As your experience gradually grows, you'll increasingly be drawn into tighter and tighter situations. Eventually, a strange and seemingly incurable virus comes to your hospital's attention. It's called GUILT, and has been developed as a biological weapon, designed to destroy the human race. Oh yes, even in a game about surgery there are baddies… sorry, 'medical terrorists'.
Clearly the developers are well up-to-date on modern, fear-inducing terminologies. However, a research facility that specialise in combating incurable diseases, called Caduceus, has also been alerted to this dangerous phenomenon, but is having problems dealing with its aggressive and intelligent nature. But it turns out your Healing Touch ability has not gone unnoticed in medical circles. Better pack your stethoscope and go save the day.
SPOnG considered not mentioning the GUILT aspect of the story - for non-spoiler purposes - but in reality the vast majority of the game is dominated by it. Having said that, you'll need skill and patience to even reach the more exciting GUILT part of the game, because TCUK is hard. Operations generally have to be completed in an allotted time, unique to each "level".
You must also ensure the patient's vitals don't ever drop too low, as this will also incur a failure (a dead patient can hardly be deemed a success). So the game becomes one of quick thought, and memory management, and it can take a while to adjust to the juggling act - you effectively play the role of surgeon and anaesthetist. The more on your plate the better, we say, as finally cracking a procedure is hugely gratifying.
The fear among the more cynical gamers was that the DS' stylus technology would encourage quick, gimmicky software releases: "Virtua Pen Pal", "Beard-Stroker Simulator", "Ultimate Stamp Collector" etc. Thankfully, TCUK doesn't fit this category. In fact, it's one of the finest uses of the DS stylus you could imagine. Like any DS game that relies solely on the stylus, the user input naturally suits gamers and non-gamers alike. What's there not to understand with pointing a stick? However, having clearly defined boundaries, and an immediate sense of what's within your domain of control is a major factor in making a touch-screen game a success.
Games can potentially flounder with dull, messy GUIs - leaving the user frustrated and unsure of what you influence. Again, TCUK doesn't disappoint, with vibrant icons, and squeamishly pulpy human innards at your disposal. The one gripe is on certain levels where your patient needs attention over a wide area of their chest. For all surgery you need to be in close to ensure precise control, but because the area is so large you'll need to zoom in and out. But in the instances when this feature is available, there is an invisible dead-zone border around the screen - forcing you to zoom out, then re-centre. It's only a thin border, and as it's the only example of where the controls frustrate, it can easily be forgiven.
SPOnG rating: B+
Trauma Center: Under the Knife is a gem of a DS game. It's one that fully justifies Nintendo's (now almost obvious) decision to implement touch-screen control. With no multi-player or WiFi functionality, there could be concerns over longevity. However, the difficulty level and rating system applied to operations means the one-player experience should provide plenty of game-time for your money.
