Sometimes it is nice to have a non triple A title to fall back to, something which isn’t that too popular yet delivers what it says and that something is Rescue HQ – The Tycoon. With all these Triple A titles that’s seemingly more common than a white loot at Borderlands, is rare to find a game that doesn’t under deliver on their promises in terms of gameplay, stability, and overall satisfactory. Rescue HQ – The Tycoon is a PC port that manages to be decent in terms of what it delivers and what it is. There is no over-the-top bombastic promises that will draw newcomers alike only to be disappointed. Rather, it is one of those titles where what you see is what you get. And there lies the strength of Rescue HQ – The Tycoon.
A short note for the “Plot” of the game. There is none, you just have to build the perfect HQ to balance out the need of the city. Of course there is still the scenario mode that lets you explore the city and tackle what specific issue you want. But for the sandbox mode, the issue stares you in the face right off the bat. The scenarios mode somehow serves as your tutorial. One quick side note is that the music in this game is downright adorable in its remix of somewhat 1970’s ish vibe. It feels just right for the game.
To start off, Rescue HQ is a God-simulator game that lets you build the offices and facilities used by your employees. From the relaxation room to the very garage used in handling the emergencies throughout the city. The respondent team you have are just like the ones in real life where the team is divided into three groups: the paramedics, the firefighters, and the police. You will then have to manage out the space allotted to ensure all needs would be taken cared of. This would range from the facilities needed by your employees to functionalities, as well as their specific tools that would be needed by the tasks that you would be given. An example would be if the paramedics need a medicine when an emergency occurs you need to have this in place. Having more of an item doesn’t necessarily increase your chance of success. It still boils down to the team that’s most suited for the emergency. Like you wouldn’t send a hazmat team to help a person with broken bones.
Gameplaywise, like I mentioned, the purpose of the game is to rescue those in need. A nice touch that has been added by the devs are the quality of life features that you can add to your facilities. For example, you need to add corridors in between offices. Adding these could be a bit of a hassle at times but nonetheless is still a welcome addition. Another feature I find helpful is the ability to have a recruitment office to allow you to recruit more people to grow your team. But they even thought about having to build a specific HR office for recruitment for each department. Now, while the game lets you recruit trainees right out of the bat, letting them complete their training lets you have an employee more suited for the task. Another thing the game offers is the introduction of shifts where each team would be rotated from their respective shifts. You can follow these designated shift changes or be a slave driver and ignore it altogether to push your team to the edge.
Now let’s talk about the facilities in the game. Each department would naturally need their own. For example, firefighters and police utilize various tools that they use on their field of work, while paramedics is predominantly reliant on a medical room once a patient is brought in. Another facility used by the police department is the evidence room and paper works room as well as the holding cell. The fire department on the other hand, seems contented to just having the tools they require in their field of work. When the emergency is too tough or you simply don’t have the resources to tackle it, you can have the option to ask for help. However, doing so costs experience points.
Control wise, a lot could be desired, the controls are less streamlined and a bit finicky in some occasions. This could be attributed to the game being a PC port but over all the controls is still manageable even with the aforementioned issue. Graphics and art design while cute and decent, isn’t really something to write about. Granted, the reason for having such minimalistic design is to minimize the load on your hardware and the overall cost of the development. But still, sometimes a good art design is still better. Another is that even if this is just a “turn off your brains” kind of experience, more often than not it gets too repetitive with nothing much to offer.
Overall, the game is still enjoyable when you just want to play for the sake of arcade-y fun without the hassle of combat and other tropes. With that being said, many might feel this game to be lacking of features. But if I will give it an honest take, the game still delivers as sort of a back up game. A game you sometimes want to visit when you don’t want to think of your K/D stats. When you just want to kick back and relax.