Trauma Center: Under the Knife 2

One of the more innovative uses of the Nintendo DS touch screen came from Atlus' 2005 classic Trauma Center: Under the Knife. Gripping the stylus in your deft surgeon's hand, you expertly suctioned and sutured your way through operation after operation against the backdrop of a dramatic storyline. The gameplay was spot-on. For instance, to remove a foreign object, you'd click on the forceps, then touch on the object, then drag it carefully to the pan a nurse conveniently placed at the bottom of the touchscreen. Lifting up your stylus would drop the object in the pan with a satisfying clink. You really felt like an E.R. doctor sweating under the lamps.

Our only issue with the first game (see our original review) was that at times it was too difficult. And by that we mean almost impossible. Many players didn't finish, especially casual surgeons who would've otherwise enjoyed the innovative controls and fun story. Later versions ported to the Wii upped the difficulty even more.

Atlus seems to have taken notice, and from what we've played so far, Trauma Center: Under the Knife 2 is a much friendlier title. Serious surgeons can still up the difficulty to "hard" for sweat-inducing feverish surgical battles, but more casual players should find the "easy" difficulty smooth sailing. A clean new interface more closely resembles the Nintendo Wii remake, and the controls are as tight as ever.


Fighting Disease Around the World

Players will step into the now-familiar shoes of 29 year-old surgical prodigy Derek Styles, assisted by his deft nurse Angie Thomspon, whose gorgeous flowing long blonde hair somehow never presents a surgical hazard. The action starts in the war-torn African nation of Costigar, where we meet promising young surgeon Adel Tulba, a local man who hopes to help rebuild his country. The story is divided into chapters, each of which is told through a series of a half-dozen dramatic surgeries.