Lobotomy Corporation Review
Lobotomy Corporation is simultaneously simple, and complicated in one finely wrapped package on the edge of bursting open. Putting it right in that wedge where it’s easy to learn, yet incredibly difficult to master, progressively growing harder and harder every in-game day that passes. Lobotomy Corporation is effectively a management simulation game, with the addition of a combat system for when something inevitably will escape and begin wreaking havoc on your Employees.
Adding a tinge of roguelike to the mix. Your general goal is to Research the “Abnormalities” as they are called by sending your Employees into their containment cells to manage the Abnormalities and make them happy, so they generate a product called Enkephalin. Although mechanically, this only works as a number to reach so you can end the workday.
You may be wondering why I said ‘manage’ even though I mentioned your main goal is to research these entities? The reason for that would be because you are the one unlocking the Abnormalities data by using PE boxes your Employees gather from working with these creatures. Giving you the names, tips for handling the Abnormality, and for most of them: Equipment called E.G.O gear that you can put on your employees so they can survive and suppress any unfortunate event that leads to Abnormalities escaping.
This inspires a trial-and-error type gameplay that mixes perfectly with the general atmosphere of the game and tries to teach you that your Employees are expendable assets…Truly a modern take on how Corporations treat people. Jokes aside, you can play the game with no Employee deaths if you get too attached, but do not get your hopes up. This game is difficult when you first start off and can still be so mid or late game.
Every day or so you gain more and more abnormalities to manage in separate ways, so you better get a handle on the works and what each abnormality does fast! There is one thing though that spices up the monotony of handling abnormalities every day all day for some of those sweet, sweet PE boxes and Enkephalin. The introduction of Dawn, Dusk, and Midnight events. The result being a collection of creature’s spawning in the facility randomly, the collection depending on what the designated color of the Dawn, Dusk, or Midnight is.
Something you are forced to suppress if you want to have an enjoyable time…Even one of the first characters in the game you meet complain about these unexpected appearances. A Dawn event is the easiest to deal with and can even be solved without your input at all in some circumstances. Additionally, always the first to arrive as its name implies.
The second is Dusk, which will often require a good chunk of thought and strategy to deter, as they get exponentially more dangerous. And lastly, Midnight. Midnight can easily wreck your entire facility if let alone, or even when you are dealing with it.
Even the easiest of these events can quickly kill your agents in a matter of moments if you are not paying attention. These additional threats provide a much-needed break from going around saying ‘Oh God am I doing the right thing?’ or ‘Please don’t fail this work’ while you press buttons and deal with the quirks of your Abnormalities.
Switching the trial and error for immediate, and violent response to threats. And in the case, you have yet to have a breaching Abnormality, practice for when such finally happens. The farther you get, and more energy you need to collect, the more trouble these events will give you.
None of this is regarding the story, or how you will need two runs to finish the game…Oh right, the game has something called the ‘memory repository’ where you can restart from certain points in the game or completely reset back to day 1 and keep all the information you have collected about the abnormalities. The sheer number of abnormalities, and limited number of days you have, alongside certain requirements in the late game, all culminate in making you need at minimum two runs of the game to beat it. But this works to the favor of the game’s story!
While amassing a considerable sum of replay ability from the almost random selection of abnormalities you are given. On your first run, you might be confused about certain aspects of the dialogue with one of the game’s characters, I will not spoil her name, but she is incredibly important to the story of both Lobotomy Corporation and its sequel, Library of Ruina. Some of her dialogue makes little sense on the first run, talk of you playing dumb, or strange questions…But after the first reset you perform, they start to make sense.
It clicks together why she is acting the way she does towards you as you move further along. Overall, the game is a fun combination of genres into an ambitious mix that works smoothly together. Even if it is getting a little old by this point, anybody who gets the opportunity to play the game can easily enjoy it just as much now as they could a few years ago.
While those without the patience for a long game may want to avoid it, if you are willing to work a little for every inch of progress towards the end, this game is for you!
