If players have ever wanted to know what it would be like to perform surgery on someone using an anaesthetically numbed arm, Surgeon Simulator 2 has the answer. In this sequel to the zany and well-liked Surgeon Simulator, developer Bossa Studios expands on its formula to create a game that is part immersive simulation, part puzzle game, part co-op, and all mayhem. Players once again operate on Bob in a series of simulated levels meant to train an aspiring surgeon in their delicate craft. In addition, players will need to navigate a series of puzzles through break rooms, storage closets, waiting rooms, and offices to find healthy appendages and other necessary items and begin operating. All the while, they have use of one arm with almost comically complex controls and must learn to perform each procedure with at least a little finesse or risk killing their patient.
If tools like the saw and scalpel aren't working or are taking too long, players also always have the opportunity to perform surgery the good old fashioned way: by ripping appendages and organs out and quickly popping in new ones. Players do not have to take on such daunting tasks alone, however. They can recruit up to three other budding medical professionals to help them work on Bob and prevent him from bleeding out, or just create more chaos, in the new co-op mode. They can also build their own puzzle levels to challenge friends and strangers to make it back to the operating room. Unfortunately, once they return to the operating room, there is little variety in the procedures that would have kept the game from going stale after a while. While Surgeon Simulator 2 is a lot of wild fun, it doesn't go quite far enough with its concept to build on the original's great ideas.
The controls in the game are, of course, wacky and difficult, and that is by design. Players must learn to control an outstretched left hand, which they can move and twist in almost any direction, and use it to perform these less-than-scientifically-accurate medical procedures. Players participate in a story mode in a dilapidated training hospital under obvious construction and work on test patients. The test patient, called Bob, has many ailments, and players can find out about these ailments using the scanner. This will tell them what to remove and replace. If players perform the surgery delicately, using an implement to remove parts of Bob, he will bleed out more slowly. Throwing caution to the wind and tearing off bits of Bob will bleed him out more quickly, making it game over for the player.
Surgeon Simulator 2 is heart-pounding and thrilling for a while. Trainer Pamela will come over the loudspeaker to cheerfully toss out casual instructions and suggestions. Meanwhile, with use of one hand, Bob's ribcage is cracked into three pieces scattered on the floor, accidentally had his small intestine removed with an incorrect scalpel movement, and has been stabbed in the side so much he is spurting blood (complete with a stomach-churning animation). That kind of pressure, with the added time clock of Bob's depleting blood levels and the limited number of available syringes, makes the game exciting and addictive, and it's likely players will be laughing along with the absurdist tone. Add a group of friends to the mix, and it's a recipe for a hysterical time.
Where the game falls flat is in its repetition and the new puzzle mechanic. Bob is always the same in each new operating theater. There are only so many procedures included in the game, including a limited number of chest and abdominal cavity organs, and once players have completed them all once, they will essentially just keep repeating the same processes in different combinations. It may have been more exciting to include a wider variety of procedures to keep the game feeling fresh. Bob's head alone could have been its own set of levels, where players could perform brain, mouth, throat, and even facial reconstructive surgeries for a needed change of pace.
The puzzles are a new addition to the game as of the sequel, but they don't do much for gameplay. While they were clearly included to provide some variety, they sometimes feel out of place from the rest of the game. No developer-made puzzle is too challenging, and it is a chance for players to practice using the controls a bit more before jumping back in to work on Bob. Still, however, they don't feel different enough or essential enough to the story to justify their existence. Those resources may have been better spent diversifying the possible procedures instead. While there aren't too many community levels available, as players begin to create their own puzzle levels to stump friends and fans, the challenge may intensify and justify the feature getting as much attention as it did - but for now, it's unimpressive.
The new abilities to engage in multiplayer co-op and create levels is where Surgeon Simulator 2 really shines. That isn't to say single-player isn't still fun; it is both exciting and challenging through the first few levels. But, as the game's marketing insists, four hands are indeed better than one in this case. While there is still room for this franchise to grow, players can absolutely find something to love about this second entry in the series.
Surgeon Simulator 2 is available for PC. Screen Rant was provided with a PC download code for the purposes of this review.
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