Game Review: Lifeline – Whiteout (Mobile)

The fourth Lifeline game sees the formula beginning to get a bit stale. What was interesting & original is now being run into the ground & if it wasn’t for the exceptional story & likable lead I wouldn’t have many positive words about this game.

The game-play of the Lifeline games is very simple, told it text adventure style you converse via text with a person, in this case it’s Adams. Having woken up in the middle of a frozen wasteland he is lost and confused and makes contact with you seemingly by accident. It’s up to you as the player to help Adams make decisions & find his way to safety.

What made the Lifeline games special is the way in which they played out in real time. If the character needed to do something, you’d have to wait until they came back into contact with you. It was interesting and made it feel a lot more real… the first few times. Now it’s more of a chore & I found it took me out of the game here, disconnecting me to Adams’ journey.

Completing the game twice (be it to the end point or if Adams meets an early end) will see a speed option become available & it was something I was glad to see for once.

The problem is that the formula hasn’t changed one bit. Decisions are still just two choices & with no real clues it’s often guess work as to what might be the better choice. It’s disappointing to not see more advancement here but thankfully the checkpoints have increased meaning a bad decision isn’t as punishing as it once was.

Where Lifeline: Whiteout does get it right though is with the story and Adams. He is very likable, a vast improvement over the character in the second game & almost as interesting & lifelike as Taylor from the first & third games. I cared about what happened to Adams & while it is obvious where his story is going about halfway through it doesn’t make the journey any less exciting.

Its environment is harsh & Adams portrays that well with there being many ways he can meet his end early on. Stick with the game, the story is a good one and leaves room for potential sequels. I can only hope that 3 Minute Games change things up a bit the next time around.