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TWO POINT HOSPITAL (XONE)
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Publisher: SEGA.
Developer: Red Kite Games. Released: February 2020. Genre: Business simulation. Other versions: PC; PS4; SWI. Posted 15th May 2020. By Shane Battams © 2020 |
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Billed as a spiritual successor of-sorts to Theme Hospital, with former Bullfrog team members involved in its development, Two Point Hospital proved a delightful love-letter to late nineties simulations. It also represented a decent step forward, with the kind of improvements which elevate the game beyond the level of a mere copycat. It’s taken a little while, but console owners would finally get to manage their own hospital in 2020. It comes with a steep learning curve, and some may be turned off by its tougher challenges towards the end, but it proves a worthwhile time sink and a decent console port too.
Tasked with running the hospitals of Two Point County, you’ll be usually given a blank canvas to set up your own health service, bar specific challenges which usually sees the player resurrecting an already established, albeit struggling, hospital. As you start with a pre-set amount of money and little interactivity from pedestrians, most hospitals require you to set up a reception, GP Office and Pharmacy in order to stir the snowball effect. Reputation dictates business levels, with lower prices and good service encouraging more people to use your facilities. But this can be a difficult thing to juggle, as you’ll need to make money from diagnoses, treatments and consumables to keep the hospital running. But hike up the prices too much, and you’ll scare custom away, requiring dedicated micromanagement to keep it in balance. You’ll also need to hire and train staff, with doctors and nurses along with assistants and janitors, the latter of which help run and tidy the place respectively. It’s a lot to take in at first.
A bustling hospital with lots of patients to be cured. Two Point Hospital demands an organised mind to keep things running smoothly.
This doesn’t even factor in the challenges you face. Each level has as many as three Stars for the player to earn, with challenge completion rewarding them. These often revolve around curing a specific illness, training staff, increasing your hospital’s value and earning a specific cure rate percentage. While earlier stages aren’t too difficult and can easily be three-starred, latter stages are quite gruelling at points. Whether it’s earning a 90% cure rate, curing 100 patients or keeping staff morale high, they prove time consuming and tricky to juggle with general management needed in order to avoid bankruptcy. Sessions can range from an hour to half a dozen, and some may find this dedication and time required to be too much. But when you manage to click these elements into place, there’s something hugely satisfying about running a hospital.
The litany of levels and challenges should keep players invested for dozens of hours. Earning the coveted three stars on each hospital requires dedication, but there’s plenty of other avenues to explore. Kudosh can be earned frequently, be it through gameplay challenges or completing lengthier goals, and this allows you to buy new items to use in all your hospitals. Whether it’s heaters or aircon to adjust temperature, machines to feed and quench thirst or fun distractions such as playable arcade games, it’s absolutely worth unlocking as much as possible. You can also set up research facilities, which improve your machinery and reward both money and Kudosh, another element absolutely worth exploring.
The litany of levels and challenges should keep players invested for dozens of hours. Earning the coveted three stars on each hospital requires dedication, but there’s plenty of other avenues to explore. Kudosh can be earned frequently, be it through gameplay challenges or completing lengthier goals, and this allows you to buy new items to use in all your hospitals. Whether it’s heaters or aircon to adjust temperature, machines to feed and quench thirst or fun distractions such as playable arcade games, it’s absolutely worth unlocking as much as possible. You can also set up research facilities, which improve your machinery and reward both money and Kudosh, another element absolutely worth exploring.
FOCAL POINT: TICKLING THE FUNNY BONE
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Much of Two Point Hospital’s magnetism comes from its endearing charm. It doesn’t exactly push technical boundaries, but the slew of funny illnesses which plague patients garners a laugh. From cosplaying Mock Stars, literal Light-headedness and the frying Pandemic, everything feels witty and charming. Each level also plays a radio station, with genuinely biting humour and relaxing music adding to the presentation. There’s just a lot of fun moments and chuckles to be had. Picking up staff lets you rotate them with an alarming ragdoll effect, random Epidemics see patients walk like mummified monsters, dead patients can return as ghosts to haunt others and interaction between different patients can be endearing. It sounds small, but this bubbly presentation really glues together the mechanical parts of Two Point Hospital, keeping you engaged even if you feel overwhelmed at points.
Two Point Hospital’s arrival on consoles is a fully-featured one. Ported by a subsidiary of Sumo Digital, this release comes with two of the three additional content packs released for PC – Bigfoot and Pebberley Island – which adds extra hospital spaces, new diseases, machinery and unlockable items. But more importantly, perhaps, the transition to a console is remarkably smooth. Though there is an initial learning stage with managing all the functionalities (from setting prices and staff to viewing in-depth statistical management), being able to pause, slow down and fast-forward when needed really helps you get your bearings. Performance is mostly smooth, though hospitals with a significant number of patients can cause slowdown, and load times can feel a touch long at points. But otherwise, console owners will be happy to find Red Kite Games delivered.
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Two Point Hospital is a raucously fun time that, while perhaps intimidating to those unseasoned in simulation games, will prove addictive and charming to everyone else. It’s challenging, yet always rewarding, through an increasing sense of accomplishment watching your hospital grow or laughing at one of the many funny elements of its endearing presentation. And it also marks a successful transition to consoles, as barring a few hiccups, the experience remains strong. Those who grew up with the likes of Theme Hospital and are looking for a way to relive the glory days while experiencing the benefit of two decades worth of improvements, should seek out Two Point Hospital in haste.
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VERDICT
"It’s challenging, yet always rewarding, through an increasing sense of accomplishment watching your hospital grow or laughing at one of the many funny elements of its endearing presentation." OVERALL: 8/10 |