lets...OPERATE!
The name of the game is skill. How crafty, quick and nimble you can be with your stylus and how fast you can think. The game largely runs on a time limit so about 90% of the time you play will be under tremendous pressure- wherein a potential turn-off lies. This game can and will cause stress. If you consider yourself clumsy with your fingers or even impatient then perhaps this game isn’t for you. For the rest of you, consider it a welcome change to hear your own heartbeat speed up and see your own DS close in centimetres from your face for the mere sake of an operation that doesn’t even exist outside pixels. In this respect, the doctor vibes are well maintained, right down to the apt simulation of pressure you’d imagine your surgeon felt when he was removing your pancreas.
The game never really falls into repetition, commendable in a puzzle game. You’ll be operating on different body parts, fighting different illnesses which require different methods. The setting may even change sometimes during the game’s story. One level will have you operating during some turbulence on a plane and another even has you operating on an inanimate object. In effect, you never play the same level twice which is nice to see.
Perhaps the worst thing about Trauma Centre is its occasional relentless and frustrating difficulty. Some levels are just too hard for their own good and may even drive you to give up entirely. The aforementioned side-effect of stress helps nothing in this respect. Paying (AU) $60 for something you’re going to give up on and slide back on the shelf may not be an attractive prospect for most gamers. While Trauma Centre isn’t exactly the most fun you’ll have with video games all year, it does present a profound simulation that can’t really be done on any other console except Nintendo. While the difficulty may threaten how long or how enjoyable a time you had with it, anything that has you feeling vibrant emotions outside the virtual world whether it be distress or relief, has to be something special.