LifeLine (Sony PlayStation 2, 2004)

Survival horror games are hard to do right. They need to make you worry that the next door you open could be your last and that some horribly powerful zombie or mutant could be around the next corner waiting to do you in. When they are done right, they're great, and create the proper feeling of being inside a horror movie. When they're not, the horror is replaced with frustration, and nothing kills a game faster.

On the surface, there isn't a thing wrong with Lifeline. The setup involves a space station hotel that gets attacked by mysterious mutants during its unveiling on Christmas Eve. The player assumes the role of a man caught up in the chaos, and when the dust settles the only living people seem to be him and a waitress named Rio. The way the game works is that the player does not directly control Rio; instead, their character is locked in a security room and uses a microphone to direct Rio around the hotel with voice commands. These the player administers via a USB headset.

Unfortunately, it seems like the microphone the player uses to call Rio is broken, because she'll often react to a command like, "Look at box on table" or, "Exit room," by replying, "So I should run?" and then run around the room aimlessly or using a healing item. It calls to mind nothing so much as a space-age version of an old text adventure game like Zork or Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy where the player's ability to interact with the game is sometimes hindered by the limited vocabulary the game is programmed to recognize. It makes everything from searching for clues to just trying to leave the room an exercise in frustration.

The player is even expected to do Rio's thinking during the times when she runs into monsters, although why is left up to our imaginations, especially since battles to the death are not the kinds of situations where a person usually speaks slowly and clearly like you need to do to have even a chance of Rio understanding you. The player can string commands during fights to move things along more quickly (e.g. "shoot head, dodge right, reload"), but Rio is as likely to understand what they want her to do in a fight as anywhere else in the game. Sometimes telling her to dodge causes her to run straight into the monster the player was trying to get her to avoid.

The worst thing about the game is that if it weren't for the voice recognition system being so difficult to use, Lifeline would easily be an almost flawless game. Lifeline's graphics are crisp and realistic, the sound effects, music and voice acting are acceptable, though hardly a perfect example of what games today are capable of, and finally there's an intriguing back story that unfolds as the game plays out. How disappointing.

But probably the thing that annoys me most is I'm not only out money for a game that doesn't work right, I'm also out money for a USB headset that I have no other use for besides playing a game that doesn't work right.

The idea behind Lifeline's interface is revolutionary, but the technology has yet to catch up with the idea. Hopefully the next time a company gets an idea as wild as a game completely controlled through vocal commands, they'll make sure their system works right before unleashing it on the buying public.

Now as of now, I have not played yet. I have played "Hey You, Pikachu!" for the Nintendo 64, which was in a way, like this game. You give commands through a microphone/headset. Now with this game, it's obviously more violent, but I am very excited to play. The wait is killing me. I watched some video reviews and such. I really don't understand what people might have disliked about it for it being so under-rated. It looks quite interesting, compelling storyline, interesting controls, good graphics, and unique gameplay. I know I won't be disappointed by playing this game.

This is a game that my brother purchased because he had a voice headset he wanted to try out. I played the game and it is actually pretty fun. You tell the character what to do with vocal commands. It is a little hard when you are fighting something because you have to tell it when and where to shoot.

One of the most unique games you'll ever play! A little difficult if you don't have a headset though. An extreme leap into a new age of gaming!!! The voice commands are a little difficult unless you're very calm, but other than that, the game is very fun!

the sole reason why i purchaced this game was to laugh at how horrible it is. Me and my cousin love just fighting verbally with the character on the screen. if you are looking for a good game, this isn't it. but it's funny, and has an interesting concept.