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Surgeon Simulator

Surgeon Simulator: A&E Anniversary Edition

Is the port to console a success, or a botched operation?

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Our hand moves in the sharp light emanating from the spotlight. The hypnotic beeping of the heart monitor is the only sound in the operating theatre. Frantically, we grab the electric bone saw and proceed to saw through our patient's ribs. The blood squirts everywhere and the beeping becomes faster and faster. The ribs give in and we grab our patient's lungs, pulling as hard as we can. The lungs jump out, revealing the beating heart. At last, the operation is almost complete, but the rush of joy causes our attention to lapse and suddenly, we've dropped the saw into our patient's chest cavity. We attempt to fish it out again, but it's stuck between the patient's organs and an endless blood bath ensues.

Let's get the technicalities out of the way: Surgeon Simulator was released in April last year on Steam and got a lot of media attention (including some from us). The game was, along with the equally famous Goat Simulator, partially responsible for the rise of the simulator boom which to this day includes such games as Super Hero Simulator and Rock Simulator. These are all niche titles which attempt to invoke humour from their respective ridiculous premises and in this subgenre arena of dark comedy, Surgeon Simulator reigns supreme.

The premise is quite simple: you are a surgeon who has to perform a series of complicated operations on a patient, including, but not limited to, heart transplants and ocular surgery. To accomplish your task, you have a number of tools to work with. A bone saw, a hammer, a pair of scissors, knives, adrenaline shots, you name it; and each of these has their strengths and weaknesses.

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Sounds reasonable, right? The thing is, the controls are deliberately made so clunky that even the simple task of picking one of your tools up becomes a challenge. You control the surgeon's five fingers with the R1 and R2 buttons respectively, and the left and right analogue sticks are used to control the position of the hand. Doesn't sound so bad but as your patient is bleeding out while you frantically rummage around for an anaesthetic, the game's complexity rears its ugly mug. Every item on the operating table, in addition to the poor patient's organs, have a physical presence thanks to the Unity engine, so while you flail your arms around the various body parts, tools, lungs, kidneys, and syringes are sent flying into the air. It's brutal, frustrating, and bloody hilarious. Despite its indy roots, Surgeon Simulator is a well designed and polished product.

Gameplay experiences designed around a comical theme have a sad tendency to deflate and the hilarity of the deliberately clumsy controls nearly always turns into frustration. Surgeon Simulator is not entirely free of this phenomenon and when you attempt the same operation for the tenth time the comedy is gone, replaced by blind rage. That does not mean there's anything wrong with the design, however, but Surgeon Simulator regrettably can't maintain its hilarity for a particularly long time. Fortunately, a cooperative mode has been added to the game so a pair of friends can work together to smoothly operate on the patient. Even though the level of chaos rises with two hands flailing about on screen, it is more fun and less frustrating to fail with a friend than it is doing it all by yourself.

Aesthetically, Surgeon Simulator is clearly inspired by the medical television series of the 80s and 90s, such as ER and General Hospital, with a comfortable synth keyboard heavy soundtrack and a colourful visual style. This all fits the game's chaotic and humorous design perfectly and at the same time allows a welcome sense of nostalgia to emerge.

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The stylish sound design and the addition of chaotic cooperative play to Surgeon Simulator ultimately fail to save it from the abyss of boredom and frustration, however, and even though the first couple of hours are hilarity incarnate (especially in good company) Surgeon Simulator never manages to become anything more than an extended party trick.

Surgeon SimulatorSurgeon Simulator
06 Gamereactor UK
6 / 10
+
+ Incredibly funny at first, great nostalgic music, good co-op
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- Becomes frustrating after a few botched attempts, the clumsy controls become a barrier
overall score
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Though the clinical title suggests otherwise, Surgeon Simulator 2013 won't help medical students get their licence.



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