Destructoid review: Dr. Awesome, Microsurgeon M.D.

6:00 PM on 12.22.2008   |   Brad Nicholson

16 comments

Playing Dr. Awesome, Microsurgeon M.D. will not evoke a wide range of emotion or any immense sense of satisfaction upon completion. In many ways, it is the classic mobile title. It is short, sweet and based around a few simple gameplay mechanics. The trick for mobile developers is to figure out a way to package their game and its occasionally undemanding components. In the case of Dr. Awesome, Escalation Studios managed to inoffensively build a decent presentation around good, but occasionally frustrating gameplay

The game puts players in the shoes of Dr. Awesome, a premiere “microsurgeon.” Microsurgery, by the game’s definition, is the process of isolating harmful mutagens in a cell. This process of isolation is the core component of the game. Think of it in terms of Jezzball, except with mutagens. Instead of drawing fancy lines to isolate balls by dancing a mouse’s cursor around a rectangular screen, players will be tasked with maneuvering a scalpel with the iPhone’s tilt functionality from one side of a cell to another.

Dr. Awesome’s scalpel leaves a white line indicating where the iPhone’s accelerometer and your (hopefully) clinically steady hands decide to move it. This process can get quite involved in the later stages, as more mutagens and other hazards appear on the screen. The response to the tilting and twisting is decent, but there is one minor hiccup. If you manage to turn the phone almost 360 degrees, the game occasionally quits responding to your tilts.

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Dr. Awesome, Microsurgeon M.D. (iPhone, iPod Touch)
Developed by Escalation Studios
Published by ngmoco 
Released on December, 2008

The big, hairy ape in the room is the tilt functionality’s lack of precision. It is simply impossible to get the perfect movement desired from tilting the phone. The line drawn from tilting is shaky. The movement of the scalpel can be fairly disorienting -- especially if you are twisting and turning enough to evade an oncoming enemy. Maneuvering the scalpel from its starting place (the edge of the cell) is also a bit tricky and imprecise. You’ll find yourself often making accidental moves while trying to position yourself for a cut, or even running out of time because the game put you immediately in harm’s way.

What I think the game really could have benefitted from is finger control. The later levels in the game tend to be too difficult. Mutagens begin inheriting special powers at an alarming rate and more bacteria prowl the edges of cells. The mutagens also become quicker, thus practically demanding precision.

Dr. Awesome's name is misleading. Awesome is a rookie doctor and must progress through surgeries in order to gain prestige. Surgery is a set of three different stages inside of each patient. The first stage is the easiest, the third always the most challenging. Failing to “cure” a patient’s virus results in their death and your demotion if failure is frequent.
The game engages players outside of the gameplay in a few different ways. The foremost way is the ranking system of promotion and demotion. Successful surgeries net a better ranking, and better power-ups to battle the harder stages. Demotion happens if you allow too many patients to die. Another active form of engagement is that patient’s names are drawn from your contact list.

The presentation and visual style of the game are unique for an iPhone title. The narrative is told much like Trauma Center – a series of talking heads and slightly animated portraits. The art is solid, but the characters never have anything of any real value to say.  This is punctuated by the fact that the only thing they comment on after the introductory phase is how much you suck or rock based on your performance in surgery.

Visually, the game looks good and the soundtrack is mildly entertaining. I would have liked to see more animation of the characters around Dr. Awesome or even differentiated mutagen movement at some point. That said, the developers manage to pull the game together, just not as well as it could have been done. A little humor and a little bit more personality would have been nice additions. 

Dr. Awesome is an alright game with inoffensive gameplay, hampered by the tilt functionality’s imprecision.  The presentation of the game doesn’t exactly inspire, nor does it provide any entertainment. If anything, it serves to dress up what could have been a dull experience. Dr. Awesome is better than the vast majority of games on the App Store. It certainly isn’t the greatest, but if you’re a fan of this kind of game, you should be more than happy with a purchase.

Score: 6 -- Alright (6s may be slightly above average or simply inoffensive. Fans of the genre should enjoy them a bit, but a fair few will be left unfulfilled.)