Life Line

by Konami

Product Features

• While at a party at a space hotel, an alien invasion happens. The only survivors are yourself and a hotel worker named Rio. You've managed to hook into the hotel's surveillance and communications systems -- you'll use them to guide Rio to safety.
• In this all voice-activated adventure game, you'll control Rio by communicating with her - Tell her where to explore, how to solve puzzles and how to fight the aliens
• Talk Rio through getting past obstacles and collecting necessary equipment, and lead her away from danger
• Unique voice-recognition technology - Rio responds to over 5,000 and 100,000 phrases
• Compatible with any USB headset

Product Details

• Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S. and to APO/FPO addresses. For APO/FPO shipments, please check with the manufacturer regarding warranty and support issues.
• ASIN: B0000VJF4Q
• Item Weight: 4.8 ounces
• Media: Video Game
• Release Date: March 2, 2004
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #19,552 in Video Games (See Top 100 in Video Games)
• Discontinued by manufacturer: Yes

Product Description

From the Manufacturer

Put down the controller and speak up! In the first-ever voice activated action-adventure game, players will work together with the main character Rio by verbally guiding her through this heart-pounding adventure. Compatible with any USB headset peripheral, LifeLine's unprecedented technology features voice-recognition of over 5,000 words and 100,000 phrases such as "Shoot!", "Run!" and "Dodge and reload!"

Features:

• Revolutionary gameplay experience!
• Incredible voice recognition system allows you to communicate with Rio
• Guide Rio through intense battles and an amazing adventure
• Compatible with any USB headset

Product Description

Lifeline is a heart-pounding adventure that will have you guiding a young girl away from deadly aliens -- using nothing but your voice! Put the controller down and enjoy a revolutionary gameplay experience!

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Either Rio is stupid or I am, March 5, 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: Life Line (Video Game)

Ok, I won't say this game is absolutely good or absolutely bad. It is just that the voice recognition is not that profound. What you say has to be right on for Rio to check it. For example I came across a table and asked her to check the papers. All she said was,"there are lots of paper which one?" It had to be broken down to words like newspaper or report for her to react. Getting her to do things is not that easy. Some objects look like something else. A newspaper may look like a monitor. A telephone may look like a can of spray. I found that to get her to look at a computer monitor I had to say "PC"
The combat system is much easier but Rio won't do anything on her own. She won't turn around on her own to face an enemy which I thought was funny because she talks back to you like your stupid but she is the one who has to be talked through everything. the game can be fun but the vocabulary is not that indebth. There are many words for an object but rio really only recognizes one or two words. This game is like playing sharades.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Great Potential - Poor Implementation, May 28, 2004

By 

Lisa Shea "medieval swordfighting enthusiast" - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)    (TOP 50 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Life Line (Video Game)

Lifeline is a voice controlled video game for the PS2. You help a waitress investigate a space station, killing aliens and rescuing guests.

For most Playstation 2 users, this is the first time they'll need to buy a microphone/headset. While many XBox games (especially XBox Live) use a microphone extensively, few PS2 games have taken this step.

On first glance this seems a REALLY cool idea. You "are" a male in the game. But as a guest trapped in a monitor room, you are really "controlling" a woman, telling her what to shoot, where to check and what to do. The female character is spunky and alert, handling her gun with ease and bantering with the people she meets along the way.

The graphics are reasonably well done - the Honeymoon Suite has floor to ceiling windows that give you a nice view of earth, the rooms have an elegant, posh hotel look. There aren't rich details as in many current XBox games, but you do get a sense that you're in a space-hotel of the future.

The sounds that exist have attention to detail. As you walk across various surfaces, your footsteps change. However, usually you are just walking through an empty space-hotel so there aren't many ambient sounds, which is a shame.

But when you actually start to PLAY the game, you realize immediately the huge limitations of the voice recognition software. Your entire interface with the game is the way you speak. They begin with a tutorial which is maddening. All they say is "Good" (or "excellent") if you say the word properly, or "BAD!" if you don't say it well. They don't tell you HOW you missed - too loud? Too soft? Too high? Too low? Too fast? Too slow? I have tried this game with many different people and certain phrases - specifically "shoot shoot shoot" and another "shoot reload" sequence - could get people stuck for 10 minutes or more. The game just keeps saying "BAD" "BAD" "BAD" which gets frustrating to no end. The game seems geared towards kids' voices, if we raised the pitch of our commands and spoke quickly it eventually caught on. But the frustration level was at a pitch by then. There was no way to 'skip' a word or phrase.

This gets even worse during actual gameplay. I do admit the game is addictive so I would literally sit there for 20 minutes trying to investigate a given item on a table. "Check book" I'd say. "Leave room?" she'd say and start leaving. There's a 3 second delay where you can't say anything, and then you say "CHECK TABLE!" to get her back to the table area. Then you try again. "Check books" - and now she's heading to the bathroom.

Half of the problem is her poor ability to understand what you're saying, even if you're being extremely clear and distinct. The other half of the problem is that you don't KNOW what the things on the screen are. Case in point. At one point you're in a living area and can see various items, including a blue, striped box. You can try "check box" or "check blue box" or "check striped box" or anything else - and either she'll say "Huh?" or she'll misinterpret your phrase and go wandering off elsewhere in the room. It turns out this thing you're looking at is a RATIONS and unless you say that, she won't actually look at it.

This problem happens EVERYWHERE. On one chair is a curved object. It's a "helmet" but unless you make that leap of logic, you're doomed. In another room, a white square lays next to a bed. You can try "document" or "paper" or "report" or any other combination of words to no avail. You can try "look under bed" or "look by bed" or "white rectangle" or "white square", and either she'll look at you in glazed non-understanding or mis-interpret your command to go elsewhere. Eventually you figure out this thing is a "laptop" and she does actually try to look at it - but she can't!!

I keep playing because I want to find out if things get better. But they never do. There are "category games" where you take turns naming things - astrology signs, islands in the caribbean, cities that have football teams. But no matter how clearly you say your chosen category choices - "Capricorn!" "Aries!" "Virgo!" she says "sorry you lose! Ha ha, I win!" It is just amazingly frustrating.

Maybe someday a game will be developed that DOES understand what you are saying - and that has good enough graphics that you can see what you're trying to do in the first place. But when you combine poor graphics, no ability to zoom ON AN ITEM (the zoom just zooms to a random spot in the center of the screen), combat issues where half the time you can't see what you are fighting, and a voice recognition system that wastes 20 minutes on an unimportant object in a room, the game tests even the most patient of adventure-game lovers' nerves.

A good game to play to see the direction that adventure game is heading in. But this is NOT quick to play. Allocate many, many days to get through this one.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Ouch... The Voice Recognition System Hurts!!!, March 12, 2004

By 

Tony Phan "tonyphant" (USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Life Line (Video Game)

Life Line is the first game played entirely by speaking to the character via usb headsets. Does that mean you don't need a controller to play? Nope--you need a controller to know WHAT you can say.

The graphics are pretty good. Nothing flashy, but quite good. Pretty realistic backgrounds. Objects are detailed.

There is almost no sound going through the game. No music during walking around, and some minimal music during a battle. The music is unimportant--it's good sometimes to have it quiet to hear what the main character (Rio) is saying.

The voice recognition technology is the part we're most interested in, and at the same time, is the worst part of the game. Simply put--the recognition doesn't work!!!!!

About 8 out of 10 times, your voice WILL be heard incorrectly in the game. I said "Look at the papers on the table," and the girl responds, "Leave the room? Ok." Now, what I want to know is, WHERE DID SHE HEAR ME SAY THE WORD "ROOM?"

The game is a constant struggle. Luckily, your controller can help you say certain phrases by listing what she can understand. Oh, while talking, you must hold down the circle button. Quite lame.

Navigating through rooms is hard because of the constant misunderstandings. You say "Go to Room A." She understands it as "Go to the locker." You say "Go to the locker." She heard "Leave the room." I'm not making this up, people--this game has a serious flaw!

If you think my review is false, rent the game and find out. If you think you have the most clear voice and precise pronunciation ever, try the game. You'll be surprised by how much the character CAN'T understand you.

Thank god I only paid 29.99 for the game instead of the 39.99 MSRP. That's the only good thing I can say about the game.