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> Results: Lifeline
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Video game players often yell at their television screen, but in Konami's latest title, it's mandatory. "LifeLine" is the first video game to be controlled almost exclusively with voice-activated commands. A USB headset microphone (sold separately) is required to play.
The concept is certainly unique and ambitious, but inconsistent voice recognition technology coupled with a game design flaw prevents this B-grade adventure from being an extraordinary one. The premise is as follows: On December 24, 2029, you and your girlfriend were attending a social function at a space station hotel, when a handful of uninvited guests crash the party ﾖ literally. Creatures break through the walls and begin attacking the attendees. You awaken, unharmed, in the hotel's security control room, but find yourself locked in. Your only "lifeline" to the outside is another survivor ﾖ a hotel waitress named Rio ﾖ who you can talk to via a two-way radio and see through the hotel's security cameras. Rio agrees to find your missing girlfriend if you can safely navigate her through the monster-infested hotel. She also asks for your help to locate a news correspondent who may know something about the cause of the attack. A secondary goal is to round-up all survivors and find a way back to Earth ﾖ yourself included.  "LifeLine" fuses traditional adventure game elements -- such as picking up and using objects, solving puzzles and talking with characters for clues ﾖ with action sequences that force Rio to use a handgun against varied creatures. By holding down the circle button on the controller, the player must issue audio commands to Rio, such as "go to guest room," "look behind you" or "pick up newspaper." When Rio responds accordingly, the effect is a gratifying one and convinces the player this voice-recognition feature is more than just a gimmick. Problem is, it doesn't always work, and it can leave the player frustrated. At times, it's understandable how the game may misread a command (if I say "yes," Rio may think I said "desk") while in other instances, it's really off, such as interpreting "security room" as "go to shutter room 4." As a result, players will often find themselves saying "stop" to cancel an action you do not want Rio to carry out. Another shortcoming lies in the fact the player may not know what an object is onscreen. How can you tell Rio to pick up the key card on the table when it looks like a book or ticket or deck of playing cards? Here, players will have to describe the item's color or shape before Rio asks, "Oh, is this what you mean?" Combat can get tough, especially when multiple baddies attack at once. The trick is to find the creature's weakness and exploit it (e.g. "stomach, shoot, shoot, shoot"). Players can also give consecutive instructions, such as "reload, number 1, shoot, dodge, number 2, shoot" and so on. According to Konami, "LifeLine" can recognize more than 5,000 words and 100,000 phrases. It's a shame the voice-recognition technology is fickle, not to mention players must often engage in a guessing game on some objects, because the premise and story behind "LifeLine" is a compelling one. Hopefully, Konami will consider a sequel to the game, one that irons out all of these issues, so that we can see the true potential of this unique hands-free control scheme. Kid Factor Lots of violence, lots of yelling at the screen, lots of offensive content, it's M-Rated for a reason folks. Kid Factor by GamerDad Format For Printing | Tell A Friend | Digg | Slashdot | del.icio.us | Buy This Game Home > Review Archive > Video Games > Results: Lifeline |
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