When a new simulator game is released, I’m like a moth to a flame. This is no different with the recent release of Emergency Room Simulator. Developed by Caipirinha Games and published by Aerosoft, both of which are no strangers to simulator games. Emergency Room Simulator thrusts you into the chaotic role of an ER doctor. Emergency Room Simulator is available to buy now on Steam for £22.49.
Welcome to the Grey Sloan Memorial Hospital
Now, I must tell you that my only experience with medicine or being a doctor comes from religiously watching Grey’s Anatomy. But I’ll try my best to see how realistic it is!
Gameplay
Emergency Room Simulator focuses on medical investigation rather than focusing solely on treatment. Like in real life, your patient care begins with the paramedics’ or nurses’ handover. Here, the presenting symptoms are explained to you before responsibility is handed over to you. The real work then begins, starting with questioning the patient to find out what has led to them being in the emergency room. Listen carefully, as their answer determines what kind of diagnostic screenings you will complete. There are several tools that you can use to help you understand what the diagnosis will be. The main action that you will complete and that will also help you the most is actually talking and listening to your patient. A predetermined set of questions is asked, with the answers giving you an idea of what you are dealing with.
With this head start, you can then move on to using the tools to dive even further. Using your tablet, you work towards a hypothesis based on the answers given by your patient. This then gives you several diagnostic tests to complete to get an actual diagnosis. This could be taking bloods to send off to the lab, having an X-ray, or even just listening to the lungs and the heart through a stethoscope. Once you have completed all the actions, you have then got an actual diagnosis. Treatment can then begin!
Treatment options typically include providing pain relief for patients with a fractured rib or completing a stitch and bandaging up a cut. Then they can be discharged or discharged from the emergency room to aftercare. In this instance, you need to physically transfer the patient by transporting them to the elevator, where a member of staff is waiting. Sometimes you may not even be able to offer a ‘treatment’ and instead need to send them to the correct department to ensure they receive the right care.
Providing the best care around
Emergency Room Simulator promises to provide the player with a balance of quiet moments and high-stakes emergencies. Unfortunately, I do not think they’ve met this promise. While the idea of this is certainly there, you don’t get that high-stakes emergency anxiety. Firstly, there is no real time pressure. An example is if a patient presents with a collapsed lung, they seem pretty chilled out. There is no urgency in completing your checks. I would almost expect an emergency to be timed before they start to go downhill. Further to this, there is no real problem-solving. The tablet, rather than being a guide, gives you the answers. You’re completing a sequence rather than trying to work out what you need to do.
More high-stakes scenarios are needed. Making the wrong decision leading to an issue would make Emergency Room Simulator more realistic, but also more enjoyable. It could even be done as a different mode. Enabling those who enjoy sitting back and relaxing, while also providing those who want a bit more of a challenge.
Graphics & Audio
A positive of Emergency Room Simulator is how realistic the hospital setting looks. It is not just the hospital itself, but the equipment within it as well. The game prides itself on this, with the aim of Emergency Room Simulator being able to provide a detailed and immersive hospital environment whereby there is realistic medical equipment. The actual mechanics of using the hospital equipment are done well also. The motions have been incredibly smooth, and I have not run into any issues which have affected my gameplay.
Unfortunately, I cannot comment on the audio of Emergency Room Simulator due to an ongoing issue with my monitor’s speakers. However, I will say that, from conducting some research, I have not found anything to suggest that the audio is particularly good or particularly bad, which is always a good sign!
Longevity
One of the issues I was originally going to speak about was the lack of replayability due to the variety of cases. However, Caipirinha Games very promptly listened to the community and saw that this was an issue. A hotfix was introduced by the team pretty quickly to ensure that cases are rebalanced so that there is a variety earlier on within the game. Now, I think it’s great that they have fixed this, and also how quickly they have done so. It does not mean that all case types are unlocked immediately, but it means that the player will not get bored as quickly.
These types of games are the games I enjoy playing the most. They often require little thought and create a relaxing experience. However, as I have stated earlier in this review, I would love to see a mode whereby it ups the ante slightly. I think by adding a mode where you are against the clock, or where the order of your diagnostic testing may lead to consequences, it would make the game more replayable. At the moment, I believe that they are losing a small amount of their potential clientele because of this. This small change could mean a lot in the grand scheme of things!
Final Thoughts
I have been pleasantly surprised by Emergency Room Simulator, especially when I saw the mixed reviews on the Steam store. While there are small changes and improvements that I would like to see, there is the basis of a decent Emergency Room simulator. And, as I said previously, I love a simulator. I will be keeping a keen eye on the development of Emergency Room Simulator, and it will be added to my rotation of games.
Therefore, based on all this information, I am going to provide Emergency Room Simulator with the Thumb Culture Silver Award.
Disclaimer: A code was received in order to write this review.
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