Trauma Center: Under the Knife
October 8,2005 -

When Nintendo unveiled the DS at E3 last year, its big sell was the ability to provide new ways of playing video games in the face of the PSP's superior raw graphics power. In almost a year since the DS launched, we've only been given a handful of examples of this concept in a software lineup that still consists mostly of conventional games that offer some interesting, but mostly inferior (see Ridge Racer DS) alternative options. Still, there are many games in the pipeline that promise to use the DS in the more interesting, innovative manner that Nintendo hoped for from the handheld's conception. Among these games is Atlus' Trauma Center: Under The Knife – a title that can only be accurately described as a story-driven surgical-action game, that promises to truly be one of a kind.

Let's get one thing out of the way; Trauma Center is niche. Extremely niche. “The only way this game made it to North America is because it fits well with DS philosophy”. In other words, it would fit well alongside the Tokimeki Memorials and Sakura Taisens that have long been withheld from the trip across the Pacific. The average gamer might not be interested in games like this (beyond the fleeting, perverse enjoyment of removing a piece of glass from a patient's heart only to stab them with it repeatedly afterward), but they're exactly the kinds of games that Nintendo is wagering on with the DS on the whole. Try to keep this in mind while reading the rest of this review, because it's being treated for what it is.

In Trauma Center, you play the role of rookie surgeon Derek Stiles, who decided to become a doctor after losing his father to a terminal illness. Derek is quickly discovering the true nature of Murphy's Law in his new job at Hope Hospital; his nurse just moved on to greener pastures, her replacement is always on his case, his control-freak boss lets him have it over every little thing, and after his relaxed nature nearly costs him a patient on the table, he seriously considers a career change. Simply put, his life starts to suck from the moment he begins his job at Hope.

That isn't to say all is grim for the good doctor. In a do-or-die moment (or rather, do-or-the-patient-dies, as things tend to go in this line of work), where Derek is the only available surgeon, his morale is quickly restored when he learns that, as a descendent of an ancient healing god, he is capable of the Healing Touch. What this ultimately means is that he is capable of slowing time down to a crawl during operations, helping him manage otherwise-hectic situations with an extreme calm.

The interface for Trauma Center is relatively straightforward. The entire game is played on the touchscreen with the help of icons, with which you select one of ten tools, and use them in rapid succession through each of the game's operations. Your job is to work fast enough, usually under a 5-minute time limit, to fix your patients' various medical complaints while keeping their vitals above 0. This is not an easy task by any stretch, at least after the first several operations with which you're introduced rather comfortably to the game's basic nature. At times, Trauma Center is needlessly difficult, even when using the Healing Touch; requiring extremely fast hands just to get out of an operation with even as little as a C-rank. This could have been alleviated somewhat, had Atlus decided to use the DS microphone for gameplay purposes. Being able to ask Nurse Thompson for instruments verbally would allow the player to keep their operating and visual focus on the patient, saving time and making the game itself generally easier. Consider how just plain cool it would be to literally call for “Medicine! Scalpel! Scope! Laser! Forceps!” Then you'll get a sense of just what a missed opportunity this omission was.

Games, News, Reviews, Media and More