Amateur Surgeon: Christmas Edition is the follow-up to last year’s original, which was a top selling iPhone game. This game, set to go up on the iTunes App Store tomorrow, is going to be free. Think of it as a Christmas gift from the people at Adult Swim Games. They sent me an early preview so I could try it out. Because of this, I’ve been performing amateur surgery all afternoon.
Amateur Surgeon is exactly as it sounds. If you’ve ever played doctor in games like Atlus’ Trama Center series, you’ll have an idea of what’s going on here. The difference with AS is that this is a bit more crude, especially in this Christmas version.
It’s right around Christmas, and Alan Probe is now hugely successful as a surgeon, flying in his private plane, minding his own business. He was off to a Happy Holiday until his jet was involved in a mid-air collision with none other than the Christmas man himself, Santa Claus. To make Christmas right again, Probe has to operate on elves, reindeer, and Not-so-Jolly ol’ Saint Nick himself.
Given the sudden nature of the collision, you’ll have only the tools of Santa’s workshop to operate with. That means going in with drills, pixie dust and…Etch-a-Sketch? Whatever works, right? Being an iPhone game, you’ll touch the screen to select any of several implements, and then touch the patient’s gruesome wounds to operate. Pinchy toy claws will be used to pull candy cane pieces and Christmas tree branches out of wounds. A chef’s knife will have to do when cutting out Christmas lights that managed to get embedded under the skin.
You’ll work as Probe to save Christmas, operating through five levels. Time is of the essence, though. Take too long and you’ll ruin the holiday. You’ll also have to have a steady hand. Miss a cut or forget a stitch (Scotch tape!) and your patient will flatline right there on the table.
Nothing serious here. Just good, not-so-clean fun from the folks at Adult Swim. If you’ve got an iPhone or an iPod Touch, you’ll be able to download Amateur Surgeon: Christmas Edition tomorrow, December 4th, free on the iTunes App Store.
