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Galacticare is a fun-filled hospital building, sci-fi-loving romp. Furthermore, it balances silly shenanigans with classic genre tropes to great effect. The action is well-considered and I loved the effective stage design. Yes, it can potentially plateau at times, but this is your reward for mastering the key fundamentals. However, you’ll enjoy some genuinely funny, sincere, and downright bizarre experiences between the low points or moments of fast-forwarding madness.
This simulation game was developed by Brightrock Games and published by Cult Games. Moreover, it has a distinct Bullfrog edge that delivers a well-polished and rounded end product. This approach will appeal to lovers of Theme Hospital, Two Point Hospital, and Startopia. Furthermore, if you cherish Sim City, then the fine planning layers will be right up your street.
Galacticare is silly, but not too silly.
The absurd nature of each story should have made Galacticare an overbearing and nonsensical affair. However, the developers have done a great job of keeping everything perfectly balanced. Additionally, the blend of aliens, your staff, and the patients match each theme and setting. What’s more, the inclusion of random events alongside the day-to-day tasks was fantastic.
You play the role of a hospital director who must work alongside HEAL. This AI machine is your guide and witty friend. Their often grouchy approach to life will make you chuckle. Furthermore, they help to keep you on track when things go mad. Accordingly, they are the ideal assistants, especially when you are learning the ropes.
Familiar ground.
Treading familiar ground can be a sign of lazy development. Additionally, it can lead to a lack of originality and that’s just frustrating. Thankfully, Galacticare suffers from neither of these issues. Instead, its blend of silly machinery, colourful characters, and disgusting diseases will fascinate you immediately.
The well-trodden elements such as decorations, room placement, and staff happiness are all to be expected. Alongside this, you are responsible for patient comfort, safety, and everything in between. After all, no one wishes to die whenever they go to the hospital.
Sadly, you can’t always heal every person, and occasionally, your doctors play a part in that tale. If you hire a particularly nasty one, they’ll enjoy harming anyone or anything that enters their room. This was problematic, as death isn’t the best advertisement for your business prowess.
Getting things right.
If you’ve tackled this genre enough, you know that a well-oiled machine makes things a pleasure. However, once you get everything right, the action becomes a little voyeuristic. Sadly, this happened very early on, and it didn’t take me long to get into my stride.
Thankfully, the story-specific special events help to break up the comfortable feeling. Alternatively, the occasional emergency or run of dead patients soon wakes you from your slumber.
No matter if you sleepwalk through each stage, or you focus intently, you will smile at the silly machinery. I loved the developer’s strange interpretation of each room’s task and the animations that followed.
Galacticare looks amazing.
The Bullfrog influence makes Galacticare a fantastic game to play. Visually, I loved the colourful stages and the interesting level design. Furthermore, the aliens were fantastic, and each unique disease was disgusting and hilarious in equal measure. Alongside this, the UI is easy to manage, and the screen is simple to navigate. Consequently, you may focus on every alien and strange happening that unfolds.
The audio is just as good. The amusing characters make strange noises as they wander the halls of your space hospital. Moreover, the disturbing noises of each machine will make your skin shudder. If this isn’t enough, the music has a hotel lobby feel that delivers an unnerving calm before the storm effect. The idea brilliantly juxtaposes the ensuing madness and I cherished this approach.
Excellent controls.
Normally, sim games are better on PC than they are on console. However, this sub-genre works exceptionally well with a gamepad. Thanks to the impressive UI and the thorough tutorial, you’ll be up and running in no time. Additionally, the ability to move, adjust, and reconfigure your hospital at any time ensures you can test different approaches throughout.
Once you get to grips with your tactics, you’ll fly through every stage. Thankfully, though, there is a grading system to enhance replay value and longevity. What’s more, there are plenty of doctors to employ and different traits to experiment with. Alongside this, the story chapters are interesting, and I loved the twist to the action.
Galacticare is a great addition to the genre.
There are moments where the action unfortunately plateaus. During these times, you have to fast-forward the gameplay to prevent tedium. However, apart from this minor shortcoming, I enjoyed every hectic moment. The ability to create the hospital of my dreams was rewarding, and the sick aliens were often hilarious. Moreover, the story was great and visually it is impressive. Accordingly, I love it and I recommend buying it here! Can you run the best space hospital ever? Maximise space, hire the best staff, and hope those pesky aliens don’t ruin it for you.
