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Story
Throughout the game, you play as Derek Stiles, a young surgeon desperate to succeed in his chosen field. As Dr. Stiles starts to develop his skills, he learns that he is possibly a descendant of the Greek god Asclepius, and therefore is gifted with the "healing touch", a special ability that allows him to focus so intently that he slows the very flow of time, making it easier to perform his surgeries. It's a good thing that he does, as well, because soon Stiles starts to travel the world in order to combat Gangliated Utrophin Immuno-Latency Toxin (also known as GUILT), a man-made series of virii that threaten the health of the world.

The introduction of both the healing touch and GUILT aspects of the game come only after you've finished the first few missions; as a result, the inclusion of each seems a little jarring at first, but if you're able to adjust your expectations of the game midway through, they end up being rather enjoyable.

Gameplay
Throughout the game, you primarily use the Wii remote to control the action, although the nunchuk attachment is required as well. You use the nunchuk to choose the various surgical implements you use throughout the game, including a scalpel, forceps, and ultrasound machine, and then you use them with the remote. It's a remarkably intuitive form of gameplay, and one that you can pick up quickly. At the same time, though, there's a certain amount of precision required for the surgeries you perform, so the game continues to be challenging, especially at the higher difficulty levels.

One thing that's important to note about the gameplay as well is that this isn't a game that takes itself very seriously. There's a lot of melodrama here, from the way that the characters pose themselves in the cut scenes, to the to the blast lines that accompany Stiles' cry of "I must save this patient!", but that doesn't prevent the game from having a good time with it. A little kitschy, but in a game where you're using the Healing Touch to combat GUILT, kitsch isn't something you can really avoid.

The audio in the game is kind of minimal, although the throbbing heartbeat throughout it that matches to how well your patient is doing creates a nice sense of urgency as your make your way through each surgery.

Visuals
Kind of in line with the rest of the game, Trauma Center doesn't really hold for photorealism in this regard. Your patients all seem to have the same neutered, androgynous bodies (in order to let the game keep it's "Teen" rating, no doubt), and the organs all appear to be the same size, although this could be explained by using different levels of magnification when attempting the surgeries. The 2-D drawings in the cut-scenes are rather well-done, their magna-ish style adding to the kitsch factor that I mentioned earlier.

The bottom line:
This isn't a serious game, and definitely isn't a 'realistic' surgery game, but it is definitely a lot of fun. The levels are just hard enough that you have to try them a few times before beating them, but not so hard that you get frustrated and give up. Definitely a fun, worthwhile purchase.

Learn more about this author, Ryan Harron.
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