When I got a look at Trauma Team last month, I was shown two of the game’s six specialties, endoscopy and orthopedics. I was also told about the forensics specialty, which seemed like it would be the biggest departure from the Trauma Center series as far as gameplay goes. Described as similar to a point-and-click adventure, forensics is the specialty of the only Trauma Center character making an appearance in Trauma Team, Naomi Kimishima. Yesterday I was treated to another look at Trauma Team, this time watching as Atlus PR guru Aram Jabbari went through an entire forensics mission. Though it’s more comparable to Phoenix Wright than Day of the Tentacle, this portion of Trauma Team is an interesting addition that will infuse some variety into the game.

The first forensics case has medical examiner Naomi investigating the mysterious death of a young man that is at first thought to be a suicide. The victim was discovered by firemen when a smoke alarm went off in his apartment, and he was found on his bed with a slashed wrist, leaving behind a small pool of blood. However, after carefully searching the apartment, looking over the body in the medical lab, and listening to the testimonies of witnesses, Naomi deduces that something is not as it seems with this case. Through careful examination, it becomes apparent that the victim didn’t die of a slashed wrist, and his death wasn’t the result of a suicide at all—it was murder.



Right off the bat, the art style of the forensics portion of the game conveys the more serious, less whimsical nature of Trauma Team when compared to its predecessor, Trauma Center. While there are still animated cut scenes, the aesthetic is more like a storybook than a cartoon series, giving it a more mature look. Don’t get me wrong, Trauma Team still has a sense of humor and doesn’t take itself too seriously, as well as presenting a futuristic, fictional version of the medical profession, but things like the Healing Touch are out. Trauma Team is a little more grown up, and this is reflected in the presentation.

While Aram compared forensics to point-and-click adventures from the 1990s, it seemed more like Phoenix Wright or Hotel Dusk, meaning the collecting of evidence and exploration of key locations wasn’t quite as traditional and straightforward as most older adventure games. Naomi traveled back and forth between the victim’s apartment and the lab, where she could examine the victim or use the computer to go over the evidence she already had. Previously collected data, such as interesting bits of testimony, medical facts about the victim’s body, or questionable items found at his apartment, showed up in the computer as evidence cards. These cards could be reviewed and, if applicable, combined. For example, after having her assistant, Little Guy, analyze a knife, it was combined with the victim’s slashed wrist, because it was determined that the knife had made the cut. Eventually, enough evidence can be collected and combined to make “solid evidence”, a key component of solving the case.



This mode of gameplay is obviously a pretty big shift from that of Trauma Center and the other sections of Trauma Team. I think it still fits with the rest of the game, though, and is an interesting take on the forensics specialty. While examining locations, the player still has use of a tool palette similar to Trauma Center’s, but it has less items, all used for collecting evidence—a magnifying glass and Luminol, for example. I did have some concerns about the forensics mode, though. My main concern was that the game would hold the player’s hand just a little too much, with evidence cards having suggestions about what they could be combined with, and Naomi voicing her opinions about where she should go next. I would like the opportunity to come to my own conclusions before being told what to do. I was also concerned about what would happen if I figured something out before I was supposed to—would it be too tedious to go through the motions after that? I’m not claiming to be a forensics genius or anything, but it did seem possible that this could happen.

The few concerns I had could be negated by the fact that I was watching the first case in this section of the game, which, I assume, was designed to ease the player into the forensics process. There’s also the possibility that the case seemed easier that it was because I was watching someone from Atlus (who was, presumably, pretty familiar with the game) go through the mission. It is still possible to mess up during the questioning segments in which Naomi tries to piece everything together, although instead of a patient’s vitals displaying how you are performing, you will lose hearts as you answer questions incorrectly.



After being told about the forensics mode the last time I saw Trauma Team, I was definitely excited to see it in action. As a huge fan of adventure games, I think that this could add a lot of variety to the gameplay. With five or six cases around an hour long each, this one section of the game is longer than many full-fledged point-and-click adventures—and it’s only one of six specialties. It may have less replay value than the surgical portions of the game, but it’s a welcome addition and a good fit for the medical drama.

Trauma Team will be out on April 20, 2010, exclusively for the Wii.