Favorite Genre(s):Adventure, Strategy, Time Management
Fun Factor
1/ 5
Visual/Sound Quality
1/ 5
Level of Challenge
1/ 5
Storyline
1/ 5
I'm just going to jump right in with this one because I jumped right OUT after only 5 levels of this basic collect and build game.
The graphics are basic. You probably saw this level of skill about 15 years ago. The music is repetitive. I have never had to turn music off in nearly 20 years of this kind of gaming but probably would have with this one...if I played it through, which I just simply couldn't force myself to do.
The game play: where do I start? As mentioned, this is a basic collect and build game. You get no instruction or guidance, not that you'd need it, other than a "HELP" button at the top right. You will gather wood, food, and stone just like 100 other games that came before this one. Once you gather enough supplies, you'll build a sawmill, farm, or quarry which will take ages to spit out never-enough supplies. I found my attention wandering while I sat idly waiting for supplies because there is nothing else in the game to keep my attention. Once the supplies are gathered, finish up the level and BLAM! 3 stars for no reason since there is no timer anywhere that I could see and no way to finish a level without completing the elementary goals. If you're a regular BigFisher, you've played games like this before and, no doubt, each one was better than this. A simple beta test would have revealed to the developer that this game is not engaging enough to want to play all the way through; as I stated, I couldn't bring myself to go past level 5. This game seems like it could have been made by a high school tech student who didn't want to put much effort into their final project.
Everything positive that I could say about this game has already been said. Music and graphics are amazing, story line is good, "enemy" dialogue is hysterical, and overall it's one of the best games I've purchased. It literally kept me busy for a few WEEKS. However, even after uninstalling and reinstalling, I cannot rid the game of my own original accomplishments. As in, I have actually finished this game and wanted to start again and have no way to do so! The player can go back and repeat quests or scenarios but the challenge isn't there because all of the earned experience points are still in effect. You're never asked for a "Player Name" so you can't have multiple players. This issue makes for several problems: Nobody else in my family can play the game because all of my accomplishments are in effect, essentially removing the challenge. *I* cannot play the game again for the same reason. There is simply no challenge once you have maxed your experience points and there is no way to wipe the slate clean as far as I cant tell. I could play this game for AGES if only I were able to start as a "newbie" instead of with literal weeks of built-up experience. points It's the equivalent of winning Monopoly once and then every time you play again, you start with all of your properties and money from your winning game. It simply takes the fun and challenge out of the game so there is no point in playing it again. Otherwise, I believe this would be a game that I'd return to for years to come.
Oh my goodness. This is a newer game than Theme Hospital and runs on the same tracks but it seems they learned NOTHING from the original game. I purchased the full version anyway because, to be honest, I'm desperate for a TM like this and was hoping it might get better as I advanced through the game. That did not happen.
As other reviewers have explained, this is a simple game: Open your hospital. Chose facilities where patients can be treated; there wasn't much choice and after about half way through, no new diseases showed up so the rooms were always the same. Build a lab where you can research illnesses, doctor training (speed, worth, and longevity), and "other" which is basically room and janitor upgrades. There aren't many options in any of the categories.
Once your patients arrive, train your doctors up, improve your environment, and get prepared to just keep clicking away on the doctors and lab, training and researching until you max out or win the level which is fairly easy.
Of special note: I did not appreciate the "teaser" that there was something special that you could do, only to have the character become so distracted that they never tell you what the special "thing" is. I don't care enough to research whether it's some sort of easter egg or not. Just don't tease that something new might come along to get us out of a rut and then not deliver. That sucks.
An issue with the sound/music: Cat Head and Possession forced me to turn the sound off. The complaints I received from housemates about it were embarrassing. Someone actually thought a cat was hurt outside our door. I don't like playing games with the sound off so I tried headphones. OMG. Don't. It's not worth trapping that screeching inside your head.
Anyway, I bought it because as I mentioned, I'm a fan of Theme Hospital, and this type of TM, and was hoping it would get better after advancing past the demo. I finished the game and didn't have any glitches. That is, not until I tried to play again to get 3-stars on every level. That's when the game started freezing, black-screening, and causing me to force close the laptop. It's a nightmare that I don't care to endure so I'll just have to be happy that I got to play the whole game once through and, I guess, my afternoon was worth the $.