Dug out another one of our old DS games - Trauma Center Under The Knife. Never really spent a lot of time playing this game when we first bought it so I thought I would have another go.
You have just finished your internship and have to perform your first procedures as a young male doctor. The game teaches you the variuos steps that have to be performed during surgery and you of course have to do these to the best of your ability - preferably without killing any patients along the way!
The first few levels are fairly easy and I for some bizare reason quite enjoy learning how to pull pieces of glas out of someones heart. As the clock is ticking and the patients vital stats are dropping, I almost find myself getting slightly stressed! I have to say that it's not exactly the most realistic game and will probably not help you save someones life in the real world, but somehow I feel slightly more qualified to administer a Hello Kitty bandage now.
After a few chapters you discover that you have a hidden talent that allows you to slow down time so you can perform more things during your surgeries. This is where the game (at least for me) all of a sudden becomes a lot more difficult. I am currently stuck at a level where I for some reason kill my patient over and over again which is getting really annoying. I might be missing a trick here but I checked the other save games and this the very same level where I got stuck last time. Don't get me wrong - I do prefer to have to use a little bit of skills when playing games, but the jump between the previous level and the current one just seems to be ridicolous.
I will probably have another few goes at getting past this level before I give up and the game returns to the bookshelf upstairs. It will stay there collecting dust for another few years until I again forget why I stopped playing the previous time and have another go at turning into the next Dr McDreamy.
Looks like the Wii jOG is being released in April and will be priced around £19.99. If only I knew someone who's birthday was in April... oh hang on - ME! :D Can't wait to actuallyrun around as a little Lego Princess Leia.
So we bought the Mystery Case Files MillionHeir a couple of weeks ago after seeing it advertised on the TV. I have to admit I had pretty high expectations after the commercial and was hoping for a cool little puzzle game.
The game has both a single player and a multi player option. I have not yet tried out the multi player option so I can't really make any comments on that. The single player option however is made up of a story mode and a quick play. Story mode again has got 3 difficulty levels - Rookie, Detective or Gumshoe. The first time I played the game I went for Detective.
You start the game one year back in time by going to a mansion belonging to Mr Phil T. Rich. You are here given some basic instructions of how the game works and one of your first jobs involves finding a detective badge that you have to clean by rubbing the stylus over the screen and blowing into the microphone. After finding a few more items the game jumps to 6 monts later - Mr Phil T. Rich disappears and you are called in to help find him.
From now on the game is broken into small chapters where you have to investigate various suspects. You do this by finding "hidden" items. You are given a list of objects to find and you scroll across the screen and click it with the stylus once you spot one of them. You usually have a couple of rooms to search through for each suspect with a list for each room. After finding the required number of items from the lists you then have to solve a final puzzle for each suspect. These vary from jigsaws, slide puzzles, memory games and spot the difference plus a few others. All of them a little bit too easy... After investigating all the suspects you are then taken to the next level which is pretty much just repeating the same technique that you have just been using. You are given a list, have to reinvestigate and have to find more objects. A couple of new games are introduced when you get to the final part of the game but these are not really that difficult either.
I have to admit that I was a bit disappointed. The game very quickly becomes a little bit repetitive and you can play through it in a few hours. I tried it again on the Gumshoe setting but this quickly becomes frustrating as you have a very limited amount of time to find the required items. If you run out of time you have to start that level over with a new list of items. I have to admit that at first the time pressure of the Gumshoe level made the game more interesting, but the novelty soon wears off when you are searching the same room for the 5th time...
I think that the whole game could have been done a lot better. I don't really mind the whole search and find scenario that you have to do over and over again, but this is where the game could be improved. A bit of a variety to how you have to investigate the different suspects would have made the whole thing a lot more interesting rather than just a repeat of itself.
I have to say that I am a bit disappointed in the whole game. I know my expectations were probably too high, but it just seems like the developers could have done SO much more with the game. I have a feeling that I will not be spending any of my hard earned cash on a Mystery Case Files 2.
Just watched Jason try out the Wii jOG on the Gadgetshow and he liked it - so how bad can it be! :) Looks like great fun and gives you a chance to burn off some calories at the same time. It is SO made for the Lego games. Can't wait to try one out. Wonder when the release date is? Can't seem to find it anywhere.
So my other half is in the US at the moment and I haven't really felt like playing any games this last week. Anyway - I'm getting itchy fingers now so I thought I would have a look at some of our DS games.
We haven't exactly got the biggest collection but I'm sure there will be something in there that I can play. He did of course take the best games with him when he went (Professor Layton and Zelda - Phantom Hourglas) and these are of course the ones I want to play right now! Typical woman - want what I can't have. :) Before he starts complaining - I should probably admit that I made him take them so he could try them out... ah well - I'm just going to have to try out some other ones instead.
I should really read up on some reviews so I can find some more games to buy. The problem with the DS is that loads of the games look like complete rubbish. Come on - do we really need an "America's Next Top Model" game??! I also think that about 85% of the DS games out there are released for kids. What's wrong with a good old fashioned puzzle game that actually requires you to use your brain a little bit?
Anyway - I'll have a browse through what we have got and then start playing. I'll let you know how I get on. :)
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Dug out another one of our old DS games - Trauma Center Under The Knife. Never really spent a lot of time playing this game when we first bought it so I thought I would have another go.
