Trauma Center: Under the Knife (Nintendo DS) > Reviews (17)

In Trauma Centre you take on the role of Dr Derek Styles, who has just qualified as a doctor, and is still trying to improve his surgery skills. You are faced with patients who have a variety of different problems which you are expected to sort out with an operation. to begin with, the operations are easy, as simple as just opening up the patient, removing a foreign body, and stitching him back up again. You use the stylus to choose the tool you want to use - choices include scalpel, suction, antibiotic gel, dressings, bandages and lasers. The stylus becomes your tool, and you use it slice, cover, massage and stitch. The game is very enjoyable for the first chapter, but when chapter two gets underway it begins to become frustrating that you cannot cure the patient! It is so difficult at this stage. Dr Styles discovers that he has a power called healing touch, and the player must use this to slow down the progression of the patients illness so that there is more time to operate safely. I still haven't managed to get past the second part of chapter two as it is so hard, but at least this means that the game will last a long time and not be completed too quickly. I would recommend it for adults, teenagers, and for children over the age of about 10. Younger children would probably not manage the tricky operations. It would really suit a DS gamer who tends to complete games quickly and wants something which will keep you busy for ages!