Trauma Centre for Wii Is a Remake

Atlus hopes that the Wii controller adds enough of a gameplay change to justify you giving the game a... second opinion. Screens inside.

Fighting alien creatures with lasers doesn't fall into the day-to-day work of an average doctor, but then Derek Stiles, lead character in Trauma Centre: Under the Knife, is no ordinary physician. It was no surprise, then, that there was a fair bit of enthusiasm when Atlus revealed that it was working on a Wii game in the series. You may need to temper your expectations.

Trauma Centre: Second Opinion is more a remake of the original DS game than an enhanced version of the DS cult-hit, says Japanese magazine Famitsu by way of IGN, and that will disappoint fans of the quirky series who have been waiting for a new experience. But it's not just the same old stuff again, Atlus is reminding us.

In addition to playing through Derek's stuff again, you also play a rookie doctor named Kousuke Tsukimori. Faced with a terrible new disease named Guilth, Tsukimori must gather his wits and carve out a future for humanity.

Obviously the game has been extensively reworked to use the Wii controller, and Atlus has added a few more operations (including broken bones and heart transplants), but don't expect the bulk of the story to be any different. The presentation has been bumped up to better make use of power of the Wii. And the game now has voice acting and improved visuals, including refined character designs, and there are three difficult levels.

Trauma Centre: Second Opinion is set for release on the Wii later this year.

Alex Wollenschlaeger
Editor, Kikizo Games