All the fun of abdomenal surgery, but without having to 'scrub in.'
You play as Derek Stiles, a young doctor at Hope Hospital. Starting with simple operations that teach you the basics of operating and how to use your various implements (including surgical lasers, forceps, and hypodermics) you rapidly gain confidence in yourself, and from those around you. Eventually, the game breaks into fictional territory, as you essentially do battle against 'medical terrorism' in the form of GUILT, a series of particularly devastating illnesses engineered to end the human race. But you've got an ace up your sleeve: you've been blessed with the 'Healing Touch,' an intense concentration that allows you to operate super fast once per operation (implemented in "Six Million Dollar Man" fashion by slowing down all around you). Can you wisely use your powers to save victims long enough for the source to be found, and an end brought to this scourge?
The most impressive thing about the game is the use of the touchscreen. Never has control felt so intuitive. Slicing a patient open by making a slicing motion across the touchscreen with your stylus is incredibly natural, as is tapping it to fire your surgical laser or apply a dab of antibiotic gel. The graphics are detailed enough to look reasonably realistic, but not so real as to induce nausea in those made easily queasy. The story itself is fun, and the medical terrorism aspect eerily grabs your attention and makes you want to solve it, as you can't help but wonder if things like these aren't being developed in an Afghani cave right now. And while there is a fictional aspect to the game, you still do tons of real-life medical things; it's just the context in which you need to do them that's fantasy.
The difficulty is a downside to the game, as some later levels will leave you screaming in frustration as you desperately race to cure your patient, only to have them deteriorate more quickly than you can keep up, and only getting faster with the controls, to a degree that would be unsafe in an actual operating room, will save you. There are times you wish icons for items unneeded for a particular operation weren't there, or that you could at least move them around, especially when a procedure only needs 4 or 5 items and you'd like them all on the same side of the screen. There isn't a big focus on sound, and while a bit more audio from people would've been nice, the medical sounds are decent enough. Another frustrating aspect comes in replay via the challenge mode, where you can replay old operations. Though you know exactly what to do, still having the nurse and others repeat the advice they gave you in the game, which you no longer need and have to tap an area of the screen to advance through, is highly intrusive and really just breaks your rhythm.
Overall, the gameplay and story combines to make you feel very doctor-like, and anyone can really jump in and get the hang of the game quickly, though mastery will take some time. The pleasant, well-done animé graphics give the game a distinct Japanese vibe, though it is set in America. The sound could've been bit better, but it does still convey what it needs to, especially the nurse chastising you for letting the vitals slip too low. Sadly, the story mode can be knocked out in only about 8 hours, depending on how dexterous you are at maneuvering the stylus, and the challenge mode's previously mentioned unskippable nurse instructions may be too frustrating for some to feel like taking advantage of. I also can't help but wonder what some sort of wireless 'two doctor' mode might've added to the game. Still, fans of "ER" or medicine in general, and anyone looking for a game like none other out on the market, will likely get a real kick out of this game.