Game Review[Trauma Center: Under the Knife(DS)]

In my endless search for innovative gameplay, I decided to get a Nintendo DS for my very first portable console as I felt that the touch screen feature would provide a whole new line of games that draws the player in making full use of the feature. I have to say, it did not let down my hopes. (It really is my first portable console -.-”)

And so, I picked Trauma Center: Under the Knife for my first console game review. In Trauma Center, the player plays as Derek Stiles (Pronounced “Stylus”… Lousy pun), a normal surgeon who just started on his job. Of course as a game, things happen and it turns into a save the world plot. You even get to mess around with a hidden ability of Derek, “Healing Touch”. The game only guides your action up till the second operation and from then on, your pretty much on your own. (You’ll still have your pretty assistant Angela Thompson giving you general directions though) This pretty much ramps up the difficulty right at the start until you manage to perform the standard procedures almost naturally. After a number of operations, the “Healing Touch” ability awakens in Derek and using the ability slows time to a crawl. (It supposedly puts Derek into ultra-deep concentration) Almost immediately after realizing this ability, Derek is placed in the position where he has to cure patients with GUILT, which is a strain of virus created for medical terrorism.

The gameplay is hectic with frequent switching of tools and sudden complications while performing surgery. You will be forced to keep an eye on the vitality points of the patient while taking note of the time limit and also the events happening on screen. With the concentration required combined with the responsiveness of the controls and the way the tools working almost the way they do in real life, it’s not hard for total immersion in the game. The sound and music also aids in bringing the emotions across to the players, such as the way the music speeds up when there is a sudden complication the the operation that has to be fixed quickly. One complaint though, is that there isn’t a wide variety of music and it gets boring after listening to it for a couple of hours.

Personally, I like how the story is moved along and how personality is injected into the patients and side characters through the dialogue.

Overall comment: This game is not for people with fear of blood or those who are not able to gather their wits when sudden events occur. If you are neither, I highly recommend you picking this game up. I can promise you that you won’t be disappointed.

Score: 4.5/5 . The game is disturbingly addictive despite the difficulty level.