Trauma Center: New Blood

"Another Trauma Center game... did it hold up to expectations?"

In a sense, yes. Yes, Trauma Center: New Blood holds up to what fans have been wanting since the original DS release of Under the Knife and the Wii release of Second Opinion.


Gameplay
If you played the previous Trauma Center games, save yourself some time and just skip this section.

Basically, if you haven't already guessed, Trauma Center: New Blood, as much as its predecessors, involves you taking the role of a doctor and basically performing operations on patients, or in some cases a series of patients. With a set of tools, you have to cure, save, heal, etc. the patient while keeping their vitals in check.


Controls
For those who have played Second Opinion, you can pretty much skip this section too. For those who've only played Under the Knife, such as myself, it plays how you would pretty much expect it to play. For those who are planning to jump into New Blood without previous experience and for those who just don't know. This is basically how it controls.

Using the nunchuck attachment, you hold it how you'd expect, Wii-mote in one hand, the nunchuck in another. The nunchuck allows you to select which of your basic operating tools to use. Basically, holding the analog in one of the 8 directions select one of the tools. So if you want to use your scalpel, you'd hold it in one direction, if you want to use the syringe for injections, you hold it in another, and so forth. Of course, the Wii-mote is what you use to aim and well actually use the tools..

When it comes to functionality, it is pretty simple, usually with a push of the A or B button, although there are few instances where you have to push both at the same time, such as using forceps.

Now for those of you who have shaky hands, you might have some difficulty with this game for a bit. Shaky hands might mean you would have to spend more time on the more delicate procedures. However, that can easily be taken care of with enough practices and/or finding ways to keep you hands steady.


Story
Again, for those who have played Trauma Center before you can skip this section. Actually, you know what? If you played Trauma Center before, skip this review, go out to your nearby store or wherever you buy games from, and buy the game. I ensure you that if you enjoyed the previous Trauma Center games, you will enjoy this one too.

Now, if you're the type of gamer who enjoys a game with plot, you will pretty much be disappointed. There is a story, but it will take some time for it to basically happen, and, well,it really only serves the purpose of getting you to operation to operation. You're not going to get Dickens or Hemingway. Heck, you're not going to get Stephen King or R.L. Stine. However, I will say that the flow story is a bit better than what you'd find in Under the Knife and, subsequently, Second Opinion. Although, the dramatic moments in those games are nothing compared to this.

In short, story only serves as a method to get you from one operation to another. Amongst the Trauma Center games, this probably has the better overall story while the previous ones have the better climatic moments.


Difficulty
Normally, this would be with gameplay; however, these types of games are a bit special in this category. I'll admit this game isn't as hard as games such as the Contra series or another other difficult games. You will find a challenge in this, however. There will be some operations where you'd just feel like throwing the Wii-mote out of frustration. There will also be some operations which you can probably do in your sleep with enough practice. The general consensus is that this game is touch more difficult over the others. Now, that isn't to say that the game is impossible; it just means you'll have to be more alert and practice a bit more before you succeed. Lucky for you though, there are difficulty settings of Easy, Normal, and Hard that might give you the edge you need to pass an operation.


Replay Value
At the end of each operation, you would get a rank which ranges from C to XS. For the perfectionists here, that should be a sign of replay value right there as you would try to XS every operation. For those that are really into it, you could get the best rankings possible on all difficulties and both options of single player and co-op. And yes, you read that correctly co-op.


Extras.. things you won't find in the others.
Basically, here are the things you won't find in other Trauma Center games, as of now at least.
- Co-op mode
- Option to pick between two different doctors
- Online Leaderboards

Now the Co-op mode basically allows you to have a friend, relative, someone else pick up another Wii-mote and nunchuck and play with you on the same operations. In many cases, this makes it a lot easier as you have two people to focus on different things and two sets of tools to make progress a lot faster. Each player plays as one of the two doctors. I will say this now... this IS NOT ONLINE. So no, you can't get a friend code and have someone else play with you. Think about the lag you'll face. Think about the possible disconnections. So yeah, you'll be needing someone right there with you to play co-op.

Speaking of the two doctors, you have an option of playing as either one during an operation. Now, sadly both of them are pretty much the same. Picking one or the other really has no effect on anything. However, the one key area, and arguably only, where they are different lies in their special ability, their "Healing Touch". Now, if you played Trauma Center before and are disobeying me by continuing to read this, you pretty much would have an idea on what this is. For the new players, it's an ability that will greatly help you during an operation, but I save you the details.

The Online boards add a nice competitive touch to the game. Think you'll be the top doc in New Blood? Well, the leaderboards will have something to say to you. Basically, as you can probably guess it's just a ranking ladder of top scores in different operations and in different modes of single player or co-op.


Overall, this is a game that Trauma Center veterans should pick up. Pretty much any worries that a veteran would have are pretty much gone with this game. Although, they will probably be disappointed that they will have to deal with a new set of characters. Anyway, I suggest that you pick up this game and give it a twirl. You won't be disappointed in the experience it would give you.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 12/03/07

Game Release: Trauma Center: New Blood (US, 11/20/07)