War Hospital Review (PC)

The German attacks have so far been manageable, with relatively light losses on the Allied side, so I’ve decided to send most of our healed patients back to HQ and release the crippled ones back to civilian life. But now a bigger strike is coming and almost everyone will have to go back to the front, even if that means they’ll sooner or later be back in triage.

The doctors who are constantly assessing casualties are getting tired, which is a problem considering they have significant patient queues to deal with. I decided to prioritize the lighter wounds, which take less time to deal with and deny treatment to two severely injured soldiers. In a perfect world, everyone would get the best possible care, but World War I is cruel, and hard decisions are often required. The cemetery team is also getting tired.

I then re-allocate my capable nurses to help more and send the scout team to deal with another incident around the hospital, hoping that they might bring back some supplies before the day’s end. Two engineers are producing medical supplies around the clock, while a third is upgrading the operating theater. HQ is also asking to create the infrastructure required to deal with chemical attacks but so far, I lack the resources required for that.

War Hospital is developed by Brave Lamb Studio S.A., with publishing handled by Nacon. I played the PC version using Steam. The game is also offered on the PlayStation 5 and the Xbox Series X and S.

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As the name makes clear, the action takes place in a hospital that aims to save the lives of those hurt on the front. The problem is that this is 1918, toward the end of World War I and trauma-focused medicine is still in its infancy. Players take on the role of Henry Wells, pulled out of retirement, and given the assignment of providing care for the many wounded produced by the final German offensive on the Western Front.

The game isn’t aiming for full historical accuracy, but it evokes the atmosphere of the moment as filtered through books or movies. Short animated cutscenes illustrate the German assaults and scout teams will explore event chains that often force tough choices. Characters talk as they move from building to building, giving players hints about their performance. The general atmosphere is bleak, befitting of a World War I trench experience.

Gameplay in War Hospital is built around classic management ideas. A range of buildings spread through the ruins of a small French town host the various stages of soldier treatment. Initially, they need to be triaged, then they move to actual surgery, and, finally, it’s time for recovery. Ideally, patients move smoothly through these stages, as medics, specialists, and nurses all do their jobs efficiently.

However, the conflict raging around the hospital creates massive problems. There are too many wounded, so medical personnel have to work long hours and can become exhausted. The facilities are underdeveloped, and gamers have to invest resources to make them more efficient. Even worse, there’s a shortage of actual medicine and, ideally, the hospital's manager has to run a surplus by creating the infrastructure and then use engineering teams.

The recovery ward is very important in War Hospital. This is where everyone who makes it out of triage and surgery is helped back to full health by nurses. Gamers then have to make a choice. Send the cured soldiers back to the front, needed to repulse German attacks, deliver them to HQ for reassignment, a way to get permission to expand buildings and recruit more personnel, or release them from the service.

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Players also have to constantly watch their people for exhaustion. The idea is to program rest and switch out teams to keep the system running. An exhausted doctor requires a long time to recuperate, so it’s better to reject one or two critically wounded than deal with 24 hours during which no one gets treatment.

War Hospital has competent mechanics and a solid theme. Scouts and their missions, alongside random events and general staff requests, add variety. It will be fine for management genre lovers, but it might be too repetitive for newcomers, with limited innovation.

I was unable to play the game for more than a week after launch because of crashes. The issue was solved by a major update but there are plenty of other gamers reporting game-breaking bugs and smaller issues. The development team says it aims to support the game in the long term and deal with all these problems.

War Hospital isn’t a graphics powerhouse, but it does manage to capture the vibe of World War I and the era's harsh conditions. Players will spend most of their time in the top-down view that gives them a way to glance at all their points of interest and in the assignment view, deciding how to best use doctors and nurses to save the most lives. The interface takes some time to fully understand but allows players to quickly assign staff and deal with emergencies.

The cutscenes linked to German attacks are pretty poor quality and should be skipped. There’s voice acting for core characters and important announcements, which is a little stiff but works in this setting. I came to dread the relatively cheery delivery of the “Patients arrived” sound bite. The music is suitably orchestral and is punctuated by the sounds of war.

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