Two Point Campus Review
Release Date: August 9th 2022
Developer: Two Point Studios
Platforms: Microsoft Windows (Reviewed), Linux, Mac OS, XBox One/Series X & S, Playstation 4/5, Nintendo Switch
Price: $39.99
After the success of Two Point Hospital (2018) I was really excited to play its successor, Two Point Campus. The original Two Point Hospital was a love-letter to Bull Frog's Theme Hospital back in the 90s - however, it was never a game I played that much as a child. I was, however a huge fan of Theme Park. The idea of building my own University Campuses sounded like a lot of fun, so I decided to give this game a go.
The game retails at $39.99 on every system, which I find to be a little expensive. However, if you have an Xbox Game Pass subscription, you can play the game for free on PC or Xbox systems as it is included in the game pass catalogue. Luckily I was already a game pass subscriber, so this was a no-brainer for me, I was even allowed to pre-install the game, so I could play straight away on release day.
I don't normally play simulation games such as these due to the fact that they can sometimes overwhelm me with endless menus and options. However, Two Point Campus does a good job at guiding you through the different options and menus, teaching you at a nice pace how to build your campus, hire staff, and keep your students happy. I found the controls a bit confusing and difficult to get used to, as this was the first time I had played a simulation game on mouse and keyboard (I had previously played some Two Point Hospital on Nintendo Switch). At the time of writing this review, I still do get caught out on panning the camera around in certain directions!
Much like its predecessor, Two Point Campus works in much the same way. There are a certain number of campuses you can unlock across a vast overworld map - each campus slightly more grand and fancy than the previous. On each level you start off with a slightly higher income for building the campus, this comes in handy later on in the game when you have gotten the hang of how the campuses work - meaning you need to have a good amount of entertainment for the students, multiple lecture theaters, dormitories, a student's union, staff room, libraries etc. One addition I enjoyed in this game was being able to schedule events in the different rooms. For example, you can schedule movie nights in the campus lecture theaters. or organise parties at the students union which really help with increasing student happiness (not sure why it costs $4000 to put a movie night on, though!)
There are many items for sale in the inventory for making your campus bright and fun. You can unlock these items using an in-game currency called 'Kudosh' which is earned by completing objectives, completing career goals, and getting through the academic year. It's a fun system, and I can definitely see myself losing hours of my life to this game trying to unlock fun posters and rugs for my students' dorm rooms and beautiful water features for the campus grounds.
As you work your way through the levels you will begin to unlock more courses to teach your students, you also unlock the ability to build research and training labs so that you can improve your classrooms and train your staff. Each level has three stars which you can work towards gaining for your campus. It is quite simple to unlock the next level, but you can choose to continue playing your current campus and level it up to being a 3 star campus.
The sound design and music is very well implemented. I always find games like this to be quite relaxing once I've got the hang of how they work. As in Two Point Hospital, Campus also has tannoy announcements which can be quite entertaining to listen to whilst you are building classrooms and dorms, my personal favourite so far being 'Announcement: “Education will brighten your future but cloud you with debt”. There are also radio talk shows and interviews that are broadcast throughout the academic year which also make for an entertaining listen.
Although I have enjoyed what I have played of the game so far, I can't help but notice just how similar to Two Point Hospital the game is. There are some changes however sometimes it does feel like I am playing a re-skinned Two Point Hospital. The game can get a little repetitive as you progress, even with the additions of new courses that present themselves at each new levels.
PROS:
Pretty graphics, it looked and ran beautifully on my 3070ti graphics card
It is relaxing when you get a hang of what you're meant to be doing
The announcements and talk shows are funny
CONS:
It can get repetitive
Too similar to Two Point Hospital