Trauma Center: Under The Knife
Game by Atlus
Reviewed by Philip "Pocket Squirrel" Wesley
Size: 512 megabits
Save: batteries (3 slots)
Released: October 11, 2005
Works with: Nintendo DS
Rated: T (Medical & Mature Themes)
Quick Opinion: Own

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Opening Snide Remarks: Whenever I decide on what video game system I want
to buy, I make a list of at least five games I want to purchase for the
system as a way to justify the purchase of the game. With the Nintendo DS,
there were quite a few games on that list. One of them has been on my list
since it was first announced. That game is Cadeceus. Cadeceus was the Japanese
name for Trauma Center: Under The Knife. Caduceus is a surgery game. There
are three Nintendo DS games in the surgery genre: Cadeceus, Tendou Dokuta,
and Tendou Dokuta 2 which was announced while I was working on this review.

Unlike the Tendou Dokuta series, Cadeceus is a lot less over the top and
attempts to be more serious in plot nature. Atlus decided to take the risk
and bring over Cadeceus to the United States. We now have a surgery game for
the Nintendo DS, but was it worth bringing over?

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Gameplay Description: This game is extremely plot based, so it is broken up
into chapters with individual "levels" between them. Sometimes the levels are
just conversational, where you read and tap the screen. These are meant to
endear you to the characters in the game, and flesh out what it is you are
trying to accomplish. The dialogue is a big part of the gameplay in this game
and -mercifully- the dialogue is well written, and relevant to the situations.
There is some very sparse humor in the game, but the overall tone of the
game is serious. I will get more into that in presentation.

The actual surgery gameplay, for the first few levels, has a very in-depth
tutorial for a reason. A lot of people may be a little frustrated at first
because they forget that they need to DRAG the stylus across the screen to
move pieces of glass to the tray on the right. That is the only part that
people seem to mess up on when they play this game. So, I will mention it
here so you can get past that hurdle easily. For the first few levels, you
are given rather explicit instructions on what to do so you will be prepared
for it. Then the game takes an upward turn on difficulty and you will have
to remember how to do various things on your own. It soon becomes second
nature and really rather intense. The game -through music, sound and written
dialogue- has a lot of drama in it. This game wants you to feel like you have
accomplished something when you successfully complete a surgery, or feel that
you have failed immensely if you let your patient flat-line.

Gameplay, at its core, consists of selecting items in a menu and then using
them on your patient to cure whatever problem they have. But unlike other
stylus based games -like Meteos or Kirby's Canvas Curse- Trauma Center is
more about accurately following procedure over accurately drawing lines.
The gameplay becomes a bit routine, although elements pop up that throw
extra challenge at the player. You start a surgery by disinfecting the area
you are going to make the cut, then using the scalpel to make an incision.
From there you need to use the Forceps, Suture, Injection Needle, Laser,
Ultrasound equipment, a vacuum pump, and other items to accomplish a variety
of operations ranging from simple cases of imbedded glass, to the removal of
cysts, to some extremely complicated surgical procedures that it would spoil
the plot if I mentioned.

All of this happens while you get to enjoy a very complicated plot involving
bio-terrorism, suicide, euthanasia, patients rights, the responsibility of
a medical professional, right to life, human rights, medical testing, and
more. The game draws you into it with some of the most compelling gameplay
that I have seen in a while.

Liked: The storyline and the surgeries themselves. After a very hard level,
I actually noticed I was sweating. That rarely happens in a video game for
me. There was another part in the game where I thought I was almost done
with a surgery and then *spoiler removed* and I literally yelled: "WHAT THE
HELL IS THAT?!"

Damn good game.

Hated: The difficulty in this game plays off of your own ability to focus
and your own speed. That said, the normal Nintendo DS stylus sucks for this
game. When you buy this game, I highly recommend you buy a heavy stylus like
the ones made for Personal Digital Assistants. (PDAs, Palm Pilots)

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Graphics Description: The game uses an anime style to endear the characters
to the player a lot more easily. I think this game would have been a bit too
drab with a more realistic style attached to it. The gameplay inside surgery
feels like you are viewing the surgery under one of those special lights they
use in modern surgery. This means that body parts are bright and distinct
colors. Although there is a bit of blood in the game, nothing too nerve
wracking and it will not make people squeamish. Both screens are extremely
busy, with a lot of things happening on both. This is not going to win any
awards for amazing graphics, but the graphics do an amazing job of conveying
the action that is happening accurately and quickly. The game text is large
enough to be easily read and there are no translation errors that I noticed.

Liked: Looks great!

Hated: Would have liked a bit more animation in the character profiles. That
would be about it.

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Sound/Music Description: The voice work fits the characters and is limited
to expressions of gratitude, shock, or other warnings to get your attention.
Sound effects are appropriate for each and every instance they are used in.

The music, however, is another story completely. If a soundtrack were made
available for this game, I would buy it. The music in the game seems to
have been made for a role playing game at times, but it works wonderfully.
Since the basis of the game is to feed off your own concentration and
tension, the music in this game is subtle and and has a very organic feel
to it. By organic, I mean it feels like it is grown from the experience of
the game. You don't notice it unless you're looking for it. It seeps into
your ears and slowly increases your immersion into the game. It gets faster
as things become more tense. The music will not offend your neighbors, but
I still suggest you use headphones. Not to keep the music inside the game,
but to keep the distractions of other people out.

Liked: The voice work was great, the music was excellent.

Hated: It could have used more voice work. If a larger medium were used, it
would be nice to have voice for every single bit of dialogue.

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Play Control/Game Design: Practically everything is done in this game with
the stylus. The game does a good job of explaining everything that goes on
in the game and every procedure. This is a game that it is perfectly acceptable
to buy used as the game explains everything that would be in the manual.

The game is divided, as I previously stated, into two types of gameplay:
Surgery and Conversation.

Surgery: The main challenge of the game is here. When you successfully
complete a surgery, you are graded on how well you did and then you can
re-challenge that surgery in the challenge mode later on for a better grade.

Conversation: This is the main storyline and serves to make you feel for the
events in the game.

Liked: Easy to pick up and play. Easy to learn, tough to master. The game
has a lot of challenge to it and will last gamers a long time.

Hated: Nothing to dislike here.

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Improve: Maybe they could add some more tools? This is already an excellent
game. Maybe some more animation in the representations of the characters and
some more voice work.

RIYL: Well, there is really nothing like this in the USA. If you enjoy new
experiences and can stomach a little nerve wrecking tension; this is your
next purchase.

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Final Words: The time has come to leave the puppies alone for a while. Trust
me, they will not miss you. Kirby will be fine if you let him be for a while,
and not much else is going to happen on that silly island anyways. You are
needed in pre-op. If you own a Nintendo DS, you would be doing your system
and yourself a grave disservice by not picking up Trauma Center. The unique
experience, drama, and storyline of this game are worth checking out.

This is one of the best games to come out on any system this year.

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Score
Gameplay: *****
Graphics: *****
Sound/Music: *****
Play Control/Game Design: *****
Personal Opinion: *****
Total: 25 out of 25


Final Score: 100%

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Currently Known Codes: If it is used in the story.. it may be possible to
concentrate twice as hard....