Guest Review: Trauma Team

Nate Seites, formally of Endsights, was kind enough to review Trauma Team for me as I have been slightly underwater with my new job and other boring things not related to video games.  I hope you enjoy the review and be sure to let Nate know what you think either in the comments or by e-mailing him.

The Trauma Center series has been all about drama on the operating table. Trauma Team slices its way into the series with a more real-world approach than Trauma Center, while also adding new characters, new modes, and cooperative play.

If you’re unfamiliar with the Trauma Center series, you’re placed in the role of a doctor with special skills. In Trauma Team you’ll assume the roles of six different doctors, each specializing in a different field. Having different roles to play is a welcome addition to the series, breaking away from just having to performing surgery.

Even though Trauma Team differs from the previous games with the varied mode types, the intense level of drama remains. There’s one overlying storyline and all six characters have chapters that intertwine, allowing you to see alternate sides. Every character is interesting in their own right, but a few are more so than the others. The character CR-S01 has been sentenced to 250 years of prison for taking part in the “Cumberland Incident” – a biological terror attack that happened at Cumberland College, but he has lost his memory and can’t remember the attack. The Government realizes CR-S01 has amazing medical knowledge and gives him a chance at redemption by allowing him to perform advanced operations. Another interesting chapter follows Hank Freebird – a strong, easy-going surgeon that also fights crime behind a mask. When you complete all 7-8 episodes in the six chapters, a final chapter unlocks for each character revealing an even bigger crisis.

Introducing different play modes in Trauma Team is its biggest draw. The classic Surgery mode is featured along with a few variants, such as First Response, Orthopedics, and Endoscopy. The other two modes stray away from the under-the-knife situations and put you in an office diagnosing patients or doing forensics.

Surgery still remains fun and tense in Trauma Team, although you’ll still have to cut out what seems like an endless amount of tumors. While conducting surgery, other nurses and doctors will chime in often informing you of how your patient’s condition has worsened – adding suspense with the patient’s constantly dropping vitals. First Response has you on the scene right after an accident – treating multiple patients at once to prepare them for an ambulance – making this one of the most hectic modes to play. Orthopedics requires precision but ultimately just turns into a line tracing, guide following mode.

Diagnostics and Forensics are the most different in terms of how they play. Diagnostics has you talking and examining a patient to, yeah, diagnose them. I found this mode to be the most interesting since you’re sitting down one-on-one with the patient trying to gather clues as to what’s wrong. Forensics is another interesting mode where you investigate bodies, sweep through crime scenes, gather clues and piece them together. Unfortunately this mode ends up being a little weak since piecing together the clues requires some trial and error and turns into a guessing game.

This only leaves one more mode, Endoscopy. This is, again, interesting but held back by control issues – making it my least favorite mode. Navigating the tool through the patient’s body requires you to hold A+B and push the Wiimote towards the screen. Pushing the remote towards the screen doesn’t always register all the way, making you do the motion a lot more than you’d like. All six modes make a great combination and are worth checking out.

Trauma Team is fun alone, but it’s even better with a second player. While the game only features local co-op, you’ll end up chatting with your partner as if you were actually in an operating room. Playing solo is fun but the experience is enhanced quite a bit with a friend. When all is said and done, you’re looking at approximately an hour for each chapter, and then moving on to the final chapters. In terms of replayability you have the option to re-visit any episode and attempt to get a better score. Looking at the whole package, Trauma Team is a great deal for $40.

If you’re looking for the next best Trauma Center experience, you’ll certainly find it in Trauma Team. Six total modes and new characters, mixed in with the fun and intense drama makes for a really fun game to play for either five minutes or for hours. Even though there are a few shortcomings, the $40 price tag makes this a sweet deal.

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