When the tycoon is taken by the studio that previously made a medium bus simulator and the average action adventure game, it’s hard to expect that the developers’ approach to another genre can be successful. It turns out, however, that maybe Rescue HQ: The Tycoon from stillalive studios is one of the best tycoons that have been released recently. Let’s check what this game is and why it’s worth giving it a chance.
Rescue HQ allows us to play the role of the builder of the crisis command center. The idea itself deserves a mention, because something like this has never happened before. The focus was on the three most important services – fire brigade, ambulance and police. So far, we have been given two scenarios – Berlin and San Francisco in two variants, easy and difficult. Such a small number does not make you feel optimistic before the start of the game, I also think that Two Point Hospital had a better solution, where we “jumped” from place to place every few dozen minutes, but learning and getting to know other things prepared by the creators. So there is no madness, but before we have time to get bored, we must admit that Rescue HQ has an idea for itself and is quite good at holding us in front of the monitor screen.
In the first scenario, which serves as a tutorial, we learn about the rules of the game. This one consists of two important modules. In the first one, we expand our headquarters. Of course, the player creates the entrance to his seat, corridors, offices, etc., but the most important thing is time. Each employed employee must have his own locker, so next to garages we should create changing rooms and rooms where we can, for example, fill the fire. Not forgotten even about such things as creating a space for documents in the office and … a desk for a recruiter who will review the CVs of candidates for our crew. Our employees work in two shifts, so we also need to ensure that our resources are properly balanced. The main resources in Rescue HQ are, of course, money, but also reputation for completed actions. Reputation (also described as stars) can be exchanged to unlock new vehicles, items that are not missing in this game. Sometimes we have to send heavy equipment, dogs or a specific fire truck to action. The staff also needs to rest, have a place to eat and wash, which is why there was also the creation of such rooms. I have no objections to this module, sometimes I was a bit surprised by the economy – I employed so many employees, spent money every now and then, and I had no problem keeping my balance positive. Anyway, the gameplay is well thought out, the attention to detail is surprising, and developing our command center is a lot of fun.
The second module is the moment when the notification takes place – then the game throws us to the window where we choose the appropriate service and assign it a car, crew and equipment. Depending on how much we meet the crew and equipment conditions required by the game, we can get this number of stars for the mission. The problem with Rescue HQ, in my opinion, is that we do things automatically here pretty quickly. The missions do not have any drama or surprises, even those for which the game “prepares” us, giving us time to collect the equipment. Special missions don’t start with This is The Police at all, though I know it’s a slightly different type of game. Rescue HQ is a purebred tycoon, while This is The Police focused on history, building some kind of relationship with its charges. After all, there is something missing that would attract me to this game for a longer time, and something like that could be unexpected circumstances and events, such as a van accident, a false alarm, or even the need to send additional reinforcements.
Although I consider Rescue HQ to be a successful game and one of the best tycoons in recent years, there is still some potential in it that has not been used. I always appreciate mod support, although I don’t know how much gameplay can be improved by fans. Some skins have been added so far, sandbox mode – we’ll see in the future. For my part, I can recommend the game, because the PLN 85 that the creators want is a reasonable price for 8-10 hours of fun.
