Surgeon Simulator 2013 Review

Surgeon Simulator 2013 Review Screenshot 1

Surgeon Simulator 2013 is as the name suggests a Surgeon Simulation game with a comedic / funny yet difficult twist. Imagine if the 90’s game Theme Hospital was in first person mode and that will give you some idea of what you’ll be dealing with. It was made / created / operated on by Bossa Studios a London based indie developer who won a BAFTA for Monstermind and also were nominated for one with Merlin: The Game.

The game starts with a clipboard on a three-dimensional desk with what sounds like the electro remix of Casualty (the TV shows) intro music playing in the background. Hitting the Click to Begin icon zooms out slightly to capture the whole desk in all it’s glory, and one you can smash to bits as you swipe the mouse back and forth. You can answer the phone, put floppy disks into the computer and even VHS tapes into the VCR, the clipboard then becomes the menu system where you select operations, achievements, graphics / resolution and audio options.

Surgeon Simulator 2013 Review Screenshot 3

Even at this pre operation point in the game i was having fun, rebinding the keys for me was a must so A, W, E and F are used for the fingers and Space for the thumb. Holding down all creates a fist, left mouse button is used to lower your hand, holding right button gives the hand orientation. Learning how to control your hand in this game becomes the most enjoyable, fun and simply frustrating experience in your life (that’s a slight exaggeration but believe me it’s up there).

Now to the actual game and as an introduction or tip, never should I ever be allowed to perform any form of surgery on a living being. That aside you stand over you victim, i mean patient at the deep end. Straight off the bat your here to tackle a heart transplant and it’s not going to go well. The first thing to do before throwing back the green cloth which is a task in itself was to flick the bird at him and do rock horns as that gives N you two achievements and then throw the cloth out the way as it’s time for fun or surgery (don’t laugh this is a serious operation)

I don’t have a medical degree, i even struggle with plasters sometimes but to my mind using a claw hammer to remove a rib cage isn’t the way to go. Saying that i dropped it after i destroyed a handful of ribs anyway, never to be seen again. The time is ticking, heart is beating and i hadn’t lost a single drop of blood (your given 5600ml to start). That was until i dropped a circular saw into his open chest cavity, panicked and caused much move arterial damage than any human could walk away from. He didn’t by the way, that operation ended with a fatality but the reset button will become your best friend.

Surgeon Simulator 2013 Review Screenshot 2

This will be the standard procedure until you slowly master the game, choose your weapons or ‘surgical tools’ wisely and eventually you will complete the operation. Try not to accidentally drop the replacement heart on the floor or inject yourself with hallucinogenic drugs and perhaps don’t pick up a pair of scissors and jab them into a plug socket, actually do that last one it’s another achievement. Once you complete your surgery either with finesse or as an under qualified butcher you will progress onto Kidney Transplants, Eye Operations and Brain Surgery. Which adds more fun, intricacy and hard work to the ever-increasing blood fest.

This game is so much fun but incredibly frustrating, but i can’t recommend it enough. It’s one of those games that comes out and has you completely hooked, you’ll be looking at YouTube guides late into the night to perfect your skills and spending hours with your hands in the beautifully created but soon to be corpse. I honestly love it and for the money this game is exceptionally good and easily scores 9/10. If i could control it better it would be a 10, sadly it’s limited to the only tool i can’t drop or replace and that’s me.

REVIEW CODE: A complimentary PC code was provided to Brash Games for this review. Please send all review code enquiries to editor@brashgames.co.uk.

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