Random Video Game Series Review - Two Point

 

It's time to return to the world of simulation games. Games that, for a while when I was growing up, I played a fair bit. But for reasons, I started to play them less. I guess it depends on how they are meant to be played. Some are well-developed, follow good concepts and are played all the time by people. Others are just too difficult for me to even attempt to play them. This is a reason why, of all simulation games, I play the LEGOLAND one the most. It's simple, not too complicated and easy. Believe me, I have tried others and I always end up going back to that one in the end. That being said, the two games by this company I'm going to talk about today, have been pretty easy to play. So maybe there is hope for me yet in the simulation genre of games. Let's have a look and these two games by a few of the people that made such classics like the Fable games, Theme Hospital and Black & White:

Hospital

Kicking things off, we have a game that serves as the spiritual successor to Theme Hospital. Wallace looking characters aside, you take on the role of a hospital admin that's charged with the construction and maintenance of a hospital. You can build rooms and amenities (things like vending machines, toilets, seating etc.), expand the hospital to new plots, hire people (staff, doctors, nurses etc.) and of course deal with the magnitude of illnesses that patients face in the game (most being very comical). Over time, you can start managing more than just the one hospital, with each one having its own layout objectives and serving certain purposes. Such comical illnesses include one where you have a pan shaped head, one where you are a Freddy Mercury impersonator and one where you have an animal stuck to you, among many others. The process for each patient begins with a GP appointment, followed by said patient going to various rooms for diagnosis and eventually, treatment for what they have. Later levels will give you the chance to combat epidemics and also the chance to research for new rooms and all sorts. The game, overall, is good. Plays out very much like Theme Hospital did and serves as a very faithful successor to that game with new features, modern graphics and gameplay that is easily accessible, but will get harder over time. Can't quite get over the Wallace & Gromit looking characters, but that's OK. 9/10

Campus

So you've been a hospital admin, now you are a university.... admin, I guess. In the game, you build and manage a university campus. This is done by building various educational rooms like classrooms, lecture halls and libraries and also organizing cultural events and extracurricular activities. You must also appoint staff and take care of the well-being of them and the students that go to your university. Students behaviours and personalities are all procedurally generated and stay longer than the patients in the previous game. In-game academic years last 20 minutes, each ending with a graduation ceremony and a new set of students who all develop relationships and other things. Some characters from Hospital also return, and the game is set in the same place as that game. Overall, while very similar to its predecessor, I'm glad that Two Point are exploring other things for gamers to have a go at managing. I probably had a little bit more fun in this one due to the students being very interesting characters. A good successor indeed. 9/10

I think Two Point have done well with these two games and I look forward to where they go next. Chances of them doing a theme park one are unlikely, but would love to see them do other places and even try other genres too. 9/10