Gamer--freakz

Gamespot score:7.8(good)

my score:7.5


(+)Pros:-Great concept and gameplay mechanics,-many different kinds of operations,-lots of tools all of which are useful and have distinct functions,-good story,-great cast of characters.

(-)Cons:-Pretty short,-very very very VERY hard,- too much talking too little operating

Gameplay time:Below 10 hours(Short)






Alright time for a review!!!Before that, some of my usal ranting. School is once again, being a bitch, and I do not have much time to do my own stuff. Anyway, purchased dead space 2, though I havent touched the main game and have only played extraction, great game so far. Ahem....back to this. Trauma center, much like the ace attorney series, is something never tried before, and works well. While I very much prefered AA, trauma center itself is a good series, though it is very VERY difficult. Luckily, the second one is much better, anyway, on with it.



Under the knife stars our main character as doctor stiles, derek stiles. Derek is pretty young for a doctor, and he just started picking up surgery, so he just does his job. But theres one thing, derek is damn carefree, he just doesnt really give a damn about many things. He likes to get things done and thats it, not care about it any more. One day, he almost loses a patient and gets yelled at by his partner nurse angie. Feeling all bad and stuff, he decides to quit. One day, a major accident takes place, and the hospital is out of docs, the only guy available is none other than derek. There, he rushes for time as he tries to save a near death patient, there he discoveres he has a power called the healing touch, where he is able to see things at super slow speed when doing surgeries. There, derek's career as a surgeon is restarted anew, and he starts a new life as a "reborned" doctor.




Trauma center is a very text driven game, like the ace attorney games. The game is split into chapters, each with thier own segments. These segments are mostly operations, but some include just dialouge between characters. So...yeap, thats alot of text and very little operating.
Still, AA is MUCH wordier, so if you can handle AA, trauma center should be just fine to you. The dialouge isnt bad anyway, its quite interesting actually, the characters are cool and funky in thier own way, hearing them converse is quite something.



Operating in trauma center, is obviously the fun part. You are always cutting people up, either to remove tumours or just to heal internal cuts. During operationgs, you are constantly being pressed for time, as your patient's pulse is constatntly dropping. Thats means you have to be as quick as that timer, or even quicker. Thats most of the time hard, since the timers going down pretty fast, and everytime you make a mistake, that pulse will drop even more. Thats alot to live up to. Anyway, during your many different operations, you will be using a very vast set of tools. You have the cutter, to slice things up, such as tumours. You have the syringe, to insert certain fluids into certain areas. You have the anti-biotic gel, to disinfect stuff. Theres alot to go on, but the gist is that during most of the operationgs, the tools are mostly all used, so theres equality, you wont be using one tool more than the other.


Now under the knife is a great game and all, but it seriously is plagued by difficulty. This is probably one of the hardest games I have played on the DS. You are constantly pressed for time, and the slightest mistakes you make cause the pulse to drop FAST. Plus, if you screw up your touchscreen or stylus, it makes this game almost impossible to play. This game caused my touch screen plastic piece to actually come off :X. The other issues are pretty much mentioned, theres too much talking and too little operating. Kinda beats the whole surgeon thing. Also, the game is short, it doesnt last more than 10 hours, and I doubt anyone would go for a 2nd playthrough since its mostly all the same. Challenge is even harder than normal, and even if you manage to clear them( I dont know how someone can physically do them), thats about it.


The 1st trauma center is good, but has alot of room for improvement. Luckily the second one solves most of its problems, and is a much better game overall. Still, if you are looking for a unique game like ace attorney, trauma center can probably satisfy you, just make sure to adapt to the extreme difficulty.





Happy gaming.