Review Lifestream Developer: Unimatrix Productions Publisher: Unimatrix Productions Genre: Adventure Release Date: 27 Sep 2004 Platform: Review by Robert Washburne November 29, 2004		Buy this game at Trade for this game at:

Introduction

Lifestream is the first adventure game offering from independent developer Christopher M. Brendel. He refers to it as a “Story-Centric” game. Which means that while the graphics may be nice and puzzles entertaining, it is the story which takes center stage.

And in this he succeeded. While the game didn't have all the polish found with the big developers, the story was a good one and kept me thinking long after the game was finished. I enjoyed it and look forward to his next work, Shady Brook, due out sometime in early 2005.

Installation

First, Lifestream gets major kudos for not using any copy protection on the CD. This gives me some confidence that I will be able to play his game again in the decades to come when Windows will be emulated under whatever OS replaces it.

Next, kudos also for allowing the game to install entirely to hard drive. The CD can then be safely put away and the game played without ever seeing it again.

The game installed smoothly on my AMD 1800+ system with only one hitch – it couldn't play any movie clips. Unfortunately, just about every screen transition and character interaction is a movie clip, so the game was unplayable.

I sent email to “Tech Support” and received a reply within a couple of hours. After much investigating and the installation of several multimedia utilities we came to the conclusion that my system just wasn't going to play his movie clips. Now, to be fair...

• This was the only computer with a problem. I installed the game on a friend's 450MHz machine and it ran quite well. I was also able to run it on my 650MHz machine and that is where I ended up playing it.
• The problem machine is the one my daughter uses to surf the web and download “free” stuff. Heaven knows what has been done to my machine despite my use of virus and spyware removers. Eventually, Windows will completely melt down and I will have to rebuild the hard drive again. I'm sure everything will work then.
• I checked the user forum and no one else was complaining about this issue. Or any other issue beyond the presidential elections. People seemed quite happy. So it was probably just me.

The point of all this was that Tech Support was very responsive and tried their best to make my experience a good one. I was impressed with the amount of time they were willing to spend on me. They also offered to refund my money if I couldn't get it to run. I never mentioned that I was affiliated with JustAdventure, that I write game reviews or that I might review Lifestream. So I assume this is the level of service that any customer can expect.

I don't expect anyone else to have the problems I did, but it is nice to know that there is a responsive person out there.

Customer Relations gets an “A+.”

Story

Lifestream is is called Story-Centric and the story is a good one. If you are into stories, then this is the game for you. From the website:

“John Holton's father, a priest named Randolph, disappeared three weeks ago. Unable to come forward to voice his concerns, in fear of destroying his father's reputation, John takes it upon himself to find out what happened by visiting his father's house and searching for him firsthand.

... What he finds is something that is so terrifying, yet so seductive, that it envelops his very soul...”

What starts out as a Mystery ends up as solid Science Fiction. The concepts played with and the ironies introduced had my brain chewing for days after the game was finished. This would have made a good book.

The only criticism I can offer is that most of the story is given in the Epilogue cut scene. I would like to have seen more of it pulled back into the game itself. But that would have made the game very long. Not that there is anything wrong with that.

I give the story an “A.”

Navigation

Lifestream uses Adventure Maker for its game engine. This gives it the classic static 2D slideshow interface we know so well.

The cursor is nice and large and the hotspots easy to distinguish.

The only thing I could have wished for was a “zip” map to instantly go to places I had already visited. Fortunately, the environment was small enough that this was never a major annoyance.

Nothing special here, but nothing wrong either. A solid “B.”

Puzzles

The puzzles are a good mix of Inventory and Logical. They are what I would call easy to medium in difficulty. If you buy adventure games because you are into puzzles, then this is probably not the game for you. The puzzles are only here to highlight the story.

The Inventory puzzles are all logical – you need keys to open locks and a crowbar to open that sticking door. Nothing here to cause you to pull your hair out.

The Logical puzzles are all classics which the experienced Adventure Gamer has seen many times before – jump the pegs, line up the numbers, speak the phrases in order, etc. There was only one puzzle whose purpose wasn't immediately obvious, but a quick glance at the Strategy Guide got me on the right track.

There is one small maze, but you get a map of it before having to enter it.

There is also one of the dreaded Slider puzzles, but it is a wimpy 3x4. Once you know the secret to solving sliders, it takes a 10x10 before they offer any challenge at all.

Also, several of the more difficult puzzles, including the slider, have a hidden hotspot which you can click on to instantly solve the puzzle. The Strategy Guide shows where these are.

There are also some dialog trees, but they are of the Exhaust-All-Choices variety rather than the Puzzle type.

Another solid “B” here.

Graphics

Move along, folks. Nothing to see here. If you are into “Eye Candy,” then this is not the game for you.

Chris used the freeware version of trueSpace to render his scenes. You can see from the screen shots how crisp and neat the models rendered. He used some good textures, but everything is just a bit too clean – no moss, no mildew, no weathering, no dirt. But it is enough to convey the story, which is the whole point.

He also went to the trouble of creating animated transitions from scene to scene. This is a very nice way to help the player keep their sense of direction. Unfortunately, Chris had to set the resolution extremely low to get everything to fit onto a single CD. So while the scenes are nice and sharp, the transitions are very blocky. At first they are annoying. Then you get used to them. Then you wish you could turn them off and just go where you need to go.

Characters are also adequate. Chris used Poser to create and animate people. The results are certainly better than anything I could have done, but stiff and wooden by professional standards. The first time I looked at the girl in the screen shot I wondered just how long ago rigor mortis had set in.

Again, this is all that is needed to convey the story. It is also good to know that the basic tools needed to create an adventure game are accessible to everyone. But still, I found myself wishing that more had been done. Graphics gets a “C.”

Sound

Sound effects were very good. Water splashed, shoes clicked on stone and stereo kept it all in the right place. No shame here.

But the music. The music was provided by Justin R. Durbin and was just gorgeous. Moody, peaceful, fully orchestrated and appropriate to the situation. It held to that fine line between a performance piece which must be listened to and ambiance. I found myself stopping at several places in the game just to listen.

I would encourage you to visit Justin's web site where he makes much of his work available for download.

Music gets an “A.”

Strategy Guide

OK, I mentioned it a couple of times so let's take a closer look at it.

The guide is 48 pages long and includes:

• A complete walkthrough of the game.
• A separate Hint-through for the puzzles. This is great for getting that gentle nudge.
• Character profiles.
• Bio's of all the developers who helped with the game.
• A sneak preview of Chris' next game, Shady Brook
• The location of every Easter Egg. Yes, this game is loaded with Easter Eggs and most of them are a hoot. This alone is worth the price of the guide.

I give the Strategy Guide a “B.”

Conclusion

This is a very good game for those who love a good story. It is Chris's first offering to the Adventure Gaming community and shows a lot of promise. His next offering, Shady Brook, promises to be even better.

And at only $20US for the Game and Guide combo it is a bargain. I would encourage you to buy it (available only at his web site). I did.

Final Grade: B
(find out more about our grading system)

System Requirements:

• IBM PC or compatible computer
• Pentium 733 MHz
• Windows 95/98/2000/ME/XP
• 64 MB RAM
• 700 MB Hard Drive space
• 640x480 resolution
• 24-Bit Color display
• 4x or faster CD-ROM drive
• Windows-compatible sound card and mouse