ER First Impressions

Video and computer games have made occasional appearances on the television drama ER over the years. Most memorable was an early episode that showed the doctors playing Doom in their spare time. Now the long-running and popular medical drama is getting a game of its own. ER, the game, is a new project from Legacy Interactive, the developer responsible for making games based on another popular television show, Law & Order. However, unlike Legacy's Law & Order games, which play out like classic point-and-click adventure games, ER is going in a whole new direction. Imagine taking The Sims and setting it in a hospital, and you get an inkling of where this intriguing new game is going.

In ER, the game, you'll have the opportunity to play as a young medical intern getting on-the-job learning experience at Cook County General Hospital in Chicago. You'll create a unique character, choosing your appearance and gender (the latter will affect romance possibilities in the game), as well as traits and specialties that will determine your ability to diagnose and treat various kinds of conditions. For instance, your intelligence, dexterity, constitution, and charm can affect whether you specialize in neurosurgery, pediatrics, orthopedics, and more. And while your character will be able to treat all kinds of conditions, the role-playing-style skill system will ensure that you treat some better than others, and you will receive extra experience points for focusing in your specialty.

After you create a character, you'll begin your first day in the emergency room. The game takes place mainly from an overhead, isometric view, much like The Sims. You'll control your doctor as he or she walks around the emergency room. Since the game is based on the show, the layout should be familiar if you're a fan of the series, but even then, you'll probably see things you haven't seen before, such as the security room or gym. You can manually walk around the ER, or you can simply click on a patient's icon, and your character will automatically find a path to that patient. Legacy is looking to make the game particularly user-friendly, especially considering the show's wide range of fans.

Much like The Sims, ER will be a game about time management. The game is divided into six episodes, each of which represents a 48-hour shift that you'll have to work at the hospital. However, the game designers didn't want the game to focus on the mundane details that The Sims does, like making sure that your character always goes to the bathroom. Instead, your primary focus will be to treat patients and do the bidding of the senior hospital staff. And as a medical intern, pretty much every other doctor in the place is senior to you. This means that you'll get various tasks and orders, such as treating a certain number of patients in a limited amount of time. You'll also have time for other pursuits as well, but more on that later.

Treating most patients will be fairly simple, and you won't have to bark out medical orders, either. First, you'll diagnose the patient and determine his or her condition. Depending on the severity of the condition, you can send the patient to one of three kinds of hospital beds, where you can then try to treat the patient yourself (success is based on your medical skill level and the level of the patient's condition, as well as some random chance), or you can "curbside" another doctor for assistance. Obviously, you'll want to direct patients properly, so that the most severe cases are sent to the best-prepared beds, where medical supplies are kept nearby. Otherwise, if you try to treat a seriously ill patient in a regular bed, you'll discover that the nurse assisting you has to constantly run off to fetch more medical supplies. In keeping with real life and the show, some patients may die, so you'll have to make sure you try to do everything you can.

CBC, Chem Seven!

In addition to the general patients in the waiting room, each episode will have signature patients. If you've watched the television show, think of the general patients as the minor cases that each doctor deals with in an episode, while the signature patients are the featured cases in each episode. So, in the game's first episode, you'll have to treat a circus clown whose case isn't as simple as it appears to be. Successfully treating signature cases will unlock perks, which are special, one-use items that are given to you as a reward. So if you are successful in helping the clown, he'll give you his boutonniere, which has the ability to make everyone around you friendlier toward you. You can use this if you want to improve the relationship with a certain character, or you can try to trade it for another character's perks.

As your doctor levels up and increases his or her medical skills, you may earn special abilities, which are like perks but more permanent. However, you're limited to being able to use only a handful of special abilities at a time, which means that you'll have to select which ones you want to activate. These include "caffeinated," which means that your character will not lose energy as quickly. That's right, because, as with the Sims characters, your character will have various bars that measure energy, composure, and hygiene. You can restore your character's energy by eating food at the cafeteria, regain composure by taking out frustrations at the gym on the second floor, and restore hygiene by showering and washing up.

Another interesting feature of the game is that it models the ER as a fully dynamic world. While you're going about treating patients, other doctors and staff members are doing the same. This means that you need to keep on your toes, otherwise another staff member may swoop down and take your patient. You'll also get to interact with prominent staff members, including John Carter, Susan Lewis, and Gregory Pratt. If those names don't ring a bell, think of actors Noah Wyle, Sherry Stringfield, and Mekhi Phifer, who play those respective roles on the television show. All three lend their voices and likenesses to the game. In addition to those primary cast members, we can expect appearances from other familiar faces (and voices), including Abraham Benrubi, who plays the popular admitting clerk Jerry Markovic.

And it wouldn't be an ER game if you didn't have the chance to form personal relationships with other characters. You won't have to do this, as you can play the game any way you wish, but to capture the feel of the show, you will be able to interact with your fellow doctors and nurses. These relationships can range from romance to hostility, depending on how they unfold. The game will have a Sims-like conversation system, so you can try to break the ice with mild topics such as discussing the weather. And if you're feeling even bolder, you can try to kiss another character, though if your relationship isn't ready for that, prepare to be rebuffed.

At this point, ER is looking like an intriguing mix of The Sims, strategy, and role-playing, and it really looks like it will capture the spirit of the show. Legacy worked with two ER writers to nail down the details, and there will be the mix of action, romance, and humor that we've come to expect from the television show. What's really interesting is the game's blend of strategy and role-playing, which means that you should be able to replay the game multiple times to experiment with different options and results. ER has been in development for more than 20 months, and it's almost done. Expect to see the game ship in April.