Jonny needs a steady hand...

People seem to love operations. Not, you know, having them. But give someone the chance to watch an operation - with more gore than a SAW marathon - being performed and they'll usually jump at it. What else would explain the popularity of Holby City - the pitch-perfect characterisation and gripping dialogue?

A re-make of last year's DS hit

Trauma Center: Second Opinion is a re-make of last year's DS hit Under The Knife - but apart from that, this is a highly original title with no real antecedent. Unless we count the classic board game Operation, which we probably shouldn't.

Cast as young Doctor Derek Stiles, a young surgeon who has just finished his residency, Trauma Center charges you with completing operations using the Wiimote / Nunchuk control combo and a series of implements including a scalpel, ultrasound, laser, forceps and syringe. Operations range from removing pieces of glass from a wound and sterilising it, to the removal of polyps and tumors and the insertion of synthetic heart valves. Before long, you will also run into something called GUILT - a series of deadly man-made viruses that represent a potentially frightening future of "medical terrorism".

Thankfully Derek is equipped to face up to these threats (Dereks don't run, y'see), despite being a rather average doctor most of the time, as he has inherited a special power known as The Healing Touch - which for all intents and purposes is like Trauma Center's "bullet-time" - by drawing a pentacle in the air you can go into a state of deep concentration, allowing you to operate at normal speed while the world appears to slow down around you.

And you're gonna need it, for Trauma Center gets mighty hard mighty quick. No one ever said surgery was easy (we await Rocket Science: The Game eagerly), and this is reflected quite strongly after the first few warm-up operations - it is quite funny at first when you start panicking as your operations become more like organised massacres - but before long you'll need to steady your hand, figure out where you're going wrong and try to Doogie Howser your way to success. Here's a tip: try not to trace your magic pentangle across the patient's innards while holding a scalpel. Ooops.

Far more entertaining than you'd imagine

The storyline is typical melodramatic anime fare, an odd combination of scientifically correct medical procedure, sci-fi, and teen drama. The plot and characterisation of Trauma Center aren't going to worry the aforementioned Casualty spinoff by any means, but they do provide a mildly entertaining distraction from the operations themselves - a rest even, considering how stressful they can get!

Trauma Center: Second Opinion is...well, it's an odd one. It's far more entertaining than you'd imagine, it's different to anything you've played, it's a satisfying challenge and you might even learn something. Just don't mistake it as a reason to stand up next time you hear someone ask if there's a doctor in the house.

GAME's Verdict

• Highly enjoyable and gripping operations.
• Hugely original.
• New Wii-specific content.

• Storyline just a distraction from the main content.
• Gets hard quick.
• No opportunity for multiplayer operating!

Review by: Jonny Austin
Version Tested: Wii
Review Published: 15.08.07