Atlus' Wii game, Trauma Center: New Blood lets you enjoy being a doctor without the threat of incurable diseases. Much like its predecessor, Second Opinion, the game challenges you to save people's lives within a time limit, but it has a more varied series of operations and an enjoyable co-op mode that somewhat alleviates the maddening difficulty.

New Blood whisks you to Alaska, where doctors Markus Vaughn and Valerie Blaylock work to save numerous patients from themselves. This includes removing bullets from someone's chest, performing skin grafts on a burn victim, jumpstarting a few hearts (either with one's hands or a defibrillator) and fixing broken bones, all achieved using both the remote and nunchuk. It's an intense experience, not only because you must keep an eye on a person's vitals, but also because you perform the operations within a time limit.

You select an operating tool with the nunchuk's analog stick and then use it with the remote. So to cut someone, you angle the stick towards the scalpel and then slowly (and with precision) drag the remote along the marked incision. In addition, you'll also drain blood, burn tumors with a surgical laser, use forceps to remove things (press A and B to pinch the object, then pull it out) and stitch wounds by making zigzags across the cut. Furthermore, a supernatural twist enables you to use the Healing Touch, a magical ability that either slows down time or heals a patient's wounds, depending on which doctor you play.

Controls work all right, though we can't figure out the game's criteria for judging performances. Haphazardly stitching someone oftentimes earns us praise, while carefully performing the procedure results in bad marks. Holding one's hand steady is the biggest challenge, as well as trying to cut without physically pressing down on something. This isn't much of a problem with the beginning operations, but the later ones are next to impossible without the help of another player. Co-op lets you work alongside a friend, enabling one person cut tumors and drain the bleeding while the other monitors the patient's vitals, but single players shouldn't have to rely on someone else just to advance the story, nor should they restart because the game failed to read an otherwise successful hand motion. This, more than anything, makes the game more frustrating than it should be.

Trauma Center's story unfolds through still frames of the characters, each of which has a distinctive voice. While a bit dramatic and hokey, the narrative is enjoyable and does a nice job exposing the tension between doctors while providing build-up to the operations.

Finally, Atlus made use of Nintendo's Wi-Fi technology with the addition of online leader boards. While it's cool uploading your score, as the desire to be number one offers unlimited replay value, we were hoping for some downloadable operations and possibly co-op online play.

Trauma Center: New Blood succeeds, thanks to its unique and addictive operations. It's at times maddeningly difficult, but with lots of patience and a steady hand, you'll quickly become an expert surgeon. Just leave the real stuff to the professionals.