Rescue HQ Review | Since the end of May 2019, the developers of Stillalive studios have given you the chance to be in control of an emergency station. But there is a catch, you will need to build it yourself, provide the town with the best firefighting/police/ambulance station there is. While doing so, you have to make sure that your employees stay happy and won’t get hungry. Keep the town safe from emergencies, and overcome difficult challenges. So let’s take a look and see if it’s worth putting effort in the town or if it’s better to call the emergency services to save the game.
- Scenarios: When you start playing the game you can choose between 4 different scenarios, each with own goals that need to be achieved, length and difficulty. It’s always a good idea to add this type of gameplay to a tycoon game so that people have something to achieve and it keeps the game fun. Another great factor in this game is the built-in tutorial. Okay, it may not be the clearest tutorial and it isn’t really showing where to click or something, but it helps and in the end, there is always the kind of sadistic mayor to help you and explain things. Another thing I really enjoyed was that when you are finished with the scenario, you have the option to continue playing. This way you can expand your business and grow even further and you can set yourself goals like; if I don’t reach that reputation number, I will allow all crime. Okay, maybe don’t do that, but I’m sure you get me.
- Think about everything: When you are setting up your fire department, you will literally need to think of everything. Of course, you need employees and firetrucks but you will also need a break room, a toilet, lockers for the gear, bedrooms, a training area, etc. and you can really make a long long list to keep everything rolling and keep your staff happy. And this doesn’t just apply for your fire department, the same goes for your police station and the ambulance station. Some of you might think is this really necessary, well yes it is! How about when you are at work and you need to take a dump and there is no toilet. I’m sure you don’t think, well I understand that we have no toilet.
- Micromanaging: Another great aspect of the game is the micromanaging. You need to keep track of what you are sending to a specific emergency. It’s easy to deploy every fire truck and every firefighter for a cat in a tree, but if a children’s hospital is burning down near a petting zoo, you won’t have anything available for that. So you really need to think steps ahead before making a wrong decision. The further you get in the game, the more complex emergencies you will encounter, so you also need to make sure you have the right equipment and check it isn’t damaged. Like I mentioned before if your firetruck is heavily damaged and almost falls apart, good luck saving those cute animals and children.
- Unique: Rescue HQ – The Tycoon offers unique gameplay, in which you will have to build all the emergencies services and keep them running. You will need to pay attention to what you will build at what spot since you don’t have unlimited space. I always enjoyed playing tycoon games, but this game gave me a whole new view on it, and I happily played it for hours thinking only 30 minutes had passed. So I’m already gonna say it. If you love tycoon games I’m gonna be sure that Rescue HQ – The Tycoon is a fantastic game to have!
- Voiced: When you start the first scenario, you will immediately notice that you will get some help from the mayor. I was really happy to hear that he is fully voiced. They provided him with a fun/sadistic character which is nice to listen to as he keeps coming up with new stuff. Normally in this type of games things like this aren’t voiced so it was a warm welcome for me, and I’m sure it will be for everyone!
- Graphics: Where almost everything in this game is above expectations, a little something that could have been done a bit better is the graphics. They aren’t bad and they fit in with the game perfectly. But when I was playing for a while, I got the feeling that the developers could have made more out of it. And I hope that they will do that in future patches. The game runs perfectly and is really lovely to play, so if they just put some more effort into the graphics it will be even better and I think that even more gamers will like it!
- Difficult: Above, I have mentioned that the scenario also works as a tutorial to get more familiar with the game. And yes, they tell you what to do and what to build. But what they won’t tell you is where to find certain things. And I can perfectly see that players will get annoyed by the fact that sometimes you will have to spend some time searching for that one piece that needs to be built. When you progress a little further in the game, everything will be clear. But there are some gamers out there who will probably play for 20 minutes then think, damn this sucks because they can’t find anything and then never play it again. So maybe a little more help, in the beginning, would be nice to keep players happy and engaged.
Score: 90%
Rescue HQ – The Tycoon provides you with a unique concept of building your own headquarters and keeping the city safe. As the emergencies are getting more difficult to deal with you have to adapt and continue to develop your HQ to succeed in dealing with fires, crimes or injured people. Developer Stillalive managed to make a fantastic game with I really enjoyed playing and I’m sure that if you like tycoon game you are gonna love this one! And like I have already mentioned, Rescue HQ – The Tycoon is an absolute must-have!
Developer: stillalive studios Publisher: Aerosoft GmbH
Played on: PC
Perfect for: if you love tycoon games
Steam game store link: click here