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> Results: Trauma Center: Second Opinion
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Paging Dr. YOU! TRAUMA CENTER: SECOND OPINION casts the player as a hotshot young surgeon out to save lives while standing in front of a TV screen. Not really, there's actually a fairly deep but eye-rollingly corny Japanese Anime storyline featuring all the soap opera drama of General Hospital crossed with House. But this is a Wii game, so you do stand in front of the TV.
Trauma Center first came out on the DS system and the stylus made for a crude but satisfying surgical tool, the Wii remote works even better. The Nunchuk thumbstick is used to choose instruments, while the remote acts as a scalpel, syringe, and even lets you stitch the wound closed. Both controllers act as paddles, should a defibrillator be necessary. The Wii remote has a trigger and a top button, you have to press both in Trauma Center to remove glass, for example, or an excised tumor. It's all very clever and satisfying, it gives a "futuristic doctor" feeling that's a thrill and unique in gaming. One wonders if, one day, real surgery will be performed remotely like this. It's a surgical game, so it's bloody and features the gooey inside parts, ugly things like tumors, and broken bones. Plus that heart monitor is really nerve-wracking! And that's why it's rated T-Teen, but parents should realize that the game is tasteful, respectful to the human body, and one of the main recurring themes in the plotline is one of the nurses scolding our hero for being too callous or not paying attention. With supervision, I can see brighter, braver kids as young as 10 enjoying this one. Tweens and teens will learn a lot about anatomy and basic surgical procedure. Memorization of steps is the key to keeping your patients alive on the table during grueling long surgeries later in the game. But there's enough fantasy and even science fiction at hand here to make the game, ultimately, feel like E.R. crossed with Operation, from Milton Bradley. A TV license or more realistic setting would probably please Western audiences but the still pictures and anime characters are well done, and most conversations can be skipped easily enough. Just don't skip the instructions Doctor! The patient is counting on you.  
The game is challenging and demanding. It requires kids to develop skills in memorization, concentration, hand/eye co-ordination, and accuracy. The game fosters a belief in doing good for others, rather than for your own glory and the nurses constantly emphasize the importance of concentration and empathy. The violence is all due to mistakes you might make with the tools, and the intensity can be disturbing for younger kids. It's not a true doctor simulation, but it's realistic enough to inspire budding doctors and entertain the curious as well. The body is beautiful, and so is this game.
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