Galacticare: The Voice Beyond Review (Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 5 & PC)

Eh, Director, there appears to be another catastrophic event lingering on the horizon. With regret, we will have to plug the hole and thwart the CABAL network before it eradicates our healthcare system. There are spies amongst our ranks, too, Director — so you might want to see to that. Oh, and your Boning Chamber has also been set ablaze by a swarm of rogue colleagues. Did I also mention that several robotic saboteurs are currently planting bombs in the public restrooms? I don’t mean to bring you trouble, Director, but it seems that the galaxy is on the brink of collapsing, and if we don’t do something about it in the next, shall we say, fifteen minutes, then Galacticare will surely breach supernova.

The Voice Beyond is here, and it brings not only a brand-new swathe of extraterrestrial patients to the operating table, but a medical waterfall of disastrous side effects, never-before-seen strands of intergalactic warfare, and three fully-voiced scenarios to dissect with a laser beam and stethoscope. And that’s barely scraping the edge of the asteroid, too. In addition to the newly implemented chapters, the “explosive” DLC also brings aboard a couple of new diseases—Rave Rash, Perceptual Parapox, and Laseration—along with some other nifty features and ward-centric cosmetics.

With all of the above features stowed away beneath the cockpit, you could argue that the inclusion of a new setting is worth the price of admission alone. And it is, as it does indeed bring more than enough content to warrant a few extra hours of play time. However, to answer the question of whether or not The Voice Beyond lives up to the same standard as its original, we might have to delve a little further beyond the triage unit.

Just Some Bits and Bobs, You Know?

The Voice Beyond is, first and foremost, an extra branch that more or less swings beneath the same intergalactic tree as its primary counterpart. As such, it doesn’t bring a whole other dimension to the galaxy for you to unfold, but rather, an additional layer to the pre-existing formula of medical science and illogical practices. On that basis, it isn’t your typical sequel, per se, but rather, a jam-packed expansion that finds enough material to coerce its seasoned Directors into returning to the hot seat to tackle a new orbital adventure.

To acknowledge the space elephant in the room — yes, The Voice Beyond is a little more complicated than its original incarnation. It’s difficult, not due to the fact that it expands the core inventory to accommodate different features, wards and diseases, but because it revolves around a galaxy-wide threat—a threat that involves tyrannical control over the galaxy, a cloak-and-dagger agency known as CABAL, and a seemingly endless flow of heroic patients to nurture back to life. It’s all very fast-paced, in that it doesn’t hold your hand and waltz you through the same motions as it did in the previous chapter. In other words, those who are unfamiliar with the vanilla version of Galacticare might struggle to wrap their heads around this particular sci-fi excursion.

The Full Treatment

As far as the actual process of building, maintaining, and evolving a medical facility in outer space goes, not a great deal has changed since the initial release. Like before, you begin your journey with a husk of a space station in the middle of Orion’s Belt, conveniently armed to the teeth with robotic jack-of-all-trade Medi-Bots, medical facilities, research wings, and a list of to-do missions. However, in this episode, you don’t have the objective of patching up festival goers or thwarting rival firm’s attempts to penalize your clientele; instead, you have the monumental task of transforming your hospital into a war clinic—a hub for the heroes who, in a bid to dismantle the CABAL regime, continuously fight against their opponents. And that’s where you come in, Director.

In addition to being the go-to practitioner for the sick and dying patrons of justice, you also have the task of sniffing out potential CABAL contractors, preventing rogue colleagues from sabotaging your healthcare system, and putting out more metaphorical fires than the average cosmos-hopping firefighter. And to make matters that much worse, you also have the timer to keep tabs on, too—a staple feature that, in a similar fashion as its predecessor, frequently reminds you that, while there are things going wrong, you have to remember to squash them in a timely manner before something disastrous comes a-knocking. Still, it could be worse — you could have toilets exploding left, right, and center, too. Oh wait…

Juggling the Healthcare System

I jest with the fact that The Voice Beyond is a difficult game, to be honest. Granted, it does have its taxing moments, and it does ramp up the difficulty spike by a couple of notches to appeal to returning players. And yet, this isn’t to say that it’s a bullet-sweltering, ludicrously disadvantageous business sim with one too many insurmountable learning curves. In fact, if you cast aside the overarching notion that you must accomplish your goals and “save the galaxy” in order to progress deeper into each of the three levels, then you will surely find a relatively easygoing sandbox sim with a lot of slack to give. And while several of its in-game win criteria are often based around your ability to make quick turnarounds, it does provide you with the necessary tools and information to fulfill your aspirations.

This is, above all else, an expansion, and so it’s best not to dive into the deep end of the cosmos and expect a beefier experience at your fingertips, so to speak. Similar to what most, if not all DLC does, The Voice Beyond refrains from touching the original infrastructure of the base game, and instead opts to add a handful of additional ingredients to the pot and roll with it. And in this case, that means having three more campaigns to complete, several fresh diseases to analyze and treat, and an overarching good-versus-evil storyline to crunch through over a nifty selection of revised tasks and career choices. And you know what? It’s enough to warrant a second homecoming.

Verdict

The Voice Beyond finds a way to lather a new series of genetically enhanced nodes over a system that’s already teeming with sandbox-centric possibilities. It’s DLC, true, which technically means that it doesn’t provide any major benefits for existing Directors. And yet, in spite of its lack of new structural materials, it still manages to uphold its addictive gameplay style by implementing three compelling story beats, disease strands, and an entire catalog of witty characters and off-the-cuff remarks. It’s essentially Galacticare 1.5, but with a few more exploding toilets, to boot. Can’t complain about that. Can we?