As both an aspiring doctor and a gamer, it is certainly no surprise that I am a huge fan of the Atlus game series that is Trauma Center. I have always felt, however, that these games were a tad bit unrealistic. I mean, you just don’t see highly motile “Stigma-like” infections in real life. Well, looks like Atlus has been reading my mind, because their upcoming game, Trauma Team, promises for a more down to Earth doctoring experience.

The game features six doctors from six different medical specialties: CR-S01 (general surgery), Maria Torres (paramedic), Hank Freebird (orthopedic surgeon), Tomoe Tachibana (endoscopic surgeon), Gabriel Cunningham (diagnostician), Naomi Kimishima (medical forensics).

Not only are the cases for each specialty markedly different but the way the game is played for each specialty is also different. For example, CR-S01’s sections of the game will play more like the traditional Trauma Center games, where you choose your tools with the nunchuck and use the WiiMote to perform the procedure. Compare this to Maria’s game play, which focuses on the bigger picture of emergency medicine. Her main game play will be based on setting broken bones, bandaging wounds, and stabilizing several patients. Hank and Tomoe’s sections focus on precision. The tools are automatically chosen for you, and these sections really give a feeling of how precise and careful endoscopy and orthopedics are. The sections of Gabriel and Naomi break the mechanics of the previous games and put more of a focus on dialogue and puzzles, which compliment diagnostics and forensics very well. In these sections, you’ll be diagnosing patients and solving crimes using your brain instead of your manual skills.

General Surgery

Emergency Medicine

Orthopedic Surgery

Diagnostic Medicine

Forensic Medicine


Endoscopy

Atlus has abandoned the old system of dialogue cut scenes and has switched to a more dynamic “manga-style” way of telling the story. While each of the characters has their own linear storyline, there are points in the game where stories crossover and become interconnected.

All in all, I am very, very excited about this game. With more realistic cases and a chance to step in the shoes of six separate doctors, this game could very well be the best in the series thus far. Trauma Team becomes is now available for pre-order and ships out on May 18th. For more information, visit the official website.

Source: Nintendo Power, Issue 253, p. 32