When compared to the original Under the Knife, Trauma Center: Under the Knife 2 has quite a few improvements over it's prequel, largely due to improvements made in Trauma Center: Second Opinion. I played UTK2 once before actually owning the game myself, and was thoroughly impressed with the graphics, the music, the plot, the surgical system, and the wide variety of characters.
The graphics are a great improvement over the first game, both in the characters and in surgery. Derek, in his pre-operation "pose", if you will, doesn't look like he's about to rape you or something, like he did in UTK, and most of the graphics in-surgery are much improved over UTK, for example, being able to actually TELL which way to close a gaping laceration.
The music and plot were also great. I loved the remix of the GUILT theme, and all of the other BGMs were great. The plot was good, but I do think ATLUS could have had a better ending if they had switched the last two patients around.
The surgical system was a lot more straightforward and user-friendly than in UTK. Suturing was probably the biggest improvement. In UTK, if you wanted to suture a wound, in order to get a Cool -or even to get a rank in the first place!- you had to suture tightly from one end of the laceration ALL the way down to the other end. Thankfully, in UTK2, they re-balanced the gameplay to make suturing easier, which is a big relief, considering that in a good number of the operations, you're fighting against blood loss and need the ability to suture quickly. The magnification tool was also re-designed, so that it's primary function is like more of a "navigation tool" than a magnifier. Also, the syringe feature was made easier; before, you had to push down really hard on the screen to get the syringe to fill up, now it's much easier to drag the fluid into the needle. Overall, I prefer the gameplay in UTK2 to UTK.
The characters are one of the best parts of the game. I love almost all of the main protagonists, and I even like some of the antagonists. Although, there are some characters that just absolutely make my skin crawl -for example, Reina Mayuzumi-, and other characters that make you roll on the floor lauging -Tyler, Cybil, Victor, Leslie, and Greg. The colorful cast of returning characters is augmented by the great cast of new characters -Adel Tulba, Reina Mayuzumi, Heather Ross, Emilio Juarez- who sometimes make you laugh so hard you think you'll bust a gut (and then you really WILL need surgery), and other times make you want to sob.
Opinion: 9/10. Great game. To anyone mildly interested, I highly recommend it. |