Game Story

• The year is 2018 and while most of the worlds current diseases have been cured, new man made diseases are rumored to be the new weapon for “medical terrorism”.
• In Trauma Center: Under the Knife you play as a young surgeon Dr. Derek Stiles, who has just completed his residency and has started to work at Hope Hospital.
• As Derek, you’ll learn the ropes with some simple procedures before moving on to some more common surgeries.
• After a while the story will heat up when Derek realizes that he possesses a special kind of focus that only the best surgeons have.
• He will need to use his new found skills to combat the new biological weapons before they become widespread in the public.
• Trauma Center is a very story intensive game with some long sequences to read.
• The story is told by through the use of several still images with text to read at the bottom of the screen.
• While there is no animation in the story sequences, the characters will often change against the same static background to show different emotions.
• While some of the story is full of technical jargon, and medical terms, most of it comes across with the old good vs. evil conflict.
• If you don’t like reading the story, or have read through it once before, using the select button will automatically and rapidly scroll through the rest of the text until you get to the next gameplay section.
• That said, the story is still an entertaining part of the game, and should remind you of any good medical drama.

Gameplay

• When it comes down to fun gameplay, Trauma Center delivers all the heart pounding surgical action that you could ask for.
• The gameplay is heavily integrated with the story as it is broken into different chapters.
• Each chapter section usually consists of a story sequence followed by a surgery.
• The story sequence always plays out on the top screen while the bottom screen is used for the surgery.
• A few of the sections entirely consist of a story sequence.
• Each surgery does a good job of integrating new gameplay elements or medical tools to use.
• The actual variety of the types of surgeries, and how they relate to the story is an amazing accomplishment.
• Each surgery begins by looking at the patient’s chart which will give an overview of the problem and the area to be worked on.
• Once the surgery begins you will usually get some advice on how to use a new tool or technique by your aide who is with you for all your surgeries.
• You will have a time limit to complete each surgery, and of course you don’t want to let the patient’s heartbeat reach zero.
• On either side of the bottom screen are the tools available to use.
• Using the stylus you click on the icon of the tool you want to use.
• You’ll have access to such tools as:
• Ultrasound
• Stitches
• Scalpel
• Syringe
• Antibiotic Gel
• Laser
• Forceps
• And more.
• Each tool has limited use as indicated by a bar on the right hand side of the icon.
• Once the tool has been used up, it will be unavailable for a short time while the supply is replenished.
• You’ll perform each surgery by using the stylus in a number of different such as:
• Making incisions.
• Extracting foreign objects.
• Draining Fluids.
• Stitching up wounds.
• Success depends on following the proper procedure, a little puzzle solving and executing with speed and accuracy.
• After each surgery you will earn a score and be graded on how well you did.
• Once you have completed a surgery in story mode, you’ll be able to replay it in challenge mode to try to set a higher score.
• Overall, Trauma Center does a great job in transforming your stylus into a life saving medical tool.