Trauma Center: Under the Knife (ds: 2005): Reviews

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Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed games.

Trauma Center: Under the Knife


8.7

based on 45 reviews
Read critic reviews
How did we calculate this?

based on 31 votes
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Cheat Code Central

Take your Nintendo DS into the Operating Room! Trauma Center: Under the Knife lets YOU play doctor, performing increasingly complex surgeries. At first it's just another day in the O.R., but when a mysterious outbreak sweeps the area, the patients' lives are in your hands--no pressure. The stylus will be your scalpel as you make incisions, anesthetize problem areas, remove tumors, monitor vital signs, apply bandages, and more! Of course, you'll also have to deal with human drama between appointments. Keep a cool head, or you'll be out on the street (and all those years of medical school for nothing). [Atlus USA]

PUBLISHER:	Atlus USA
DEVELOPER:	Atlus USA
GENRE(S):	Action, Medical Simulation
PLAYERS:	1
ESRB RATING:	T (Teen)
RELEASE DATE:	October 4, 2005

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

100

Times Online

Here is a game that is both more exciting and more educational than Casualty, ER and Scrubs put together.

BonusStage

The gameplay is fast, intense, challenging and addictive, and the amount of variety the game consistently manages to come up with is staggering.

GameShark

It is fun while you are playing the game, even though the game can be extremely unforgiving with your moves, as it should be if you were actually operating on someone.

Nintendo Power

If WarioWare was Touching 101, Trauma Center is Applied Touching 501. [Dec 2005, p.114]

GamePro

Even if needles make you squeamish or you feel faint at the sight of blood, Trauma Center is a cure for what has been a spell of mediocrity on the DS. [Nov 2005, p.131]

GameSpy

You'll likely never see a better utilization of the DS' touch-screen, nor will you play a pseudo-sim this engaging.

Deeko

A game that is truly incredible and oftentimes deep, offering gamers the opportunity to perform surgical procedures (fictionally) in the comfort of their own home without all the mess of a real operating room!

Nintendojo

One of the best third party offerings on the DS so far and comes highly recommended for DS owners, especially if you don’t have a load of friends to play multiplayer against.

Thunderbolt

What makes this game stand out above the others is that it is a perfect example of how to implement the stylus and touchscreen in to a game.

Gaming Target

I implore you, don’t skip out on this one because it’s ‘too hard’ or ‘too weird’. The sheer anxiety of carrying out the surgeries with accuracy and haste is a thrilling affair, one that needs to be experienced by all gamers.

Play Magazine

I never thought a game could get so intense using a stylus. [Oct 2005]

Siliconera

A unique experience that only the DS can handle. If you own a DS pick this game up, it’s well worth a play.

GameBrink

I also stress that people looking to buy this title do so as soon as possible because it will soon be almost impossible to find since Atlus has stopped its production of this great title.

VGPub

While its short story and tough difficulty may turn off most casual gamers, DS owners looking for a good challenge can do no wrong with picking this one up.

Pelit (Finland)

Fresh and interesting. More levels, more game modes and a deeper story would have brought the game further. [June 2006]

Gaming Age

The game sucked me in and made me feel like these patients’ lives really depended on me.

Game Informer

It's the fast-paced, procedure driven puzzling gameplay really sets Trauma Center apart. [Oct 2005, p.154]

Nintendophiles

While it can get repetitive at times, Trauma Center is an incredibly fun and unique game experience that offers some of the fastest paced stylus action out there.

N-Insanity

Uses the Nintendo DS’s touch screen beautifully, and also has an awesome concept in its hands.

AceGamez

Succeeds in creating an engaging story full of equally engaging characters that will push you to complete the game just to see where it goes and what kind of sadistic surgery you'll have to perform next.

eToychest

Players who don’t enjoy the unforgiving gameplay might find Trauma Center off putting, but most gamers will relish in the intense experience.

games(TM)

A drama-heavy storyline adds to the already deeply tense, ER-style atmosphere, making this a must-have DS title. [Christmas 2005, p.117]

N-Europe

An incredibly enjoyable game that feels like a mix of an adventure puzzler. The idea may not be totally new but the way it is implemented with the touch screen makes it feel like a fresh experience that you won’t be able to feel on another system.

Computer Games Magazine

Trauma Center is an experience you can't really get anywhere else. [Dec p.89]

GameCritics

There's nothing else on shelves quite like it, and it's a perfect example of the sort of out-of-the-box thinking that will transform Nintendo's fliptop from an ungraded GameBoy into a true next-generation handheld machine, conceptually as well as physically.

Modojo

A well polished and kick ass surgery game that makes excellent use of the Nintendo DS' touch screen. But what I wasn't prepared for was its engaging story, and that added bonus puts this game over the top.

G4 TV

While Doogie Howser may have a better chance of returning to television than you have in learning any real medical knowledge from Trauma Center, the frenzied pace and slick controls easily make this one of the most “infectious” DS games yet released.

IGN

Atlus has pulled off a very original and clever design on the Nintendo DS platform, and even with the repetitive gameplay and occasional stumble in the design the game still manages to be one of the shining lights in the system's library.

NintendoWorldReport

A wonderfully unique game that does an excellent job of sucking the player in through both the tense operations and intricate story segments.

Cheat Code Central

Challenging and fun but it's short on replay value. It's a great prescription for temporary relief of the blues, but if they persist you might be in need of a solid, next-gen game fix.

Games Radar

It's not that the story is bad; it's just that the surgeries are so addictive that you’ll be anxious to scrub back in to the O.R. and pick up your scalpel/stylus.

RewiredMind

The epitome of a sound investment. Exciting gameplay, some very innovative uses for the stylus and graphically passable, this is one title that really hits the spot.

Total Video Games

Yet another strong and original title for Nintendo DS, Trauma Center provides an addictive and tense experience for players, though it's worth remembering that just because you managed to perform surgery on a multi-lacerated thoracic cavity (it's in there), don't expect to called into a real OR anytime soon.

GameZone

If you don't mind the repetitiveness of using the stylus during the gameplay then you should love this game.

GameSpot

Trauma Center succeeds because it strikes such a good balance between its medical theme and its puzzler roots.

NGC Magazine UK

Original, clever, cute, frustrating, too bloody hard and slavishly linear. Love and hate wrapped up in one antiseptic pack. [Apr 2006, p.32]

1UP

An unusual, creative, and very polished game that anyone with a Nintendo DS should seriously consider purchasing. The gameplay is addictive, even if it's restrictive.

Jolt Online Gaming UK

How much you get out of Trauma Center really depends upon your tolerance for difficult, sometimes unfairly so, puzzle/reaction games.

Electronic Gaming Monthly

I respect the innovation found here, but I wish the game were a little more forgiving. [Nov 2005, p.160]

Electric Playground

A fun and original game, but I wish they cut back on the difficulty level.

NTSC-uk

Its extensive campaign is likely to be played and thoroughly enjoyed at least once, but any replayability has been sabotaged by its own shortcomings: the bugs, the enforced narrative and the lack of rewards.

EuroGamer

It's a good idea, well measured and put together. Its problems are spiking difficulty and mechanical obstinacy.

My Gamer

This game will manage to frustrate players within a relatively short amount of time. Repetition and some really difficult operations will be more than enough to push any gamer away.

PALGN

Trauma Centre is much like any other medical procedure - it feels fine until the anaesthetic wears off.

netjak

If you find yourself in a charitable frame of mind, and can overlook the ridiculous story, one-dimensional characters, and hackneyed story elements, Trauma Center is a great twitch-action game.

The average user rating for this game is 8.7 (out of 10) based on 31 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Nico N. gave it an8:
I really enjoy this game. I love how they made the timer and the heart rate to make it challenging. I'm in a program for "smart kids"so I normally bead games easily,but this is a true challenge.The only thing is they talk WAAAY to long.

William V. gave it a10:
The game gives you great variety, challenge, and value. The gameplay easily makes you nervous as you start to run out of time. While the diseases seem more like they were puzzles that were converted into some parasite, they're still fun to operate on and provide a lot of challenge. It also has a lot of replay value, which many DS games lack. Definitley one of the best titles on the DS, and my second favorite.

Richard P. gave it an8:
Innovative and one of the best experiences on any console. Although it's on the DS, some of the stressful progressing operations can really make you sweat as the heartbeat begins to drop and time is against you. As you progress through the game you feel like a pr0 surgeon learning more and more quick and clever ways to save patients. The storyline takes one or two unexpected twists (I had no idea there were a surgery sim would have super natural elements wtf mate, it's fab). But the massive glaring problem with this game is the need for repetition and spiking difficultly. If you fair an operation you have to repeat it from the beginning (some can last about 15 / 20 mins which is a real kick). As operations progress sometimes the patient suffers a heart attack or similar and you have to suddenly work mega hard. It's tense and involving but it is these kind of bits which cause you to fail and sometimes fail again and again. Practice pays off but some bits are a little too difficult. Because the game is just an on going storyline if you get stuck the appeal fades fast. But despite this, if you can overcome the one or two mega tough bits this is one of the best games around for it's innovation and involvement. And just when you think the game is just one operation after another it throws a non human op into the mix - pleasingly inventive.

Sheree C. gave it a9:
Fantastic game. Graphics are great, the use of the stylus is brilliant and the feeling of pressure because you are against the clock is nerve wracking. Only criticism, the cut scenes can be a bit long winded.

Dave W. gave it a6:
An overall great surgery sim weakened by frustratingly tedious dialog interruptions, controls that demand slightly more precision than the touch screen can offer, and a bizarre science fiction skew to the story. If you're easily frustrated or prone to wrist strain, stay away from this game.

Matt S. gave it an8:
Great game, but at times too hard. I beat it (stuck on this mission called X1) and some of the "diseases" you have to fight are basically puzzles. For example, a worm in the persons body that you must keep cutting in half, therefore reducing their vitals, until it is small enough to extrack. these missions are hard, but not unbeatable.

Kevin R. gave it an8:
Innovative and fun, but some of the challenges are too similar to previous ones, and it is far too short (like almost every other DS game, unfortunately...) Also, some of the missions in the game are nothing short of infuriating, so make sure you bring your patience, 'cause you WILL need it.