GamerNode: Reviews - Trauma Center: Under the Knife 2

Trauma Center: Under the Knife 2

• Trauma Center: Under the Knife...
• Nintendo DS
• Atlus
• Atlus Co.
• July 01st, 2008

Trauma Center 2 is the same game we fell in love with on the DS, but with much better gameplay. If that doesn't already have you running to pick up a copy, let me explain.

One of the biggest complaints anyone had with any of the past Trauma Center games was the (at times) shoddy programming not registering the right movements, and the huge degree of difficulty. Trauma Center 2 solves those.

Unlike the original, or two Wii iterations, Trauma Center 2 seems to be a finely tuned machine. I made note in my reviews of the other Trauma Center titles that they were fun-but difficult, and at times you'd be so pissed at the game not believing you made the right motion or drew the right stroke that you'd throw your DS/remote. Atlus seems to have listened to the throngs of Trauma Center faithful who complained of the same things, because in Trauma Center 2 I ran into far less issues where I could blame the game and not just my own surgical ineptitude.

If you want an example, take any of the surgeries you performed in the DS or Wii titles, and perform them in Trauma Center 2. Chances are it will go smoother, you'll curse less, and you'll enjoy it more. Somehow the developers just seemed to hone in on most of the things which were wrong with the previous Trauma Center games, and fix them amazingly.

One oddity in the game is the lack of any sort of multiplayer or Wii features whatsoever. After New Blood, I was looking forward to having some sort of co-op, multiple doctors, online rankings, or any of those, but they're not to be found.

Unfortunately, while the gameplay got a huge upgrade the rest of the game has stayed pretty stagnant. Derek Stiles is back with nurse Angie Thompson, and are in the African country of Costigar, aiding Dr. Tulba as he attempts to rebuild his war-torn nation one patient at a time. As I'm sure you're aware, much like the other Trauma Center titles things take off from that starting point and start transitioning more towards sci-fi and away from Hotel Rwanda and Red Dust.

It's the story and writing which is the weak point in Trauma Center 2. While Dr. Stiles enamored us in the first title and made him one of the few DS stars not under Nintendo's moniker, in this game there's really nothing fantastic or even that entertaining about what's going on outside of surgery.

For many that won't matter, though, and in this case I'm inclined to agree with them. (Shocking for anyone who knows me-I know.) The fact is Trauma Center 2 may not be one of Atlus' greatest achievements in the narration department, but the amount of tiny tweaks and fixes they made to the core Trauma Center DS gameplay to make it even better is more than enough to give this one life. If you loved Trauma Center, you'll love Trauma Center 2. If you hated Trauma Center because it was too hard or unforgiving, you'll love Trauma Center 2. Hell, if you own a DS you'll love Trauma Center 2. Play this one for fun, and let Atlus' stories remain on the PS2.

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