Review Date: September 13, 2010
Developer: Legacy Interactive
Publisher: Legacy Interactive
Platform: PC
Genre: Adventure
The doctor is set to make a house call with the release of House, M.D. Based on the popular television series, the game stars Dr. House and his crew of doctors as they attempt to solve all manner of medical mysteries. But with writing that doesn't quite live up to its source material and a series of mini-games of varying quality, House, M.D. will likely only appeal to those who already have an interest in the show.
The Doctor Is In
Just like the TV series, House, M.D. has Dr. House and his team diagnosing some of the strangest medical issues around. The game is divided into five chapters, each of which tackles a different set of patients. There is an overarching story though, that begins in the first episode and culminates in the last. Fans will see a familiar cast of characters, including Cuddy, Wilson, and Foreman. House himself is as dysfunctional as ever, and constantly makes jokes at the expense of both his colleagues and patients. Of course, as fans of the TV show know, this is just par for the course.
Unfortunately, though House spouts off a never ending string of insults and jokes throughout the game, they're rarely very funny. Quite simply, the writing is not at the same level as the show the game is based on. This may be due to the game's over reliance on trying to be humorous, as it almost feels like 50 percent of the dialog is nothing but one-line insults. With so many jokes, and so few funny ones, the dialog quickly becomes grating.
That being said, the game does do a good job of emulating the show's ability to find truly weird and interesting cases to solve. Each of the five chapters features patients with bizarre medical issues, and except in a few instances, it's pretty much impossible to guess just what's wrong. This helps make playing through each chapter all the more enjoyable, as you keep pushing forward to find out just what the solution is.
Unclear Diagnosis
The game plays out much like a simple point-and-click adventure, albeit with a healthy dose of mini-games. Much of your time will be spent questioning patients and other characters, as well as performing tests, brainstorming ideas, inspecting patients for symptoms, and even searching their homes and workplaces for clues. These events are performed by completing some sort of mini-game or puzzle, though the quality and difficulty level of the mini-games varies quite drastically.
Interrogating patients is relatively simple, as you'll simply have to choose from one of three dialog options in order to get the information you need. If you guess wrong you can simply try again, with no real punishment. Likewise, searching areas for clues is done via a simple hidden object game mode, where you'll have to find a certain number of clues in that particular scene. When your mouse goes over a clue it will highlight, and you simply have to click to gather the clue. There's no hint system, but you really don't need one.
The various tests you'll be performing, meanwhile, run the gamut from fun to downright frustrating. Taking blood or exploring a character's innards each take you to unique and enjoyable mini-games, which consist of multi-step processes that do a good job of mimicking a medical procedure. But some of the games require you to spin dials or valves at a high speed, which is both frustrating and tiresome. It also doesn't help that the game doesn't always register when you're making a spinning motion. The other main problem is that the games repeat far too often.
The Bottom Line
But even with a few annoying mini-games, House, M.D. is, for the most part, an enjoyable experience. The humor's not quite there, but the game provides a healthy dose of strange medical problems to solve, which is sure to satisfy fans of the TV show. For everybody else, it's a solid and fairly lengthy adventure, saddled with some bad writing and frustrating mini-games.