Almost a year
ago, I had the chance to play Trauma Center: Second Opinion on the
Nintendo Wii and show it off on the big screen to anyone that I could. Basically, being a remake of the Nintendo DS version of Trauma Center, Second
Opinion was able to draw in a whole new crowd that particularly plays
console games rather than handheld games. Now, a year later, Atlus is ready to
present its second offering of Trauma Center in the form of Trauma Center:
New Blood. Fans of the series shouldn’t worry about the quality as Atlus
has once again delivered a fresh and invigorating take on the work life of a
doctor.
Fans of
Second Opinion should feel right at home with Trauma Center: New Blood
due to the fact that it’s based in the same game world. Providing new
characters and an ‘out of this world’ story arc, players should get ready to
take on a new disease called “Stigma.” Starting off in Alaska, players assume
the roles of Markus Vaughn and Valerie Blaylock, two surgeons that work in a
tiny ski town that must embark on an adventure of captivating, and let’s not
forget landmark, procedures in the operating room. Being able to play as two
characters, players will be able to use one of the character’s special “Healing
Touch” abilities that are allotted only once during each mission. What this
entails is that each mission is practically the same with only the “Healing
Touch” maneuver varying between surgeons. If players take the role of Vaughn,
they’ll be able to slow down time. On the other hand, if players decide to use
Blaylock, her patients will feel no harm or damage for a set amount of time.
The day-to-day
routines of a doctor are similar to what players should have experienced
before. If players haven’t experienced a Trauma Center title yet, then
here is the gist of the gameplay: Players will select one of their work utensils
with the nunchuk controller and begin guiding what they want to do on the screen
by use of the Wii IR sensor. When prompted, players will hit the A, B, or an
arrangement of both buttons to execute precise surgical actions on the screen. While it may sound ultra-complicated, Trauma Center is not too difficult
of a game to sit down and understand within 15-20 minutes of
watching another play.
What may
possibly be the best new feature that New Blood has is the added
cooperative play. Allowing two players to grab a pair of controllers,
cooperative mode permits players to work cooperatively through any challenge or
mission in the game. While relying on your partner to keep up, the co-op mode
is a blast to play through. Matter of fact, it should be enough to entice your
friends to tag along for all your surgical journeys. Without the added co-op,
there isn’t a huge leap in improvement from Second Opinion to New
Blood. But that isn’t to say that Atlus didn’t correct the areas that
needed fixing, because they positively did that too.
The biggest
issue previously was that Trauma Center wasn’t running at 16:9
widescreen. Well, players should be happy to hear that Atlus has included
support for it. The next issue at hand with Second Opinion was lack of
quality voice actors and dialogue. As you should expect, Atlus has anted up
their work with the voice work by means of adding a plethora of voice actors for
New Blood. Another thing corrected from the past was the addition of
several backdrops to keep the environments in which the surgeries take place
refreshing. Overall, the problems from Second Opinion are no longer that
big of a deal.
Speaking about
the backdrops, the rest of the graphics department of New Blood isn’t
exactly worthy of a ‘best in graphics’ award – the art is simple and the overall
presentation is done as if it was a collage being put together right in front of
you. That’s not to say the graphics are horrible though, because they are able
to convey uniqueness and the art is pretty when it is all said and done. Overall, the familiarity of past Trauma Center titles should help bring
back fans to New Blood even if the graphics aren’t next-gen material.
Review Scoring Details for Trauma Center: New Blood |
Gameplay: 8.9
Highly
addicting, the gameplay is still one of a kind. There are a few complications
with using the Wii remotes when compared to the DS stylus, but nothing that
deterred the gameplay too much.
Graphics: 7.3
Nothing
revolutionary here, but players shouldn’t expect it when the game primarily
focuses on its unique gameplay.
Sound: 7.8
The voice actors
at least are bearable this time around and the drama comes off great due to
them.
Difficulty: Easy / Medium
If you have
already played a Trauma Center game prior to New Blood, then you
shouldn’t have a problem picking up where you left off in Second Opinion. Though, newcomers may have trouble with the Wii IR and adapting right away.
Concept: 8.8
Still remarkable
by all means, the novelty may wear off if the developers don’t continue to raise
the stakes. The added co-op is more than enough to attract gamers back to play
Trauma Center on the Wii. Next year, I hope they implement DS
connectivity to take it to the next level.
Multiplayer:
8.7
If you are
buying this first and foremost as a co-op game, then you won’t be disappointed.
Overall: 8.6
Better than last
year’s counterpart, Trauma Center: New Blood is all-around improved. If
you’re looking for a quirky game this holiday, I suggest picking up New Blood
for the co-op multiplayer component alone.
