OK, I said a while back that I would give a review of Trauma Center: Second Opinion. Well, I have been busy and finally had a chance to play through my rented version's story mode.
I haven't played the DS version, Under teh Knife, so if I seem ignorant of it that is why.
The gameplay is nice and teh controls work well. It starts out kind of slow and you spend more time with the very, very, very boring soap opera storyline. The story would be easier to watch iof it were videos and not just 2D images that popped up with words at the bottom. It reminded me of SNES style story interludes.
So, you use the nunchuck to select your tool and you use the remote to direct your instrument. It is very simple, unless you are my wife who "can't do two things at once" and refuses to see how a traditional controller requires two things at once.
Anyway, as it builds up you start t9o feel like youare getting bored, until you have to work in the ER because "there are no ER doctors on call."
Then you have to use the defibrillator and the puzzle part of teh game truly begins to show as you have to use precise timing to save the life of the patient.
After completing the fisrt chapter (10 episodes, not all involving gameplay) you jump to your first Z mission with a female doctor. I call her the anal probe doctor because she starts surgeries by saying she is ready to start the procedure and then thrusts two fingers straight up in the air. All I could think was that she should buy me a bottle of wine first. Thgsi si when the puzzle game becomes obvious as you actually have to work a puzzle and rebuild a bone from fragments. This truly shows the Wii controlls as you actually have to turn the pieces by turning the remote.
Anyway, the story goes on, and you discover that you have to stop diseases created by medical terrorism that involves parasites, so surgery is required in every case. You have the "Healing Touch" that you can implement onvce a surgery to slow time down and help you out. Occasional levels require the use of it and only at a certain time.
Basically it is a puzzle game disguised behind a surgery game. It requires no medical knowledge at all and just quit, steady hands. The controls and gameplay is smooth. After a while it feels less like surgery and more like a shooter as you chase parasites around with lasers. The weakest point is the story. Once I discovered that hitting (-) would fast forward the story I quit paying attention.
Overall the game is solid, but slow in parts. If you enjoy puzzle games then it is definitely for you. I for one am the type that disliked Resident EVil because I just wanted to kill zombies, not solve puzzles and find hidden gems. So, if you want a game that is just a game without thought avoid it.
Overall I will give it a 6.5/10. A better story and way to tell it (videos, anyone?) and it would be a solid 7-7.5.
Next I will review Tiger Woods '07, which I have not made a secret that I am really looking forward to. I love golfing and I orked 14 hours when it was a nice, sunny 75 degree day here.
In other news: With Nentendo announcing Neo-Geo and MSX games coming to the VC rumors have been flying around online about Sega Sturn games on the VC. While I never owned one I know it had a lot of nice games and seemsed like a early version of what the Playstion was. I am looking forward to this.
For details
http://www.joystiq.com/2007/03/16/rumor-sega-saturn-games-to-appear-on-wii-virtual-console/
And a couple of questions:
1) I submitted this to the Everybody Votes Channel - Would you like to see a media channel that would play audio and video failes, such as MP3 and mpeg files? I can see this being run through the Internet Channel to give it versatility.
2) Did anyone expect to see the Everybody Votes Channel be more along my above question than thinsg like favorite color and whether you prefer cats and dogs?
3) I will add this if my other question, or something liek it appears on Votes - woudl you liek to see VC updates so that you can play them online? Or would you like to see any online games?
