Two Point Hospital was a great first step from the aptly named Two Point Studios, a studio founded by former Bullfrog developers, basically reviving their cult classic simulator Theme Hospital for a modern audience. Despite some issues, the game was really fun, and even managed to work perfectly on a console, with controllers and such. It was a great foundation for the team to come up with a more creative sequel, and that’s what we got with Two Point Campus. Instead of taking care of a hospital, why not take care of a ridiculous university campus with even more ridiculous courses at its students’ disposal instead?

The core gameplay hasn’t changed much, and that’s for the best. You still have to constantly create rooms with specific purposes, hire staff, improve your facilities’ ratings, and so on. The difference being that, given the fact you’re running a college, you also have to take care of student dorms, staff rooms, classes, post-class entertainment facilities, parties, and a LOT more. The utter ridiculousness of the world of Two Point Campus is what makes this constant micromanaging so damn addictive.

Imagine if the same art style and sense of humour from Two Point Hospital (as in, snarky puns and a Wallace & Gromit feel to everything) clashed with the one from the cult classic sitcom Community. This is basically how it felt to play Two Point Campus. You’re not running a college that offers “boring” courses like Business, Law, or Medicine. You’re offering crazy crap like “How to Be a Knight”, “Mecha Building”, “Pub Quiz General Knowledge”, and even dumber stuff than those. With that, you have to build facilities like a jousting arena and a robotics lab. All accompanied by the franchise’s now iconic art style and animations. They are far from impressive for a next-gen machine, but they are so adorable I can’t even be mad at them. I am mad at the occasional framerate issues, though.

If you’ve played Two Point Hospital, you know the developers have done a Herculean job translating a traditionally mouse-based control scheme onto a controller. Nothing has changed with its pseudo-sequel. At first, Two Point Campus feels daunting and confusing, as there are lots of buttons and shortcuts to remember. The first campus you’re told to manage acts as a fantastic tutorial of all of the game’s mechanics and shortcuts, so as long as you pay attention to everything the game teaches you, every other level will be a breeze. For a simulator that doesn’t even let you play on sandbox mode right from the get-go, Two Point Campus felt surprisingly forgiving, giving you a lot of money each month as a bonus for your students’ good grades.

One thing where Two Point Campus trampled over its predecessor is its sound design. It all boils down to a combination of some great rock tunes played via the college’s own radio show, coupled with some funny skits from disc jockeys and some ads. As a whole, Two Point Campus is a lot funnier than Hospital, all thanks to this never-ending barrage of jokes coming from all directions. You’re never a second away from a dumb pun or snarky comment from the school’s PA, whose voice sounded extremely similar to the GPS voice from Forza Horizon.

I love Two Point Campus. It took everything that worked so well in Two Point Hospital and elevated it to a whole new level thanks to its creative premise, intuitive controls, and Community-esque feel. Even though it has a few issues here and there, and it’s still best enjoyed on a PC, I have to say I am impressed with how much better this game is in comparison to Two Point Studios’ previous outing. Can’t wait for any additional content released over the next few months. I hope there’s a paintball warzone event.

 

Graphics: 7.5 It maintains the same (adorable) art style from Two Point Hospital. It’s charming as hell, and the university environment allows for wackier assets, but there is nothing in here that screams next-gen. The framerate also drops on occasion, weirdly enough.	Gameplay: 8.5 A bit more confusing than Two Point Hospital, but still really intuitive, all things considered. Yet another miraculous effort from Two Point Studios, making a mouse-based game work perfectly with a controller.
Sound: 9.5 A vast improvement over Two Point Hospital. Not only is the soundtrack excellent, but the snarky voice acting made me laugh way more than I could have ever expected.	Fun Factor: 9.5 The university theme takes the already proven Two Point formula to a downright addictive level. It’s impossible to put this game down, especially considering how good its controls are for a mouse-based game running on a console.
Final Verdict: 9.0

Two Point Campus is available now on PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series S/X, PC, and Nintendo Switch.

Reviewed on Xbox Series S.

A copy of Two Point Campus was provided by the publisher.