A game about doctors? How absurd. Indeed. But if executed as well as Trauma Center 2, then keep 'em coming.
Were my sceptical thoughts before actually purchasing and playing the game. Needless to say, I was proven wrong as I kept on enjoying the gameplay and story. Trauma Center 2 is obviously the sequel to the first game which I also obviously did not have the chance to experience. It centres around Dr. Derek Stiles, a young. talented doctor, his nurse Angie Thompson and his surrounding coworkers and friends as they battle medical terrorists, rival medical organizations and multiple diseases created by said terrorists. I believe the diseases and terrorists return from the previous Trauma Center as numerous references are scattered throughout the game. No worries though, as I, a Trauma Center newbie was able to understand the story even without playing the first TC.
The game can be- in fact must be controlled by using the touch screen as you perform operations on the bottom screen of the DS. You pick surgical intruments on the sides of the screen and then do whatever is required in order to succesfully operate on the patient whether it is suturing wounds, draining blood or even lasering tumors. The game really eases you in with relatively simple operations at first and then cranking up the difficulty in the final few operations. However, none of the operations feel impossible to complete. On normal difficulty anyway. I couldn't imagine playing on hard dfficulty in the latter stages. But that of course is unnecessary as you can choose between easy, normal and hard modes. All operations also give you a ranking ranging from S to C depending on how well you performed. These operations can be replayed in order to achieve a better score and ranking.
The game features impressive artwork far superior to the art in the first game as they are masterfully done by Shigenori Soejima renowned for his work in the Persona series. The first game had a more cartoonish feel to the art while TC 2 has a more mature feel to the characters suiting the game's tone while the backgrounds are decent in the story sequences. The operations on the other hand are 3D on a 2D plane. The organs and surgical tools are crafted well to make it look believable and none of the operations will make you feel sick or anithing so no worries.
TC 2 also manages to include some voice overs albeit limited in supply. The lines don't really follow the text at all except for simple ones such as "What?" and the like. Whatever voiceover that is present though is really well done and injects more personality into the characters. The sound effects are good as well like when you just ruptured an artery or surturing a wound. The music is enjoyable, some more than others with each piece of music setting the mood for the game whether it's a sad moment or even if you're in a high stakes, high tension operation. In fact, the entire audio can be enjoyed by unlocking it after beating the game.
You'll be able to complete the game within 10 hours on the first try comprimising 7 chapters, each divided into around 7 or 8 episodes. However, extra hidden operations are unlocked after beating the game adding more replay value. Be warned, however, that these extra operations are not for th eones who breezed through the game in easy mode as they extremely difficult. Heck, even I failed to complete even the first one and I played on Normal mode. This could be a factor of the steep difficulty or in fact, could be due to my poor ability of wielding a scalpel of course so don't turn your head away from these operations just yet.
All in all, Trauma Canter 2: Under The Knife is a really great game. The addictive gameplay will suck you in faster than you can say 'Brain Tumor'. So, for those aspiring to be a medical doctor or a chief surgeon, realize your dreams by playing this game. Or by going to med school.