Two Point Hospital is a strange little sim. At its core, it’s reminiscent of past entries in the genre, borrowing aspects from Roller Coaster Tycoon, and The Sims.
It very much transforms the hospital setting into a madcap playscape, that’s just as exciting as an amusement park, or weird life simulation. When we originally reviewed Two Point Hospital for PC, we gave it a 9/10, calling it a void-filling game that takes on a fantastic formula and makes it better. Now that the game is launching on consoles, we are re-reviewing it to see how it runs in comparison to the PC version.
Thankfully, Two Point Hospital on Nintendo Switch is largely that same fantastic experience that PC players have been playing, with a few technical caveats that slightly sour the overall package. Most importantly, the madcap humour and Aardman Animations-like art style are retained in and they do well to elevate the core experience. From the discourteous P.A system announcers to the whimsical illnesses and the even more whimsical cures, the jokes fly at a mile a minute, and they for the most part land well.
The humour is complemented further by a satisfying core sim experience. The basics of the game involve building and upgrading hospitals by adding new rooms, specialties, staff and items. The sheer variety of possibilities to unlock and use in your hospital are staggering, as the rooms range from Psychiatry and Pans Labs to Wards and Clown Clinics and the unlock-able items include putting greens, air conditioners and arcade machines.
While the gameplay and humour are retained, the Switch version stumbles slightly thanks to some hardware limitations. Two Point Hospital isn’t the most graphically intensive game on the market, but there were a few moments during my playthrough where the screen would freeze or drop frames for a few seconds. These slowdowns occurred randomly, except for the yearly awards show where it would stutter every time. That being said, the slowdowns were spread out and I didn’t experience them more than once per play session.
The bigger issue with the console port comes down to sheer manoeuvrability. Two Point Hospital is a rather in-depth sim and there are dozens of menus and tasks that you have to keep an eye on to play the game effectively. On PC you can simply click on employees to change their assigned task, or give them a break, but on console, you’re forced to use the thumbsticks to do so. As a result, I often found myself selecting the wrong employee, leading to moments of frustration, especially in tense situations like pandemic breakouts. The menus are fine to navigate, as they all have button commands that correspond with them but the added complexity of button commands makes for a more confusing experience in comparison.
Still, the Nintendo Switch version does get points for the mobile factor, as Two Point Hospital’s gameplay loop is practically built for on the go play. It doesn’t require an internet connection and since you can save at any time its perfect for a morning commute or quick 10-minute play session.
Overall Two Point Hospital on Nintendo Switch is a great experience. While there are a few moments of stuttering and the thumbstick controls aren’t as precise as a mouse, it’s still a hilarious and satisfying gaming experience that works well on the go. If you’re someone who is yearning for a whimsical sim experience with deep mechanics, then Two Point Hospital is definitely the cure you’re looking for.
