[singlepic id=117 w=320 h=240 mode=web20 float=left]Presentation-wise this game would be far better suited to a Nintendo DS, mobile phone or an internet flash game. It has a fixed (small) resolution which can be set to full-screen (a stretched 4:3 frame), and has very comic-book 2D graphic to it.
Read on to find out how I found it stands up as a PC game. . .
The House M.D. game feels slightly ‘budget’, and its clear they haven’t got the rights to use the theme song (as per the TV show in the UK) and use artist interpretations of the cast, despite this it is a reasonable effort to create something which is (however tenuously, at times) well ‘themed’ by the excellent TV show.
House M.D. takes on the form of a series of mini-puzzles strung together by scenes of dialogue to push through some medical episodes. For example these mini-games might be a word-search where you guess the diagnosis or drawing vials of blood by clicking and dragging a needle into a patients arm etc. One puzzle asks me to choose between a torch, magnifying glass, torch and stethoscope to diagnose a patient’s condition. . I can’t remember the last time I saw a doctor on TV (never mind Hugh Laurie) using a magnifying glass to diagnose a medical condition! I don’t think the target gamer or the developers dwell too much on these small things, as Glyphic Entertainment put it
“We create fun in every game we develop. If a game isn’t fun, there’s not much point in developing it, so this is first and foremost on our minds.”
The quality of these games are fairly poor, with hit-and-miss ‘hot spots’ you have to click an object onto before it will allow you to progress. On the unfinished review code I played some of the puzzles were simply too hard, I had to give up on at a puzzle about 6 or 7 in because it seemed broken. Hopefuly this will be tweaked and fixed for the final version, so nothing to worry about too much there I imagine. [singlepic id=118 w=320 h=240 float=right]
Mini-games likes these are reminiscent of what we were accustomed to in early 90′s CD-ROM FMV games like 7th Guest and Blown Away. They’re actually laughably bad, so bad in fact, it’s fairly funny in places! Sadly unlike those early CD-ROM games there are no real actors or eve voice-overs in this game, just incidental generic music and text throughout. Which is a shame, as a House fan I’d loved to have had some short snippets from the actors.
I almost get the feeling the developers were aware of these short comings as I found it almost (amusingly) self-deprecating at times. From the camp comic-book style the way House, Taub, Chase, Foremen et al are presented to the totally over-the-top reactions given by them to the various events in the game and the unbelievably corny script. “Something stinks here, and it isn’t just Henry’s colostomy bag.” [singlepic id=112 w=320 h=240 float=left]Unbelievable. Brilliant.
The script feels at best like fan-fiction rather than anything genuinely ‘House’ – the banter and put-downs expected in your average House episode feel a tad forced and often unfunny. I can’t imagine Wilson ever using this line to House “You’ve been doing great lately. If you need a consult on anything I’ll be happy to help.“ Lines like that make me wonder if the writer has even seen an episode of House!
In all fairness to game creators I can’t imagine how better to create a game of a TV show that is centred around tight acting and a witty script – with the medical diagnoses’ often taking a backseat in House these days. For me, a point & click monkey island style game where you limp around Princeton Plainsboro Teaching Hospital making fun of people / solving medical mysteries / hitting on Cuddy would’ve been preferable 
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Getting Massive Attack’s Teardrop and maybe some recorded dialogue from the show would’ve definitely won more favour with me.
This reads like a fairly damning review of the game, but for very casual gamers and serious fans of House the TV show this is definitely a bit of fun and at the fairly reasonable price of $19.95 (£13.81) will be probably snapped up in reasonable number. However I imagine this to be the sort of thing bought as an impulse in greater numbers during a period of price-reduction or sale.
I’d probably describe House M.D. as a bit of ‘toy’ for fans rather than a ‘proper’ PC game (from the year 2010). I’m not sure of the target audience, as I wouldn’t imagine House has a huge kids audience; however it may well tap into the older casual gamer who aren’t bothered about game mechanics or impressive visuals or any depth whatsoever, but are happy to ‘play along’ with the gimmick.
5 out of 10.
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