Two Point Hospital is almost here and it’s only gotten zanier. As discussed in our last preview of the game, Two Point Hospital is all about running a chain of fictional hospitals and trying to overcome the various health crises of Two Point County. It’s not colds and sore throats that need to be cured though; no, it’s much worse than that. Instead, players will be tasked with eliminating the scourge of “Mock Star,” and combating the “Pandemic” pandemic. Yes, by using the latest in health care technology and by recruiting the county’s top medical talent, players will be right there on the front lines convincing patients that they are, in fact, not rock stars. They might even be able to get pots off of other patients’ head. If the operations are successful, that is. Two Point Hospital was already funny in the earlier build, and it’s only gotten better since. As for gameplay, test results are showing positive.
Four of the game’s hospitals were available to try this time around. Each had its own set of challenges and objectives, and the experience each offered was quite enjoyable. The controls and the UI play a big part in this. Two Point Hospital’s menus were very easy to navigate this time around. The changes weren’t drastic, and the improvement is likely largely due to the game being that much more complete now. That said though, finding both objects and information only takes a couple of mouse clicks. Menus are a must for just about any sim game, and one will certainly spend their fair share of time in them while playing Two Point Hospital, but the structure present here keeps one from feeling like they’re always in menus, and that makes a difference. Easy cancellation via the right-mouse-button and simple camera controls make it all the better. However, nice menus and controls won’t matter if the game isn’t interesting. Not to worry though, Two Point Hospital doesn’t seem to be ailing in that regard.
Thanks to Two Point Studios’ commitment to comedy, Two Point Hospital is already an interesting game to look at and listen to. Hospital staff appear to have personalities of their own, and the various illnesses patients walk-in with all have their own eye-drawing quirks too. The PA woman managed to elicit at least one chuckle and many a smirk was inspired by the exaggerated personalities on the radio. One shouldn’t spend too long idly looking around and listening to the radio though, there’s a hospital to run after all!
Talking about difficulty is a touch tricky at this point. Since each hospital has its own goals to reach for and challenges to overcome, comparing their relative difficulty is tricky. However, it should be said that each hospital, even the very first one, has the potential to keep the player on their toes. It seems to come down to how each one is played. Going in with a plan and building efficiently is enough to keep one’s head above water, but achieving all the hospital’s goals and maxing out its rank is where the real challenge lies. One doesn’t need to max out a hospital in order to advance, so more casual sim players won’t have to dig too deeply into menus and management tools if they don't want to. It’s only when one wants to reach for the stars and climb to the top of the leaderboards that they’ll have to really familiarize themselves with all the optimization tools available to them.
Two Point Studios has definitely been putting in the work needed to get Two Point Hospital into a healthy state for release. In its current state, the game appears to run quite smoothly; it’s UI has become very easy to use, and the game’s normal pacing seems to be more or less established now. Building the hospitals is still where much of the action is, but it’s also enjoyable to sit back for a beat and take in all the goofiness that walks in the front doors. Well, that is until a mob of patients afflicted with “Clown Syndrome” show up and disrupt everything. It’s just another day’s work for a hospital administrator in Two Point County though.
Two Point Hospital is set to release for PC on August 30.
https://www.anrdoezrs.net/links/3607085/type/dlg/sid/UUhgUeUpU22446/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2NiiaAbxMWs