Game Review: Lifeline: Crisis Line (Mobile)
The Lifeline series has been very successful telling deep & detailed stories that play out in the form of a ‘choose your own’ adventure book. Text adventures need characters that you can buy into, characters that can be believed & their plight understood & shared.
The first game did that perfectly while telling a story that had all the wonder that comes with space. It introduced Taylor, a character that would become a Lifeline major player & he would appear in later games too (regardless of how your own earlier story played out). 3 Minute Games have struggled elsewhere to make memorable characters & the games have suffered for it.
You can read our reviews of the earlier games below.
Lifeline
Lifeline 2
Lifeline: Silent Night
Lifeline – Whiteout
Lifeline 2 was a disappointing story that lacked the mystery found elsewhere but it at least held my attention way longer then Lifeline: Crisis Line did.
With Crisis Line you can’t help but wonder if we’ve had the best of what this series has to offer now. It’s not about the formula getting stale but rather the lacking quality of this latest story. Crisis Line is incredibly boring, so much so that there was very little motivation to keep playing.
The story surrounds Alex, a police officer investigating a death. You are contacted via an advice app during a panicked moment after Alex witnesses something that his rational mind can’t process. A friendship quickly starts up & from this point onward you effectively become his partner working with him to solve the mystery surrounding a murder.
Alex, as a character, isn’t the worst of the Lifeline series but he’s no Taylor! His dialogue is well written but his reliance on you makes him seem like a bit of a useless police officer. Obviously it wouldn’t be much of a game if he was making all the decisions for you but it just creates a disconnect.
The mystery murder & the unravelling of the case just doesn’t hold enough of an interesting mystery to make this a worthwhile play. This is a Lifeline game that is worth avoiding unfortunately & we can only hope that 3 Minute Games haven’t completely run out of ideas.
Lifeline: Crisis Line is available to buy now priced at £2.29.
Lifeline: Crisis Line
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The Final Score - 5/10
5/10