Hysteria Hospital reminds me a lot of Theme Hospital which I had on my Playstation and now on my PS3. The concept of both games is very similar but there are a few differences. You work in a busy hospital but rather than overseeing all of the hospital staff you take control of one nurse who must run errands. That being said you pretty much take care of the same things as you do in TH such as buying new units and cleaning up. The main difference here is that you can’t plan ahead so much because the money is extra tight and unlike in TH you can’t keep updating the layout during each mission. In another difference from TH, where you hire janitors to tidy up after the patients, you will be the one running around making sure the place is clean and tidy.

This game is more hectic than Theme Hospital and the “hysteria” in the title is a pretty accurate description. Your task is to juggle the patients and their requirements and things can get pretty frantic as more patients arrive, the clock is ticking down, and all of your stations are currently in use. There are a number of hearts above the head of each patient indicating how much life they have remaining and choosing the wrong patient to treat next can result in an anxious moment wondering if you’ll manage to rush a dying patient through in time.

The graphics are pretty basic and follow the cartoon appearance of TH. The patients are lacking in detail and just as in TH you’ll see the same models repeated time and again which is a shame in this day and age. The music consists of bass-heavy funk which is completely out of place in the Hospital environment but I suppose this feeds into the surreal vibe of the whole experience. The voices of the patients are painfully stereotypical, the black patients call you “fool” like bad Mr T impersonators, there are the stoned surfer dudes, and men with big moustaches who sound a lot like Mario. The narrator/voice-over/radio man speaks a lot of random nonsense in an attempt at humour but fails miserably and he won’t shut up which makes me want to reach in and grab hold of his throat.

The age rating for this title is 3+ and I have no idea how a 3 year old is supposed to handle the stress of juggling everything within the strict time-limit. For a game which obviously found its inspiration in Bullfrog’s Theme Hospital it’s a shame that everything has been dumbed down in order to appeal more to young children.

This game is quite repetitive, most attempts at humour fail to hit the mark, and the odd funny moment is short lived. I don’t think this game will appeal to many adults and if a PS3 is available I suggest picking up Theme Hospital from the PSN instead. Children may find more enjoyment from this title but even then I can see them playing this for a short period and rarely returning to it.

5/10

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