Surgeon Simulator 2: Access All Areas

In the long run, Surgeon Simulator 2: Access All Areas is not a game about keeping poor Bob from bleeding out, however. Sure, there are plenty of scalpels and lots of missions but once you’re done cracking ribs with a bar stool or lighting up a lung it’s not the seasonal rewards or cosmetics that will get you coming back for more. Instead, Surgeon Simulator 2: Access All Areas will live or die by your creative skills rather than your deft scalpel skills.

Retaining what made the first game unique, whilst making it a much more rounded experience that you’ll be more likely to revisit, Surgeon Simulator 2 is a good single-player experience that becomes pretty special in online co-op. Gather some mates and it’s one of the most fun multiplayer experiences of the year.

Surgeon Simulator 2 is a fun odyssey that will make us laugh more than once in cooperative mode. Despite being short, the campaign is a perfect tutorial as a prelude to what awaits us in multiplayer games, along with the possibility of creating levels with other players and enjoying those created by the community.

Enjoyed hacking a way at poor, helpless souls in the first game? Then check in and see how the evolution fairs in the sequel.

Despite some concerns about precision and frustrating moments because of the physics, the title is all good: it's well done, fun and terribly catchy.

Initially I was more frustrated than entertained by Surgeon Simulator 2. Once I mastered the intentionally awkward controls, I began to appreciate it more and more. If you’re patient, and grotesque, dark humor is your thing, I believe you’ll enjoy this game. [11/2020, p.64]

Surgeon Simulator 2 is intended to be silly, irreverent fun that keeps you coming back for more and more surgical shenanigans, and in that regard it's a total success.

Surgeon Simulator 2 takes the concept of the original game and adds a system of first-person exploration and puzzle-solving that may not be everybody’s cup of tea. The surgeries have been simplified to encourage a rather fun multiplayer mode, which nonetheless downplays the single player side of the experience.

Surgeon Simulator 2 achieves what it sets out to. But it's really for a very specific type of player and many will not appreciate it. As a game, it's often frustrating and tedious, but since that's intentional I can't really fault the developers for expanding on the original in such a manner.

Surgeon Simulator 2: All Access absolutely does what it sets out to do, which is turn “surgical precision” upside down and allow the player to make an absolute mess of what should be the most delicate of procedures, adding physics-based puzzles and escalating objectives that will either frustrate or challenge. In this case, the awkward controls are a feature, not a bug. For anyone who has already played the game, this new version doesn’t add much, but for console owners or anyone new to the title it’s definitely the version to pick up.

If something stupid and wacky is what your’e looking for, Surgeon Simulator 2 is your game! Don’t expect any real simulation gameplay, also don’t expect working controls, long-term motivation or complexity, and you’ll have a lot of fun.

Surgeon Simulator 2 is a clever, funny puzzle game that renders its "surgery" mechanics almost ancillary to the final product.

To their credit, in the sequel Bossa Studios managed to break new ground. Previously, you were basically chained to the operating table. Now you can explore the entirety of operating theater and beyond! [Issue#248, p.65]

Filled with the same style of ridiculous surgical antics as the original, Surgeon Simulator 2 does a remarkably good job of expanding it into an inventive puzzle game. The "simulator" genre's brand of obtuse controls and fussy physics objects starts to feel like a chore as you get a few levels in, but share the experience with some friends and there's a good time to be had.

Despite those bugs, the majority of my definitely-real medical training in Surgeon Simulator 2 was a load of fun. When the surgery clicks and everything is working as intended – or you’re thriving in the limb-strewn chaos of near-death – it’s a mix of being intensely satisfying and outright hilarious. Though the gimmicky nature of movement – while obviously the core of the game – can get old alongside the slightly repetitive levels, overall Surgeon Simulator 2 is worth playing with pals. Just remember – if at first you don’t succeed, there’s always another Bob (and another rubber duck) to try again with.

Surgeon Simulator 2 leverages its predecessor's unique gameplay into a full-fledged experience with a story and co-op. Despite some positives here and there, annoying controls, boring puzzles and tedious gameplay make for an overall trying time.

Surgeon Simulator 2 likely began its own medical school in protest of being kicked out of the real thing. In creating its own brand of hospital hospitality, there are plenty of laughs to be had. However, hearty chuckles from chucking a heart across a grimy hospital room only last for so long before Surgeon Simulator 2's clumsiness begins to frustrate more than entertain.

Surgeon Simulator 2 is still as funny as its predecessor when you have to remove organs and saw arms, but the new puzzle game dynamics simply don't fit.

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 has merit as a multiplayer experience, more so if you can get a gin-sodden group of friends involved. But as a single-player game, you’ll find it’s a repetitive step backwards from Surgeon Simulator’s manic shenanigans.