My history with the management sim genre pretty much starts and ends with the classic “Rollercoaster Tycoon” video game. While I very much enjoyed my time with that game, it was a genre I eventually lost patience in, while they can be fun, a part of me always thought my time could be spent elsewhere instead of putting out fires in my own world I created. When it comes to Two Point Campus, I eventually began to develop that similar feeling I had so long ago. Not that it’s necessarily a bad game, because it certainly is not, but the fact that my enjoyment with the time spent in this genre isn’t really there anymore. Published by Sega and developed by Two Point Studios, as this is their second game they’ve ever made, they didn’t stray off the beaten path and stuck with continuing their management sim success with a sequel of sorts. Their first game being Two Point Hospital, is very much identical in a lot of ways to this new follow up.
Having played both their first game and this new one for the very first time this week, it’s become very clear that Two Point has created a very fun and charming little franchise. While the mechanics remain nearly identical, the settings are different. My concern for fans of “Two Point Hospital” is if there is enough here in this sequel to make them want to switch to this newer title. In Two Point Campus, you are tasked to build and maintain a college university campus. This is certainly a school I’ve never seen before, but this is where Two Point ups their charm and likes to show off their playful side, by having this university have classes that teach numerous looney classes, such as how to be a clown, or a wizard, or even a secret agent. The best thing Two Point has going for themselves is having created a very positive and welcoming atmosphere that can easily welcome any type of gamer to try out their game.
The tutorials are masterful at slowly teaching you how to run your own university, it gives you the baby steps needed and then slowly implements more and more challenges. Eventually you will need to start figuring out ways to make the students and staff happy as well as figuring out how to squeeze in multiple courses in a single area of the campus. Over time you will realize you will run out of room and are then tasted with purchasing neighborhood plots to expand what the campus needs. I even began to see that I needed to start decorating the rooms more to make them more appealing to visit. Depending on the types of games you enjoy you may easily lose countless hours expanding your campus and trying to put out fires, making this the best campus you can possibly create. This genre has become very niche and it just won’t gel with everybody, most of its audience has gravitated to playing these types of games on their mobile devices.
While I can very much appreciate the management sim genre, it can at times just be a bit too much for me. I also, early on, began to realize that perhaps playing on a console with a controller, may not be the best way to go here. While playing this PlayStation version, I often found myself wishing I was just using a mouse and keyboard instead. All-in-all, Two Point Campus has a lot of nice humor and can be very charming when it wants to be, but I don’t think there is enough new here from “Two Point Hospital” that shows the developers are growing as opposed to just making an identical game but put in a different setting.
7.5/10
For more information about Two Point Campus, head to www.twopointcampus.com and follow/like the game on Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter.
Related: Nick Navarro Reviews
Gaming since I was given an original Nintendo as a kid. I love great storytelling and unique ingenuity. When both collide in a single game, I'm a happy gamer. Twitter/IG @NickNavarro87
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