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It may be harder than brain surgery, but Trauma Center: New Blood is still one of the most rewarding and intense experiences on the Wii.

Man made supernatural viruses, heavy hospital melodrama, magical zig zagging lines that perfectly stitch lacerations, and a difficulty level frustrating enough to make you want to throw your TV, your gaming system, and your dog out the window? If any of this sounds familiar to you, you have probably played one of the games in the Trauma Center franchise. Those who prefer the Wii Remote scalpel as opposed to the stylus of the DS, will be glad to know that Trauma Center: New Blood is a completely new entry to the franchise that has been built from the ground up in support of the Wii’s motion sensor capabilities, unlike Second Opinion which was just a remake of the original DS game. Oh, and I hope your TV is cheap, your console is under warranty, and you still haven’t gotten a new dog, because this one is even harder than the last.

The story in New Blood takes place ten years after the events of the original Trauma Center and follows two new characters in Doctor Markus Vaughn and Doctor Valerie Blaylock. The two doctors are stationed at a small Alaskan clinic until one day Markus gets a call from an old colleague who asks the doctor to operate on him as he has been infected by a mysterious man made virus known as Stigma. Several operations and plot twists later, both Markus and Val find themselves working for the infamous Caduceus hospital with the mission of researching and eliminating the Stigma virus before it makes its way into the general public.

Like Second Opinion, the story is told through the typical lazy style of anime portraits with several facial expressions that cover the basic range of emotions, rather than having actual animated cutscenes. Thankfully however, this time around the game does feature quality voice acting throughout the entirety of the game, the lack of which was my biggest complaint about the original Trauma Center on the Wii. Hopefully next time around Atlus can add in some animated cutscenes so I can finally stop nitpicking at the game’s presentation.

Presentation issues aside though, the real meat of Trauma Center lies in the gameplay, and thankfully it still remains one of the most intense and rewarding gaming experiences you’ll find on the Wii. If you’re unfamiliar with how the Trauma Center games work, here is the general idea. The game is divided into seven chapters, each consisting of about six to eight cases. When you start a chapter you’ll be treated to a story segment that will typically end with some poor soul being only inches away from the light at the end of the tunnel. After being briefed on what the general goals of the operation are, it is your job to cut them up, fix em’ up, and stitch em’ up. As you might imagine, that second step there is easier said than done. Murphy’s law is in full effect in Trauma Center, as just when you think the operation is going smoothly, what will seem like fifty thousand lacerations, tumors, or Stigma strains will start appearing out of nowhere.