I'm surprised nobody else started a thread about the ending of Still Life. I didn't want to post in the other Still Life thread, because I don't want to spoil the end for those who haven't played yet...... So, if you haven't played, read at your own risk!!

I really hope that they are somehow able to do a sequel, because there was plenty of open endedness that would make a great continuation!!

Sorry about my rambling, I just felt like sharing my opinion and seeing what everybody else's theory is.

This was such a great game, beautifully done, and I was just so sad to see it end.

Dawn :kiss:

You pretty much summed up my thoughts EXACTLY lol

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Don't give up on the coachman yet! Remember the end explanation from Gus's notes/journal. Ackerman might have had someone working for him, because - according to the phone call Gus received - the killings continued after Ackerman was in a mental institution. Perhaps he took the coachman to the US with him?

As for the modern-day killer, I agree that it's Richard. I actually picked him from the start (mostly because the model for Richard fits the model of the killer almost perfectly--although Miller DOES fit, too). He is an art buff, so he could have learned the whole story about Ackerman long ago and wanted to "complete the work". In a way, Miller would be a cool twist, though, seeing as how he gets sick at every crime scene. Imagine if it turns out to be him and he was acting the whole time!

As far as a sequel, I did some searching on this, and here's what I found: Microids DID plan on making a sequel (technically the third in the trilogy, starting with Post Mortem) prior to being bought out by UBISoft. Now that UBISoft controls them, however, from my understanding it isn't Microids's choice to make. The employees certainly WANT to end the story (and supposedly have excessive notes on what is going to happen next), but UBISoft has to approve.

I apologize if I have the above information wrong. I REALLY hope they make a sequel, because I don't want this to turn into another Gabriel Knight 3!!!

Well done, you two!

Dawn, Is your avatar, Spike?

Boy am I happy to see someone finally post this thread! Thanks Dawn! I've wanted to since last week, but I was afraid to, due to my very own nature! I would be one of those who had not played and would look anyway, and ruin the ending for myself!

Now, I find it very interesting how we all see things differently, and here's my take...which is totally different!

Yes, I agree that Richard is the most likely, I mean, where did he suddenly disappear to? He gave that extemely wrong account of Ackermans painting portrayals...gads, after what I saw, how could he possibly interpret it in such a good way??/ Also, when it came to the end, the museum was unlocked, empty, and no sign at all of the boy! Suspicious!

But what about Todd Browning? He was suspicious too! He thwarted Victoria in many moves and then after the fight in the archives, he too disappeared!And after obviously trying to keep things classified! Hmmm...

The Crowman? Well, I don't think he is the one, he was creepy for sure! I think he may have more knowledge than he let on....

Now here's the kicker for me! Why do you think Vic saw the killers face in Mia's apt? Where did you see that? I saw her getting a hypo plunged into her shoulder, which made her quite loopy, but still somewhat functional. SHe fought, and then fell to the floor, drugged. If she saw anything at all, she saw his back as he slit that poor boys throat. His face indicated that he recognized the killer!

Now, if she had seen the killers face...be it Richard, Browning, or otherwise, why doesn't the ending reflect that instead of her saying she has a possible lead and will be going to L.A. (when she's in the hot tub, talking to her friend). If she saw who it was, wouldn't she have said something about it? And that she was now looking for him?

I am still in withdrawal from this fabulous game and I sure do welcome any discussions!

I keep talking about it at work, but please keep in mind, I'm ranting about how great this game is to people that can barely do email!
Do they even know what I'm talking about? Yet these sweet people nod and say "oh...uh huh..."

^
I'm glad I'm not the only one telling every person I know about it!

Hey TLC-- My avatar is indeed Spike :kiss: Belive it or not, I only just discovered the wonder that is Buffy The Vampire Slayer a few months ago on DVD, and Spike is my new boyfriend! (at least he would be if we ever met, and um if I weren't married....... I really wanna see how this all ends!

Dawn

Ooo, this just occurred to me! Some more evidence that the coachman is involved in the killings:

How did Ackerman know of Gus's relationship with his wife-to-be, Ida? Sure, I suppose you could say that one of his former victims confessed this to him, but I don't think this is very likely, because Ida's associates seemed to not know Gus until he introduced himself.

In the scene in which Gus proposes to Ida after she says she's pregnant, who brought her to Gus? The coachman! Perhaps she told him in her excitement, and then he relayed it to Ackerman?

I'm not sure if this makes sense, I just thought of it now! But it's something to think about.

I really thought it was horrible when Vic tried to talk to Richard and Mia, and she would just comment "I should leave those two alone now" I mean really! Her boyfriend and freaky Mia!

Wow, so many twists! I really think a replay of this would be gooood!

Really glad i found this site and this topic, hope i get some replys and can keep the discussiong going a bit. The ending killed me! Haha.

I can't handle cliffhangers. This game was excellent though and was much better than i expected. Real good. Figured i'd weigh in on what i think is up with the ending, or who the killer could be rather.

I was kind of thinking Miller or Browning at first, as they did dissapear for a while. But, the scene early in the game when she goes into the morgue and the killer comes out of the security room, Victoria chases him into the streets with her 4x4 and pursues him for a while. As this is happening, Claire calls Miller to report it, and then Miller relays it to browning. I don't want to say anything is impossible, but they're both confirmed there as the killer is being pursued so it can't be them, i don't think.

Richards the obvious pick for the killer since he calls at all these post-revelation moments and is convinently missing at key places, but just the fact that he is so obvious makes me think it isn't him. Plus at the end, i think she'd at least figure out it was him if her boyfriend was missing or turned up with a gunshot wound, but he could have swam home while Vic was in the hospital.

My biggest reach in the whole thing is her Father. He's got that perfect, rich, pleasent-ville would-sign-up-to-a-s and m-club vibe. Plus, he would have access to the morgue being the district attorney. DA's pretty much have top notch access to everything. Little things that make me kind of think its him is the cookie puzzle, it makes a point of "not leaveing them in the oven too long." You put them in the oven, you go out, killer strikes. Maybe he didn't eat them all, maybe they burnt and he threw them away. . . The reason its my biggest reach is because, well, ..no motiv, and a motiv is kind of something you should have, haha. (Could have escaped the water scene by swimming home while she was in the hospital, too. If he was shot in the shoulder, it could be easily covered up. I don't know, more i talk about this scenario the more i think it's ridiculous.)

One more thing is i don't think the killer has to be a guy per say. The Queen of Secrets, the only one of the four women who work at the red lantern that wasnt accounted for and respected the rules of the club. Her statue wears the mask, could be a symbol type thing. She'd probably be at all the same parties as these girls, but no one would know because they aren't on a personal level with her at all, and likely wouldnt even know her idenity. Thats kind of a stretch, too.

I don't know, i needed to vent, games ending is driving me bananas.

Small detail, Mark Ackermans name shows up twice on the same page of the members list at red lantern, in the cut scene.

Great site, great community. Again, glad i found it.

You know, I hadn't considered the Queen of Secrets. That would make perfect sense!

To be honest, I was thinking it was Mia during the game for a while, because she had the right body type and I thought it would be a good twist for it to be a female killer this time around--but alas, that didn't happen...but maybe it will, if it's the Queen of Secrets!

I don't know what kind of tie in she would have with Mark Ackerman besides him being enlisted at that club. She'd have to be pretty old to have met the original mark ackerman. But seeing as hes enlisted as a member twice, maybe the person whos obsessed with ackerman, or even the pupil, used ackermans name again when he enlisted at the red lantern, thats where he could have met Queen of Secrets and influenced her to finish these jobs. Maybe like a romance thing.

I don't know, this game is wicked open ended. The killer did let victoria survive, so either he knew and "cared" for her somewhat, or he was trying to be a true copy cat in letting one "victim" survive (Ala Vladanna Tominova.) Edit - Yeah looked like it could be mia at some point, too. Another thing that might make the queen of secrets theory fly is if Vaclavs face was one of recognition, he'd probably recognize her. He does frequent the club.

ok I hope this is not as spoiler to someone whos playing I need to ask a question while you are all on this subject ready.

sheesh just when I was ready to ask my electricity went ok here is the question while Victoria was taking her whirlpool bath was or wasn't there someone else in the room with her, it sounded like there was to me anyone else feel the same way gosh it was sooooo spooky.

Yes, I definitely did. I kept expecting the killer to jump out and drown her!

Yeah same here, camera angle kept suggesting it. Theres no other reason to like.. zoom in on the very back of her head so you see most of the room in front of her while shes talking. Plus that shadowy ending. Felt like it. Maybe it was the father, haha.

This is a great place to hang out! Glad you found us!

I don't think it could be her father, because we heard him snorning as we went past his bedroom when we rushed out to Mia's place.

I do think the killer is somebody she knows, because he had 2 chances to kill her and he didn't.

That's a good idea about the Queen Of Secrets possibly being the killer. Didn't think about that idea...... And she works at the club, so she could easily sign the name Mark Ackerman in the guestbook to mess with Victoria's head. (and why does a place like that even HAVE a guestbook!! )

I, too was thinking that something was going to happen when she was in the hot tub at the end. Perhaps that's how the next game can begin, with her in the hot tub hanging up the phone after talking to Clair.

And about the Coachman, if you think about it, he was the last one that Ida was with before landing in Mark's cluctches. So perhaps those 2 are in cahoots together.

Dawn :kiss: (now playing Silent Hill 2)

Yeah, good call on the father thing and thanks for the warm welcome.

Another possibility is that if this game was so heavily dependant on a sequel we might not even have come in contact with the killer yet. Might not be anybody from Still-life, since microids was planning on closing out a trilogy, and then the whole ubisoft thing happened. I don't know, this is the first game that drove me to a forum to talk about it 'cause i was stumped and shocked i got an ending like that! Hah.

Can only hope for some web content like cinematics or something like that in a month or two, that'd be pretty cool.

By the way, Silent hill series - Money in the bank. One of my favorites.

I wouldn't lose hope on a sequel to Still Life just yet. It's getting very positive reviews and a LOT of attention. UBISoft has made adventure games before, so they may give MC2 the chance to do it.

CBS YEA! I hope there is a sequel I could use a stiff sequel right now ummm maybe not, they might just call the last one, "Still-Waiting" lolol sorry I just kill myself lol im such a joker

well so that was definitely an open ending, wasn't it? it is not real nice
to keep us all hanging on, never heard of a thriller without the killer
revealed at the ending.
My opinion now is: nobody, Victoria included, knows who the pupil is, if she
knew she wouldn't have asked Claire if the "killer's body" had been
recovered from the river, she would have asked about "Richard's body"!
What do you think about that?

I've been good and resisted the temptation of looking at this thread for a few days now. I just finished the game and am so sorry to see it end! I'll be looking at the cinematics for a while and am so glad to read that you were all as sorry to see this game end as I was.

You all have such great comments that I have to add a few more thoughts to them. Here's my take on it:

Mark's mother and father were into s&m and his mother tortured & was incestuous with him during his childhood. He was raised in the family tradition. Mark's mother was killed either during one of their sessions or by Mark when he grew up. He hated & had such warped views of women because of his mother.

The coachman knew what was going on and was a paid employee of Mark's and probably involved in the killings, A follower of Mark's.

Mark's father covered up Mark's killings so as not to jeopardize his career and may have even been involved in them. Hubert (dad) was not involved in Victoria's killings but did own the s&m club in Chicago & probably another one in LA. He would not be able to be so politically involved in LA at the same time that he was committing the murders in Chicago.

Mark was locked up in the asylum but he had children in Prague, a daughter and a son. Mark's dad brought them to the US with him and had them raised by a good s&m club member. Mark's children, Richard and the Queen of Secrets, continued the s&m tradition and emulated their father. The Queen was a recruiter for Richard and ran the club for her grandfather. Richard was the swordsman.

Victoria never saw the killer's face and he had many chances to kill her but didn't. That's because it was Richard and he really did care about her and wanted to continue the game. Did you notice him staring at her in the credits while she was recuperating? Or was it him staring at her while she was in the jacuzzi? I'll have to look at that again. He is definitely suspicious.

Richard could easily have been wearing a bulletproof vest when she shot him, which would have stunned him enough to be knocked over into the water but allowed him to swim to safety and get away.

The reason the two signatures were in the book is because both Richard (really Mark Jr.) and his father who used the alias were members of the club.

Btw, AcaciaStrain, Welcome! You found the right place.


Melanie

Mjartisian you are great!
If I were the boss at Ubisoft I would pay you a million dollars as you wrote the entire plot for SL 2!
P.S. Was Gandhi referring to women instead of animals?

Hi Odisseus

Gandhi was referring to nonhuman animals. He was a compassionate man who believed, as I do, that animals share this earth with us and are not ours to use and abuse but to respect as fellow beings with thoughts and feelings and should be allowed to live their lives in peace as they were meant to.

Why would you think women? That's a strange comment.

Melanie

Just finished today. Great game.

What do you guys think happened to Mia? I assumed she was killed because the killer was about to cut her open and he only did that after killing the women. Did anyone else see it that way, or did you think she was still alive?

As for a sequel... sadly, the Still Life IP stays with MC2, and the employees went to UbiSoft... so I don't see a sequel happening. If one did, it would be MC2's project and it wouldn't have the same team. As I understand it, UbiSoft has no rights to the Still Life franchise... they just bought the employees.