Two Point Museum
Review
This game belongs in a museum...
by Dan Lenois
reviewed on PC
That Belongs in a Museum...
As a longstanding Two Point overseer with hundreds of hours in both Two Point Hospital and its sequel Two Point Campus, I was very much looking forward to getting my fingertips appropriately dusty from all the relics I would be appropriating for my ever-expanding museum.
From the outside looking in, Two Point Museum seemingly carries over much of its predecessors' core gameplay formula. Hire staff, design engaging displays for your visitors to enjoy, and rake in the ceaseless cash flow which you'll need in order to further expand your business to all-new horizons. However, once you get past the admittedly charming aesthetics, things get a bit murkier.
Artificial Unintelligence at its finest...
What made Two Point Hospital and Two Point Campus so appealing to both the casual and dedicated player was that both games enabled the player to become as hands-on as they chose to be. Once the staff you hire have been sufficiently trained and accustomed to their duties, you can easily take a step back, and spend more time fine-tuning your buildings to be both as efficient and as decorative as possible. For the most part, neither game would come to a standstill should the player figuratively or literally fall asleep at the wheel.
Two Point Museum takes a polar opposite direction, making its AI so hopelessly inept that it cannot even fulfill its designated job role without constant player supervision. Guards will not collect money or apprehend thieves without the player explicitly ordering them to do so, specialists will not maintain exhibits without being explicitly told to do so, everyone depends on you at all times, and quite frankly it becomes anything but fun once your museum has reached a certain size.
Staff members will actively refuse medical treatment if there is even one possible task for them to do elsewhere, despite the player actively drag-and-dropping them into the designated healing device.
Ghosts, Ghouls, and Gross Profits...
The locations provided within the game are incredibly varied. From an initial prehistoric museum full of archeological wonders, to an aquatic museum showing off what truly lies at the bottom of Two Point's seas, to even a supernatural museum that would impress even the Warrens, there's a lot of fun to be had in adapting to each consecutive museum's specific playstyle.
The level designers behind these maps warrant top marks for their efforts across the board. Each level is visually entrancing, and many of the objectives are specific to each location and help reinforce the player's familiarity with core mechanics. The problem is that the progression system behind the missions is incredibly aggravating.
Unlike in prior Two Point games, where the player could easily identify what they needed to do in order to obtain one or two stars at their present location, with few but oftentimes difficult-to-obtain goals, here in Two Point Museum, objectives are presented in rapid fire order, with no clear indication how close the player ever is to obtaining that long-awaited star. It's difficult to feel excited for progression if it never feels like the player is actually progressing.
Building from the ground up...
One core gameplay mechanic that has been significantly improved is the building development. Now, players can easily place walls and other objects without having to first be forced to select a specific room type. This opens up previously unavailable options for further customization and innovation.
The addition of new door variations allows the player to more actively control crowd movements throughout the museum, which is useful both for basic crowd control, and also for more easily identifying sneaky thieves attempting to make off with your precious artifacts. Even if your guards do nothing about the intruders among us, at least you'll spot them as they behave suspiciously.
Overall:
Taking a position on this game has been very difficult, as on one hand I am an unapologetic day one fan of both prior Two Point games, and there is much in this newest entry's foundation that I do appreciate. However, the redoubled severity of the micromanagement required in order to play, in combination with the often-shoddy AI, makes playing a thoroughly unenjoyable experience. I admire the Two Point team's vision for what they likely intended this game to be, while also standing firm in my decision not to recommend it to players at this time.
Take the time to instead go back and start a new run of Two Point Campus. It's well worth another go.
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6.0
fun score
Pros
Unique museum locations, improved building mechanics and visuals.
Cons
Terrible AI design, excessive micromanagement, bloated progression system.
