Trauma Center: Second Opinion

Trauma Center: Second Opinion (カドゥケウスZ 2つの超執刀) is the second game in the Trauma Center series. The series has now moved to the Wii, and was a launch title for the system in North America and Japan, and made full use of the Wii Remote and Nunchuk attachment. This version is a remake of the original game for the DS, although its graphics and mechanics have been completely redone to take advantage of the Wii's functionality. Once again, players will take control of Dr. Derek Stiles and a new doctor named Nozomi Weaver. Dr. Weaver also has the ability to utilize the Healing Touch, though her ability is different than Derek's. The game also features more voice acting than the original, including speech from the two main characters as well as more speech from the side characters.

Gameplay
The basic course of gameplay for Second Opinion is the same as the original DS game. But, there are a few added missions towards the end of the game. Refer to Trauma Center: Under the Knife for further details.

Most of the tools are used with the Wii Remote while the Nunchuk allows players to quickly switch between instruments. As well as having all of the tools from the original, the player can also make use of a few situational tools. Some tools have added functionality from the previous game. Other than the new functionality, the main objective of the game remains the same as the DS version. The goal is to treat whatever is wrong with the patient in the allotted time limit without letting the patient's vitals reach zero. There is access to a wide variety of tools, including a scalpel, a drainage hose, sutures, a precision laser, an ultrasound machine, forceps, and more.

New Tools

 * Defibrillator: Used when a patient is suffering from cardiac arrest. Replaces the Antibiotic Gel and Massage method from the DS version.


 * Penlight: Used to illuminate dark areas.


 * Flash Camera: Its flash provides the same effect as the Penlight, but has to be reused when the light fades.

Healing Touch
Both Derek and Nozomi have the ability to use the healing touch, but what it does is different between the two of them. While Derek is still able to use his concentration to seemingly slow down time, Nozomi's abilities allow her to increase the patient's vitals when getting "OK", "GOOD", or "COOL" ratings when healing a patient's wounds. Like the DS version, the Healing Touch is activated by drawing a star on the screen, and how well the star is drawn has an effect on how much time the player is given. Mastering this move can prove challenging, and it can only be used once in an entire operation.

GUILT
The encounters with Gangliated Utrophin Immuno Latency Toxin will be mostly the same, later in the game are some unique dealings with GUILT. A few situations in the game will give the player the task of having to deal with multiple types of GUILT at the same time. There are 7 different strains of GUILT.

Game Sequence
For the most part, Second Opinion's levels are the same as they were in Under the Knife. However, completing each chapter in Dr. Stiles' game unlocks a chapter in Dr. Weaver's stage, which are referred to as Z-1, Z-2, and so on up to Z-5. The sixth chapter brings the two doctors together to take the new operations.

Reception
Reviews were mostly favorable, though no higher than the DS version. GameSpot and IGN both awarded the game with an 8/10. Minor criticisms included the lack of a 16:9 aspect ratio.

Story
Up to Chapter 5 of Derek's missions, much of the story remains the same as the DS version, though the Wii version's Chapter 6 assumes the DS version's had already taken place. As Derek's story's progresses, Nozomi's missions are unlocked. During her missions, it is revealed that she was working for Delphi, who knew of her ability and was using it for their own purposes. Nozomi remains mostly unaware of the circumstances of Delphi until just before their raid, and also places their operation in danger at one point by insisting on operating on a reporter wounded after chasing down a car in which Nozomi and a Delphi operative were passengers. Just before their headquarters are discovered by Caduceus, Nozomi escapes with a GUILT sample which she plans to use as a bargaining chip.

After Derek's Chapter 5 and Nozomi's missions are cleared, Chapter 6 is unlocked. The plot of the chapter takes place at Caduceus Europe, where Derek and Angie have been invited to provide assistance and Dr. Hoffman has come to attend a conference held under near-total secrecy. There, Derek meets Nozomi for the first time, who is now using her original name of "Dr. Kimishima" and granted amnesty in Europe, along with another doctor called Owen. Dr. Miller tells Derek about the Z-Cells, which are fruit of their research on GUILT in order to find a way to use it to help people.

After Derek eliminates a somewhat stronger strain of Tetarti, his heart becomes infected with a combination of Kyriaki and Paraskevi, which leaves Nozomi to heal Derek. Nozomi succeeds, and time passes. During the scheduled conference where Dr. Owen explains how a patient has recovered from a wound after a Z-Cell injection, Nozomi expresses her doubts, claiming that GUILT was created to kill people, and probably could never be used to save them. Soon after the patient suffers from an injury that causes his blood to spray all over the conference room, infecting all the attendees with various strains of GUILT.

After Derek and Nozomi deal with the infected attendees, Owen tries to escape and reveals that he was working all this time to Delphi. Dr. Miller orders him to be stripped of his rank and taken away, and is then told that there is a problem in the lab where Adam is kept. Meanwhile, at the lab, Derek learns that the Z-Cells, which are actually the 8th strain of GUILT known as "Bliss", are taken from Adam himself, and that Hoffman has become infected with a strain of GUILT that is revealed to be a stronger version of Savato. In the final mission of the game, Derek and Nozomi work together to take down the upgraded Savato and save Hoffman's life.

Afterwards, Caduceus International proposes a treaty to deal with GUILT research which is quickly ratified. As for Derek and Angie, they are revealed to be assigned to northern Afghanistan, though not much else is revealed in the main game. Nozomi reveals that she cannot leave Europe without facing criminal charges for her work with Delphi, and parts ways with Derek.

The X Missions are extra missions made only for the sake of an extra challenge to the player. Despite  many theories, they have no ties to the main story.

Pop culture references
Trauma Center: Second Opinion, like its predecessor, makes several American pop culture references. Most of the references from the DS version remain intact. In addition, at one point, Derek mentions the Counter Terrorist Unit, a fictional government organization popularized in the television show 24. Furthermore, similar to the DS version, most of the character names in the North American version are the names of either characters or actors who appear on popular medical TV dramas. Some examples are but not limited to: Cox, Reyes, Turk, Faison, Dorian, McGinley, Chalke, Elliot, Flynn, Reid, Jesse, Spencer, Chase, Eric, Omar, Sean, Laurie, Greg and Lisa, and Dr. Weaver. All of these names are either actors or characters on the TV series House M.D., Scrubs, and ''ER

Music
The game's music was composed by Shoji Meguro.