Doctor Life Simulator is a new life-sim where we play as… well, a doctor. Created by the devs at Bleeding Edge Studio and Blackburne Games Studio FZ LLC, they aim to create where you save lives. While I’m writing an article to see if I can save you time and money.
You pay for the best, and I’m the next “best” thing!
The game is out now on Steam for £4.29 for any of those aspiring doctors out there.
Gameplay
Now, there wasn’t as much gameplay as I’d hoped to experience when playing Doctor Life Simulator. The tutorial kinda was the whole game. You have a daily quota to fulfil as well as a patient list. We then speak to them, and the NPC lists off what has been bothering them with key points highlighted in orange. Then you can diagnose them – if you already know the symptoms, which becomes predictable very early. Or you’re able to perform a checkup, which consists of three small interactions. For example, checking heart irregularities and temperature.
If you get the diagnosis correct, you’re rewarded reputation and money. Which is used to improve the hospital. I unlocked another wing, but it did nothing, and hiring other doctors is only for one additional day. Besides being able to drive around the city, that was all I really got to play. Patients cycle through the same old faces that switch between two ailments. I found nearly everyone had Diabetes during my playthroughs!
Graphics & Audio
If cold and empty had a graphical style, this would be it. Textures are plain and blurry, and overall completely low effort. Character models walk like robots, and from the sound of the voices, voiced by AI as well.
Character models are inconsistent, with some sporting a pasted-on face and blocky body, and others with an odd cartoon-style face and very rounded bodies. With pasted-on faces and only walking and sitting animation. As for the environment, it’s just empty. The city is pretty barren with a few cars here and there, and the hospital is blank and empty with the same three character models roaming back and forth.
There is no facial animation whatsoever but spoken lines, so you’re sat staring at a blank face listening to them drone on in ridiculous voices. Not that it would make much difference, but I think it would have been a better decision to not use voices at all. Yes, they are that bad.
Sound effects and music are just downright awful. Everything is super loud, even when turning the volume down, to the point of making my speakers crackle. The music was unbearably obnoxious, and I had to turn it off. The sound effects are horrible too, with the temperature reader making a heinous, harsh screeching-beep every time it’s used. The game over screen also has an odd, sharp beeping, which I couldn’t tell what it was supposed to be. I’m glad I didn’t wear headphones.
While I’m no stranger to small development teams, indie games and slightly minimalistic styles, it’s glaringly obvious there was zero effort put into the game’s visuals or sound. The game feels as though the design and audio were simply slapped together, with no love or care.
Longevity
Doctor Life Simulator has a limited life span. In fact during my time with it for this review, I would consistently get to the fourth day and would constantly get a game over. There was no explanation to this, so I don’t even know why? I’ve tried multiple tries to get past it, without success. Landing my play time with Doctor Life Simulator at around three and a half hours.
Final Thoughts
Doctor Life Simulator’s gameplay is terrible and lacks any depth. Meeting the same NPCs and instantly knowing what ailment they had quickly removed all joy. The large amount of bugs made playing the game a struggle with, especially that fourth day game over one! The game comes off as lifeless, and the A.I. voices don’t help at all. I would highly suggest leaving this game out of your backlog.
Doctor Life Simulator is a perfect example of why I don’t agree with the use of certain A.I. tools. All you end up with is a hollow game that comes across as a cash grab. Other games I’ve reviewed in the past have used A.I. for minor parts, this game overuses them. From the trailer to the voices in game, it feels wrong.
I think this is the first time I’ll be giving a game the Thumb Culture Broken Award.
Disclaimer: A code was received in order to write this review.
