Reception
| Reception | |
|---|---|
| Review scores | |
| Publication | Score |
| Game Informer | 6.0/10 |
| GameSpot | 6.5/10 |
| GameZone | 7.5/10 |
| IGN | 5.5/10 |
| Nintendo World Report | 6.5/10 |
| GameShark | 4.2/10 |
| Pocket Gamer UK | 4.0/10 |
LifeSigns received a mixed reception. Based on 17 reviews, metacritic.com had an average critic score of 61 out of 100.
Some reviewers praised the game for having a more realistic hospital setting as opposed to a more fictional one in Trauma Center. Some also praised the large amount of character interaction, which mainly came from Sanosuke of ZTGameDomain, who gave the game its biggest praise, "I'm having trouble typing this today, as my left hand is sore from playing Lifesigns so much yesterday. And when a game compels me to play to the point of arthritis, that my friends, is a good thing.". However, Sanosuke also pointed out how there is "A little less trial and error in diagnosis", and how a few aspects of surgery functionality may aggravate. ZTGameDomain has given LifeSigns an 8.5/10.
Some of the game's criticism had been the fact that it "feels more like an interactive storybook than an actual game." GameShark.com's review states, "It’s like reading a book where you drop paragraphs into order. This is a tremendous flaw after all; this is a game, not a movie." Level (Czech Republic) had noted the unbalanced gameplay and that it "slips to boredom gibberish." Although many reviewers have noted the large amounts of conversations that goes on in between missions, as many conversations must take place before further medical progress will happen. Chris Adams of IGN stated in a closing comment about the game, "The game needed some streamlining, or at least more pressing decision-making within all these conversations, rather than mindless drag and drop." Games Master UK states, "Heavy on text, low on game, which makes it less fun than "Trauma Center." Nintendo World Report describes the inability to skip the long conversations as "a tedious and frustrating process." Tracy Erickson of Pocket Gamer UK remarks, "Almost all of your time is spent tapping through conversations instead of actually examining patients and performing operations. This makes for a remarkably boring game, if Lifesigns can even be called a game." GameShark.com concludes, "Finally, the fact you can’t actually do anything to affect any of the game’s outcomes is somewhat ridiculous, and in the end makes it difficult to recommend."
Despite the large amount of negative reviews by video game critics, the game fared better with the public, receiving a 7.0/10 from Metacritic based on public scores.
Read more about this topic: Life Signs: Surgical Unit
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