Space the final frontier. Humanity has been obsessed with the stars for decades in all sorts of media, especially in the videogame landscape. So, with one of the biggest space-related games being released later this year let’s talk about the hype surrounding it. I am of course talking about Galaticare! (What? It’s the most important space-related game out this year… no others Spring to mind.)
Developed by Indie studio Brightrock Games, Galacticare takes cues from Theme Hospital as a sci-fi hospital management game set in space. I was given the chance to experience the first two levels (roughly about an hour of gameplay) of Galacticare. In this short period, the game has impressed me with the in-depth management systems available and it’s tongue-in-cheek humour.
With the vast customisation options of wards and treatment rooms to design, diseases to diagnose and cure, and consultants to hire, Galacticare is the game to watch if you love management sims. However, Galacticare has one key difference when compared to other Hospital style games; It has a story mode.
Out of This World- What Makes Galacticare Different from Other Simulation Games?
So, the biggest draw, besides the in-depth customisation available, is the off-the-wall story that has several interconnected levels that are not just confined to the halls of your futuristic space hospital. The first level of Galacticare is the standard tutorial mission called ‘Orientation’ taking the player through the basics of how to set up basic treatment rooms and general décor customisation.
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From the introduction of the hospital’s CEO and your AI companion HEAL Galacticare presents an interesting and humorous story with weird and memorable characters. A highlight for me in particular is the relationship between HEAL and Medi-bot (one of the maintenance robots, in your hospital), where HEAL sarcastically comments on Medi-bot’s cheerful and optimistic attitude.
The twist is that after covering the basics of the game and opening up the hospital to the public, a Giant space creature with a 4000-year-old rash seeks help from Galacticare. Although he appears to be terrifying at first the creature known as Baz, (a shortening of his name for brevity as he explains), is quite friendly as after curing him he becomes an in-game merchant for the player. After this, the story just gets even weirder, which seems unlikely but bear with me.
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Soon after dealing with Baz, a call comes through from the CEO of a rival corporation Salazon, Dorian Salazar. Now although there is no official confirmation, it appears that this character might be voiced/ based on British character actor Matt Berry, known for The IT Crowd and as Laszlo in What We Do In The Shadows. I am not 100% sure it is Matt Berry as it could just be a very good sound alike, but to hear an iconic voice similar to his was still a nice, but odd surprise.
After successfully helping out Salazar for bonus credits the tutorial ends. The player is then given a prompt to either continue to get to grips with the game in a sandbox version of the current level or move on to the 2nd playable mission.
Moon Age Daydream- Is Galacticare Worth Keeping an Eye on?
The First proper mission of Galacticare, ‘Burning Moon’ is where the game shines, really leaning towards the wacky humour established in the tutorial. I won’t spoil too much here just know that it gets, let’s say messy…
Overall Galacticare is a solid hospital management game that follows in the footsteps of Theme Hospital and Two Point Hospital, by taking an established concept and adding a space-age setting. As this is a Beta of the game, the only issue I had was a couple of game-closing crashes that happened whenever I clicked through some of the menus too quickly. With its weird but endearing characters and in-depth gameplay, when Galacticare releases later in 2023 it will be on top of the must-play list for fans of the business simulator genre.
Galacticare will be released later in 2023 and will be available on Steam, Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 5, and GOG.
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