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Benladen's Trauma Center: Second Opinion (Wii)
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| [January 12, 2007 12:58:19 PM]
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After another hour of Trauma Center, I can safely say that this game is not only a ton of fun but a really well designed game. The thing about this type of puzzle game (which is to say, the kind without the falling blocks) is that it needs to strike a particular balance with regards to difficulty; it can't progress step by step, because the player will progress with it and the component of difficulty (a large part of the fun of puzzle games) is essentially lost. It also can't exponentially progress due to the infuriating nature of some later missions that can be rather off-putting.
So level design needs to take a path that is jagged in nature, while still being mildly progressive. It needs to have the correct number of "learning" missions; missions that are difficult in their own right, but are really just preparing you for a mission that is upcoming.
This kind of design, done correctly, can be seen in the two missions: "Caduceus on a Plane" and "Pandora's Box." CoaP is a welcome respite after the, ahem, challenging mission "An Explosive Patient", and it introduces a stronger emphasis on time-based gameplay, which while not what "Pandora's Box" is based around, is important in dealing with the more difficult puzzles that this next mission presents. By tying these two missions together, an episode that should have been particularly difficult is relagated to one that only requires two tries instead of between five and six.
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| [January 10, 2007 03:45:01 PM]
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I played for about 15 minutes and beat both An Explosive Patient and Caduceus On A Plane.
My next gamelog will be so much happier.
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| [January 10, 2007 01:05:13 PM]
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I played for slightly more than an hour last night. I don't know the exact amount of time, because there were significant portions of the night where the controller would fall from my hands and I would have to lie down. Also I was letting someone else try out the game, in order that I could bring my wits about me again and go for another try, at which I would invariably fail.
I started out by going back and playing a couple of the older missions; I yanked a large chunk of glass out of the heart of a man who had been in a car accident and I burned polyps off the throat of a rock singer. Then I went in and tried to defuse that bomb.
I've got the first half of the mission down to a science at this point. I can undo the screws and I can correct the voltage in under thirty seconds. I can also laser away all the panels on the bomb about 85% of the time. It's about 60-40 whether I'll even make one mistake up to this point.
Then comes the core. You have :30 to use the surgical laser to deactivate the core of the bomb, while panels spin around it a la an electron cloud, only (very) slightly less encompassing. I fail this every single time. Once I turned the core yellow. I don't know what that means.
This is probably the most angry I've ever been with a video game. To give you perspective on just how not fun this is, I enjoyed slow dancing after my hour was up. That's how out of whack it put me.
And yet I keep coming back to it. Something about this near-impossible task just screams that it'll only take one more shot. Next time, I'll be able to do it! Try again, it'll work, you'll find something.
That's why this game is so brilliant. In the face of a mission that feels like your chances are nonexistent, something keeps bringing you back. And bring me back it will.
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| [January 8, 2007 04:36:37 PM]
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Trauma Center is a hell of a game.
I missed the initial release of the game, for the DS, not because I didn't have the console, but because... well, because Pheonix Wright: Ace Attorney and Osu! Tatakae! Ouendan! called me with such fervor that I couldn't bear to spend any more money. Not to mention New Super Mario Bros. and Super Princess Peach (which was a good game okay don't make fun of me ;-;)
The point is, this play through is the first experience I've had with this intentionally niche puzzle game, with an exceptionally long, arduous build-up until I got the game. I bought this game and The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess at the same time. I played this one first. I've got more hours logged into Trauma Center than to LoZ:TP, and I think the new Zelda game is at least on par with OoT. So I like it.
This Gamelog is going to start with 3:3 - An Explosive Patient. I'm just writing this to preempt the fact that, after the first hour of "homework" I may just write a string of expletives. If any of you have played this game, I feel confident that you'll understand and possibly even empathize (or, for the more caustic gamers out there, laugh at my misfortune.)
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Benladen's Trauma Center: Second Opinion (Wii)
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Current Status: Playing
GameLog started on: Monday 1 January, 2007
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