybody is different. Please leave it up to each person to make up his/her own mind. |
| 26 AUG 2009 at 10:33pm | |
karlaAdministratorPosts : 2591 Joined: 27 JUL 2003 Location: US, Close to the Edge Status : Offline | There you go again, Traveller, giving an eloquent and well-thought-out response. I think one of the reasons I'm so disappointed is the big buildup the game was given, including a Still Life 2 week and giveaway here at JA. I guess I ended up expecting more than I got. There are a couple of criteria I use in evaluating not only games, but films and books as well: (1) I need to care about the main character(s), and (2) the plot shouldn't be so predictable that I can guess what's going to happen. In SL2, I'm finding the character of Paloma so irritating and unsympathetic that I don't much care what happens to her. I care about Vic a little, but it's only a teeny particle of what I felt in SL1. While it's true that I've been unable to tell what's going to happen, I think this is due to the fact that I'm not immersed in the plot. Instead, I'm just gliding across its surface. I also find my mind wandering while I'm playing, which tends to blow a hole in continuity. Before I say anything else about the game, I suppose I should just get off my computer chair-shaped butt and finish it. Maybe it really will get better at some point. See my portfolio of original artwork at http://home1.gte.net/res0b8zk/portfolio/resources/portfolio.htm I put my heart and soul into my work, and have lost my mind in the process. - Vincent van Gogh |
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| 26 AUG 2009 at 11:51pm | |
MeghanIntergalactic Janitor Posts : 92 Joined: 15 DEC 2008 Status : Online | I agree that as the game following Still Life 1, it does not live up to my expectations. As a stand alone, though, I believe it is fairly good, but lacking in several areas (technical and interface mostly, although Paloma's voice for Vic totally irritates me). I think when people step into something new and are already devoted to it predecessor, they have a biased opinion and can't look at it in a light of its own. Just like when people read Harry Potter books and see the movies and are extremely disappointed. A couple days ago I went to see The Time Traveler's Wife and thought it was a beautiful movie. I have never read the book, but people who have disliked the movie. I was mad, too, about Still Life 2 being so different, but then I looked at it by itself and had a new opinion on it. I do agree, though, that it should not have the name Still Life 2, just because it had nothing to do with "still life" - what the first one was about. You can certainly have a series, but have a different name for them all. My opinion is that they knew that Still Life 1 had made so much money, so they thought if they stuck the name on the second, people would be more inclined to buy it. : Next time, though, if I really like a game/book/movie/whatever, I'll walk into the next one with no expectations of it. I gave you everything to die with a smile, all you wanted was to live for a while&&you took everything but it left you empty&&you can't replace me, you can't.&&&&It's almost over and here we are, we're stuck inside this salted earth together.&&you'll pierce my lungs, my limbs go numb&&as my colors fade out, you watch me bleed.&&you watch me bleed. |
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| 27 AUG 2009 at 5:44am | |
karlaAdministratorPosts : 2591 Joined: 27 JUL 2003 Location: US, Close to the Edge Status : Offline | I know it must seem as though I'm picking on SL2 (and maybe I am) but I'm finally back in the game, and when I tried to get Vic to go through a door just now she ended up in the Twilight Zone instead. I made a screenshot of what happened. Instead of Vic opening the door, she was left standing in front of it and the room she was in disappeared (except for another door suspended in mid-air behind her). While I think this is pretty funny, I also think it represents rather sloppy work, which is not so funny. Well, I think that's enough SL2 for me tonight. [img]http://www.houseoftrudger.com/VicInTheZone.jpg[/img] See my portfolio of original artwork at http://home1.gte.net/res0b8zk/portfolio/resources/portfolio.htm I put my heart and soul into my work, and have lost my mind in the process. - Vincent van Gogh |
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