Lifeline

Lifeline, released in Japan as , is a 2003 survival horror adventure video game developed and published by Sony Computer Entertainment (and published by Konami in North America) for the PlayStation 2. Set in the near future aboard a space hotel attacked by unidentified monsters, the game follows the player as they direct cocktail waitress Rio Hohenheim to safety while searching for the player's girlfriend Naomi as well as the source of the monster infestation. Lifeline's defining aspect is its voice user interface: the vast majority of gameplay is conducted by using the PlayStation 2's microphone to issue commands, which are interpreted by the game via speech recognition to control Rio and dictate her movements and actions. Lifeline was released on January 30, 2003 in Japan and March 2, 2004 in North America; in Japan, it was optionally sold alongside the PlayStation 2 headset. It received generally mixed reviews, with praise for its innovation and potential but criticism for the low reliability of its speech recognition. However, Lifeline still sold well enough to be rereleased in Japan on September 25, 2003 under Sony's The Best budget range, and the game has maintained somewhat of a cult following over the years since its release for its innovative gameplay and the depth of its voice mechanics. Gameplay Lifeline is a survival horror adventure game where the player issues orders to Rio Hohenheim as she attempts to escape a monster-infested space station. The standout feature of Lifeline is its voice user interface in which the player speaks into their microphone to command Rio. The player never directly controls Rio, let alone any other character, at any point in the game; rather, they are required to tell her what to do at any given time, such as directing her where to go, advising her to examine or use objects, or ordering her what to aim for during a battle with a monster. Such spoken commands include "run", "stop", "dodge", and "turn left", among many others (approximately 500 commands exist), which prompt Rio to perform specific actions and progress throughout the game. To issue commands, the player must hold the input mic button (the O button on the DualShock controller) before speaking.