Trauma Center: Under the Knife 2

Atlus’s Trauma Center: Under the Knife took advantage of the Nintendo DS’s touch-screen format in a great way. By creating an experience that casual gamers can easily get into while keeping it challenging for hardcore gamers, Trauma Center has been a critically and commercially franchise for a couple of years. Now, after a couple of Wii outings, Trauma Center is returning to the DS in Trauma Center: Under the Knife 2. The sequel brings back the great gameplay that made the original a fan favorite, while adding some improved story elements and some nice new mechanics, making for an experience that fans will want to jump back into.

In a welcome departure from previous entries, Under the Knife 2 is more of a story-driven experience, sending the team of doctors to Africa to work in a tumultuous nation torn apart by warfare. There’s a lot more drama and intense situations in this entry, making the cut scenes as compelling to watch as the game itself is to play through.

For those who haven’t been initiated into the Trauma Center universe, the game has you performing emergency surgeries on a variety of different patients with different ailments. Working within a time limit, you must quickly and efficiently put your stylus skills to work as you remove tumors, disinfect wounds, suture cuts, and so on.

As you go, your operations become more complex and difficult, requiring a decent amount of dexterity with the stylus. Fortunately, the controls feel very intuitive and never feel tacked on, meaning that any gamer from any skill level should be able to grasp the game’s concept and have fun playing it.

The operations are a bit more difficult this time around, as they feel more complex as you go. Still, the game is not that difficult to grasp, and as the first couple of missions serve as a refresher course to bring you back up to speed, the experience is easy to get into even if you haven’t played through the original game. If you are still having trouble with the ramped difficulty, there is an easy mode that you can play through to help you get more acclimated to the gameplay.

Graphically, the game is an improvement over the original Trauma Center: Under the Knife. The game benefits from improved lighting effects and more detailed textures, and fans of the original will be able to notice the improved overall quality.

The sound is also an improvement, with great music and some limited voice work. While the voice and sound work is a bit sparse, it still sounds great for a DS title.

Under the Knife 2 offers some incremental improvements over the original game, offering an engaging storyline and fun gameplay. While the difficulty has been ramped up a bit, the entire experience never feels out of place on the DS, showcasing some of the best use of the system’s control scheme yet. Even though it doesn’t feel terribly far removed from the original, this is still a title that fans and newcomers alike will want to get into.

Gameplay: 8.5
While not terribly far removed from the original Under the Knife, this entry showcases some more complex surgeries while still being as user-friendly as DS games come.

Graphics: 8.0
Under the Knife 2 is a nice graphical improvement over its predecessor, with improved textures and lighting effects.

Sound: 8.0
While the sound effects and voice work is limited, the music is great and represents some of the best work in the series.

Difficulty: Hard

Concept: 9.0
One of the best new elements in Under the Knife 2 is the story, which ranks as one of the deepest and most engaging in the Trauma Center franchise.

Overall: 8.5
Under the Knife 2 is a great entry to the series, ramping up the challenge level while keeping the whole experience easy to get into for newcomers. If you’re a fan of the Trauma Center series or simply looking for a good starting point, Under the Knife 2 is definitely worth your time.