Tuesday, August 19, 2008

I need 500cc's of dopamine, stat!

For those of you who have always wanted to be able to operate on people, but were afraid of blood, or doing something that might actually kill the patient, this is not your game. But, if you're ok with killing a few patients, this game is for you.
Trauma Center: Under the Knife 2 is the sequel to the fantastic original title Trauma Center: Under the Knife, released for the DS in 2005. The newer version takes everything that was great (and a couple things that weren't so great), and adds some new ideas, making for another exciting operation adventure.

Probably the most notable change since the original is the fact that you have the choice of difficulty levels, which is a good thing, considering the first TC game was notoriously difficult. Also, the interface is nicer, very much like the Wii versions of the game.

The story follows Derek Stiles, a famous doctor who saved the world from the threat of GUILT, a set of man-made, incredibly deadly diseases. But these are no diseases you would expect to see for real. At least, not in a live person. Imagine fast-moving earthworms with tinny daggers strapped to all sides. You cut it in half, it just makes more. Fortunately, that particular virus does not make a return, and some of the more (ridiculously) difficult viruses have been toned down a bit.

If you've played any of the Trauma Center games, this one will be very familiar and easy to pick up. If you haven't played it, it may seem a little strange at first. But just go along with it. It gets better as you go along.

Some of the beginner's operations include removing polyps from the large intestine, or fixing a broken arm. As you progress, the tasks become more difficult, including removing GUILT tumors from the heart, and repairing 3 patients' anuerysm-filled brains in 10 minutes.

But the best part about Trauma Center is that even if you kill the patient, you don't lose. You hit that magic continue button and the patient comes back to life (in most cases). And don't worry about 'accidentally slicing their lower tract in half', or 'suturing your name in the pancreas.' Just hit Retry, and you can do it all over again. Good times.

Unfortunately, there are a couple of things in the game that should have been a little more polished. Sometimes, when removing an object, or reattaching an artery, it says you did it wrong, when in fact you did it right. Some of the objectives require near perfect accuracy with the stylus. Fortunately, these cases are few and far between.

In short, the game is great fun and should be played by everyone. That means you too, grandma.

This game has earned a Blatantly Biased:

1 comment:

Rachel said...

I liked watching you play this game, even though I only watched a little of it, it was exciting :) Luckily for you new DS screen this game isn't too tough on it :) Hopefully you'll be able to have some time to play the newer Wii one soon :) I wuv you!