Trauma Team

Overview

Trauma Team, a Wii title in Atlus's Trauma Center series, takes the surgical gameplay and story presentation of previous entries and expands on the options by presenting a total of six types of medical-based gameplay. New disciplines featured in the game include diagnostician, E.M.T, orthopedic surgeon, endoscope technician and medical examiner in addition to the general surgeon gameplay of previous installments. The game was released on May 18th, 2010 in North America.

Story and Setting

Trauma Team takes place at Resurgam First Care, a hospital located in Cumberland, Maryland. Each of the six playable characters has their own story that intertwines with the events of the others. The player may choose to play through the stories in any order and is not required to play one character's story to completion before starting another.

Tying the stories together is the discovery of a strange new illness that's infecting the population. The first and most benign symptom discovered among the infected is unusual patterns of black bruising. In later stages, the disease causes more serious symptoms such as vomiting blood and neurological issues including hallucinations and increased aggression. Patients in the terminal stages of the disease become a danger to others as they commit violent acts before they finally succumb to the illness and die.

Surgical Specialties

The majority of the missions in the game are based on four aspects of medical treatment; surgery, first response medicine, orthopedic surgery, and endoscopy. Each of these missions requires the player to use a selection of tools specific to each treatment type. These specialties also have multiple difficulty levels, Intern, Resident, and the unlockable Specialist difficulty, which can be freely changed between missions. Completed missions are scored and overall performance that is ranked on a scale from C to S.

The Healing Touch game mechanic present in past Trauma Center games is not featured in Trauma Team. However, certain elements of the story and characters remain as dramatic and colorful as ever.

Surgery

Player Character: Prisoner CR-SO1

Prisoner CR-SO1, a convict serving a 250 year prison sentence, is a talented surgeon that has lost his memory. Going only by his prisoner ID, he is offered the chance to take years off of his sentence by performing successful surgeries at Resurgam First Care.

The surgery portion of the game is almost identical to its appearance in Trauma Center: Second Opinion and Trauma Center: New Blood. CR-SO1 must use a variety of surgical instruments at his disposal to treat patients by removing tumors and stitching up lacerations. The player must also keep an eye on the patient's vitality and periodically inject him/her with a stimulant to keep their vitals from failing before the operation is complete.

Tools used during surgery include a syringe, scalpel, antibiotic gel, laser, sutures, a drain, forceps, and ultrasound. Some operations also require the use of a defibrillator in order to to keep the patient's heart from failing at key points. Surgeries can also be performed in co-op multiplayer, with each player able to access half of the surgery tool set.

First Response

Player Character: Maria Torres

Maria Torres is an EMT that travels to the scene of medical emergencies via ambulance or helicopter. She has a fiercely independent personality that can make it difficult for her to work with others.

The First Response missions require the player to treat multiple patients at once while in transit to the hospital. Most missions allow for a certain level of failure, as they can be completed even if some patients die before the mission ends. However, the mission will be considered a failure if too many patients die.

The primary tools in the First Response stages include the syringe, forceps, antibiotic gel, and medical tape. The player may also be required to perform chest compressions, which requires swinging the Wii Remote in time with an on-screen prompt.

The First Response missions can be played in two-player co-op, with the patients divided between each player.

Orthopedics

Player Character: Hank Freebird

Hank Freebird is a former army surgeon who received an honorable discharge and transitioned to civilian life as an orthopedic surgeon.

In the Orthopedic missions, the player must fix problems in the patients' skeletal structures step-by-step. The missions end in failure if too many mistakes are made during the procedures. The tools used in the Orthopedic missions include the scalpel, drill, screwdriver, and hammer.

Common orthopedic procedures performed in the game include setting bones by drilling holes in them and screwing in metal plates to hold them together. Pins and artificial joints are set in place with a hammer that is used by swinging the Wii Remote. A laser is used to carve artificial bone fragments, and a saw is used to smooth areas where artificial bones are to be set.

Co-operative play during Orthopedics requires that the players alternate turns during the procedures. Players switch off with each completed step in the operation or if a mistake is made.

Endoscopy

Player Character: Tomoe Tachibana

Descended from a long line of ninja, Tomoe Tachibana is a wealthy Japanese lady that desires to live her own life. In that regard, she chose to pursue a career in the field of medicine.

The Endoscopy missions require the player to control an endoscope, moving it through the patient's body and treat affected areas where found. An on-screen radar allows the player to monitor the presence of affected areas in relation to the endoscope's current position. The player must remain aware of the patient's vital signs and ensure that they do not bottom out. The tools used to treat the patient once a problem is detected using the endoscope include the syringe, snare, hemostatic and standard forceps, a drain, a spray that uncovers camouflaged ulcers, and a scalpel. The Wii Remote pointer serves as the endoscope's light.

The endoscope must be piloted gently; colliding with the walls of the patient's internal organs will cause his or her vitals to drop. The direction that the endoscope is facing is controlled using the analogue stick on the Nunchuk. Moving the endoscope forward and back is done by holding the A and B buttons on the Wii Remote and pushing the Wii Remote toward or pulling it away from the screen. The speed of the pushing/pulling motion affects the speed of the endoscope.

The Endoscopy missions can be played cooperatively. Players take turns controlling the endoscope based on the amount of time elapsed during the mission. The player not currently in control of the endoscope controls the light source to help guide the endoscope's path.

Diagnosis and Forensics

The Diagnosis and Forensics portions of Trauma Team play out in a different fashion from the rest of the game. The structure behind these missions more closely resembles that of a point-and-click adventure game than a surgical simulation. These missions do not require the player to perform active surgery on the patients, and due to their extended length, the player may save the game manually during a mission and return where they left off. Diagnosis and Forensics cannot be played in co-op, and letter grade ranks are not earned for their completion.

Diagnosis

Player Character: Gabriel Cunningham

Gabriel Cunningham is a highly talented diagnostician that finds it difficult to actually care for the people he's treating. He has a sharp mind, but a problem-filled personal life.

The primary goal of the Diagnostic missions is to determine the patient's ailment by collecting information on the symptoms using a variety of methods in three different locations. In the exam room, the player can question the patient, use a stethoscope to listen to the patients body, and perform direct visual observation of the patient. The player can also check the patient's diagnostic chart for abnormalities. The Image Analysis Lab contains equipment for comparing images of the patient with those of a healthy person. In Gabriel's office, there is a device called RONI, where the player can present a diagnosis once the proper symptoms have been determined.

Forensics

Player Character: Naomi Kimishima

Naomi Kimishima was originally introduced in Trauma Center: Second Opinion, in which she spent the majority of the game under the alias Nozomi Weaver. She once made a mistake that ended her career as a surgeon, and has since become sick with a terminal illness. Naomi has also gained a power that allows her to hear the final words of the deceased through her cell phone. She uses this power as a forensic medical examiner.

The gameplay in the Forensics missions is divided into three locations; Naomi's office, the evidence room, and the crime scene. The evidence room contains the deceased subject of the investigation and the personal effects found with the body. Both the body and effects can be examined for clues regarding how the subject met their end.

Naomi's office contains a PC which she can use to sort and examine evidence she has collected. She can also combine related evidence to uncover new clues, and send items to "Little Guy," an FBI agent, for further analysis. A recorder in the office allows the player to listen to witness testimony and examine it for anything that could point to how the subject died.

At crime scenes, Naomi can examine the locations for clues using four tools. A magnifying glass, an Advanced Light Source (ALS) that highlights items the naked eye can't see, and two items used in conjunction with the ALS. Luminol spray, which highlights spots where blood has been cleaned, and aluminum powder, which is used to detect fingerprints.

Periodically, the investigation calls for the player to answer short multiple choice questions. If the player selects the wrong answer too many times, the mission ends in failure.

Once the clues have all been pieced together as solid evidence, the mission ends with Naomi recounting how the death occurred. The player must present each piece of evidence in the correct order. Presenting the wrong piece of evidence at the wrong time counts against Naomi's mistake limit. If too many mistakes are made, the mission ends in failure.

Trivia

• The setting of Trauma Team, Cumberland, Maryland, is a reference to the webcomic "The Adventures of Dr. McNinja," which takes place in the same city.
• Little Guy, Naomi's assistant, is represented as a Mii on Naomi's office computer when not present in person.