Emergency Room: Code Red – PC – Review

Emergency Room Code Red
allows you to diagnose, and treat patients in Legacy hospital.  There was a
foul up in the ER recently.  A patient went unattended for hours.  Eventually
the woman died, and now the city is erupting in riots over the tragic death.
Your skills will be put to the test as every second counts.  Familiar faces
will pop in every now and then from a certain channel four drama series.  You
know Thursday nights at ten o’clock.  Just the extras show up.  George Clooney
does not make an appearance. 

So ER Code Red isn’t going
to change gaming in the near future.  It most definitely will not start a
gaming revolution.  It might however provide a much-needed diversion to the
gamer that is sick to death of FPS titles.  Full motion video is used to
portray the ER.  For the most part the acting isn’t too bad, and the sets look
like they were lifted directly from that television show.  Full motion video
has always been a favorite of mine since the Tex Murphy series.  In case you
haven’t noticed, not many games use it anymore.

The patient movements
have poor animation.  The sound quality varies between each case.  The volume
seems to increase during game play.  The audio to the cut scene movies is low
and muddled.  I had to turn the volume up and down periodically.  The wounds
you must treat are often blurry.  Speech during treatment is confusing, and
repetitive.  Sometimes a patient will still be hysterical after treatment was
administered.  There are occasional graphic glitches especially when you are
trying to sign out a patient.  Despite all these minor deficiencies ER manages
to be an amusing change of pace.  The ease of game play keeps control simple,
and the full motion video while it can get corny at times actually helps lend
a sense of urgency.

The mouse does a good job
controlling your actions.  A PDA in the top left hand corner is used for
obtaining information, and performing any actions.  You can move from one
location in the hospital to another.  Different tool trays are available, and
questions can be directed toward the patient in order to access the
situation.  Every case can be researched to learn more about the proper
treatment.  If you are not a doctor keeping people alive can become very
challenging.  Thankfully there are several ways to play ER.  If you are well
versed in medical procedure then you can go for broke and test your ability.
For the rest of us simpletons the easy option comes to the rescue by providing
hints to the next step that will lead to success.

If you make a mistake
don’t fret.  You can save, learn from your mistakes, and go back and do it the
right way.  Anorexia, child neglect, anemia, elder abuse, suicidal depression,
hernia are among the situations covered.  I know that it all sounds kind of
bleak, but thanks to some silly dialogue that pops in every now and then, the
atmosphere doesn’t get too morbid.  If you’re looking for something different
to play where you don’t have to frag someone, or battle through yet another
dungeon, ER may be worth a look.

Install: Easy
Nothing to
report.

Gameplay: 7
Control is easy
to manipulate.  Patient treatment is all pretty much the same. 

Graphics: 7.5
Full motion video
is always fun.  Reminds me of the television show.  Some wounds appear blurry
at times.  Animations tend to be choppy.

Sound: 7
Speech is low and
muddled during movies.  It gets louder during game play.  It does sound like
you are in a hospital.

Difficulty: 7
I couldn’t play
this with out the easy level.  Not because I wouldn’t be able to figure it
out.  Because it just isn’t interesting enough to sit, and read through all
the research offered to figure everything out on your own.

Concept: 7.5
Hey it is a
change from running around and shooting at everything that moves.  If I have
to conquer another demon infested dungeon again I think I’m gonna jump out a
window.

Multiplayer: N/A

Overall: 7
I dig the video,
and the whole emergency room scene.  It reminds me of the television show,
which used to be good by the way.