Trauma Center: Under the Knife
That’s not anesthesia, it’s a sleeper hit!
Tags: Trauma Center: Under the Knife Categories: GBA Reviews, Reviews
Posted by Jake McNeill on Oct 27th, 2005
| Title | Players | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Trauma Center: Under the Knife (title page) | 1 | ||
| Developer | Publisher | Genre | Online |
| Simulation | No | ||
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When Nintendo finally unveiled the DS, many people gave it quizzical looks, wondering what the heck Nintendo was thinking. Nintendo assured gamers, this touchscreen thing wouldn’t just be a gimmick. It would be a revolutionary new control interface that would help developers deliver completely new types of gameplay that would have never before been possible. With Trauma Center: Under the Knife, Atlus delivers on this promise.
Trauma Center’s gameplay is no gimmick. This is not a collection of minigames strung together with a “hospital” theme. This is not a videogame version of the board game Operation, contrary to popular belief. Rather, players are given a set of tools (scalpel, surgical laser, disinfectant, etc.), and must use them to treat problems as they arise. And with the immersive nature of the DS touchscreen, you often have the unprecedented feeling like you really are slicing flesh with a scalpel or suturing up a wound (although there are little touches of sci-fi/fantasy, like a “healing touch” that lets you slow down time).
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It needs to be mentioned that Trauma Center is intense and nerve-racking on a level previously only realized by survival horror games. Much as with real operations, every action, every decision is vital, and a few seconds can mean the difference between a successful operation and a trip to the morgue (as signified by your supervisor telling you he’ll take over).
Much has been said about the game’s high difficulty level, and those without fast reflexes and split-second decision-making skills need to be warned that this title can be outright vicious, although nothing the game demands of the player seems excessive or unfair. Some folks at Atlus have compared Trauma Center’s challenge level to the likes of Ninja Gaiden, which actually seems like a good comparison.
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Graphically, the game mixes 2D with subtle 3D effects for something that’s moderately realistic, although not overly so to the point where you’ll be losing your lunch. The faint-hearted should be warned that there is obviously blood and gore here (you are cutting open patients, after all), although not nearly as much as you’d expect. In fact, considering the topic matter, the game is relatively bloodless, surprisingly. Still, it all makes for an effective presentation, and you certainly do feel like you’re operating on a living, breathing person.
As far as sound goes, Trauma Center is one of the more impressive titles on the DS, featuring a soundtrack that seems like the kind of stuff we’d expect from Atlus’ PS2 titles, as well as the occasional voice clip here and there. I’m still waiting for something on the DS with full-on voice acting a la Metal Gear Solid, but this is still pretty damn good.
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The game’s story is mostly pretty interesting, although at times it seems to take itself a bit too seriously, like a bad soap opera (although whether or not this is intentional is hard to tell). When the focus is on the main plot about an outbreak of biological terrorism (in the form of an engineered disease named GUILT), the story really shines, but I could do without the inspirational monologues about helping people.
The focus on GUILT is both a help and a burden, because while the various strains of the disease add a lot of variety and fuel for the plot, they also take away from the game’s realism. Early on, when you’re extracting broken glass and tumors from the bodies of patients, the game borders on simulation, and in a very good way. When you begin to combat the very insect-like GUILT infections, Trauma Center starts to feel more like an arcade game of sorts. The game even has a final boss, a concept that seems silly for a title that seemingly started out as a surgery sim.
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Thankfully, the game succeeds both as a simulation and as a more arcade-like experience, and there are even a few surprises here and there that do a great job of shaking things up (like having to perform surgery on… a bomb). Add that to a pretty nice game length (8-10 hours, and probably double that if you count all the times you fail), and you have an overall package that’s very satisfying.
This is exactly what the DS needed: an original gameplay experience that couldn’t have been done on any other platform, one that’s mature in presentation, accessible in concept, and superb in execution. This isn’t just one of the best DS titles this year, this is one of the best games of the year on any platform. And while it may not be a game for the squeamish, faint of heart, or those with little patience for a real challenge, for everyone else it should be considered a must-have title.
| What Works | Score |
|---|---|
|
+ Fantastic, original gameplay + An intense and nerve-racking experience + Plenty of variety + An all-around solid presentation |
9.2 |
| What Doesn't | |
|
- It would have been nice to see more “real” operations presented - This is an extremely challenging game, and many will be unprepared for how tough it can get - Story can get a little too overdramatic at times |
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| Under the Shrink-wrap | |
| Trauma Center: Under the Knife is one of the best games of the year on any platform, and any gamer who doesn’t mind a challenge needs to get themselves a copy. | |
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Tags: Trauma Center: Under the Knife
Posted by Jake McNeill on Oct 27th, 2005 and is filed under GBA Reviews, Reviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can post a comment, or trackback from your own site.
