Surgeon Simulator 2013

A condensed but fun experience in the role of pretend-doctor and the medical disasters you can impose on your pretend patients. It’s a dark, gruesome, and hilarious take on this life-saving vocation…though you’ll probably end up ruining more lives than you save.

I ended up hooked, playing it for hours, and I'm almost certainly not done. I also made a video of myself performing brain surgery in a moving ambulance, which I can't link to in a Telegraph review because I have a mouth like a sailor.

This is a nicely contained couple of hours filled with fully aware daft fun. If you go into the game knowing that, you'll find dark slapstick humour that's worth persisting with.

Surgeon Simulator 2013 is hardly a simulation, but it makes medical malpractice an absolute delight.

With a current price of $9.99 on Steam, Surgeon Simulator 2013 is coming out of the gates rather reasonably priced for what it is. I didn’t encounter any crashes or bugs, or indeed any form of frustration that wasn’t clearly built into the game intentionally to begin with – if anything, the whole thing feels remarkably polished, more than many major releases.

It's a darkly entertaining way to cut, explore, and appreciate the incredible skill of real surgeons.

Fun and messy in every sense. Can a videogame be fun with a control system so absurd? The answer is yes.

It looks shoddy and the gameplay gets samey quickly, but this is worth a look. [July 2013, p.82]

In the guise of surgeons, you will be asked to perform complex surgical operations without knowing how and what to do. A really fun game, that will snatch more than a laugh. Try it with friends and you will not regret.

The game isn’t clear how its surgeries work – which bits need be cut where, and with what tools – not a problem when you’re merrily and messily experimenting, but annoying if you’re keen to progress. Still, few games take that odd, occasional gulf between what you intend to happen and what actually occurs on screen and fill it with such comedy.

Surgeon Simulator 2013 is engagingly ludicrous. It’s neither a substitute for actual medical training, nor will it take anywhere near as long to complete, but it’s a good way to find out where you fall between squeamish and remorseless monster. Physician, heal thy self (and stay away from me).

It's a good laugh for the player - although there's always that weird You've Been Framed dampening effect which comes from something that's been set up to be amusing rather than something that's just naturally, accidentally, organically hilarious - but the real fun is being had by the people ogling over your shoulder.

A likeable little game with the original idea proving definitely your both hands are left. If you approach the game with exaggeration, you won't regret your time nor your money. And that you are full of remorse because you murdered your patients in cold blood? Well, everyone has to start somehow. So grab your scalpel firmly and cut where it moves!

It is hilariously awkward to control. [Issue#136, p.111]

Surgeon Simulator 2013 is the QWOP of the year: a game that's hilarious because of the impossible controls and high difficulty. Accidentally dropping a running drill in a patients lung is something we've always wanted to do. We just hope we'll never have to get operated on by anyone who has played this game.

It’s a toy that you buy to show to your friends. Completing the game takes about 2 hours and then at best you can occasionally laugh with your buddies at the mess you can make with the saw, scalpels, hammer and your bare hand. [CD-Action 07/2013, p.79]