When Surgeon Simulator 2013 was released on Steam last year after it debuted at the 48 hour 2013 Global Game Jam, it was a one of a kind joke. That’s not to say it was bad; it was actually a brilliant piece of dark humor that had some intentional humor but got infinitely funnier when you actually played it yourself. It’s the kind of game that no two people will likely play the same way and those different play styles result in some hilarious outcomes. Now, after the mobile follow-up, Surgeon Simulator Mobile was released, the game has been re-worked for the PlayStation 4 and released as Surgeon Simulator Anniversary Edition.

Surgeon Simulator has a basic concept. You need to remove various organs from a patient and replace them with new ones. However, while most doctors might use some amount of tact and professionalism, you will find that it’s much easier and funnier to beat the crap out of your patient in order to remove their various body parts. Do you need to remove ribcage? Use a fire extinguisher to break through them. Finding it tough to remove that pesky kidney? Take a plastic spoon and scoop it out.

However, oftentimes these surgeries can be very difficult. Rather than giving you full control over your doctor, you get to control one arm and that’s it. This was a huge part of the initial games challenge. Sure, if you had both hands, you could easily remove organs but since you only have one, you need to get creative. This often means lining up your knives and other various tools precisely to avoid killing your patient.

The initial release of Surgeon Simulator had three different transplants you needed to perform: a heart transplant, a kidney transplant and a brain transplant. You could also perform these transplants in an ambulance with various tools flying around on every bump in the road. This edition of Surgeon Simulator adds two new surgeries which were released on the mobile version of Surgeon Simulator. The first is an eye transplant, where you need to stab out your patient’s eye and replace them. The other is a tooth transplant where you need to, as you’d guess, break out your patient’s teeth and replace them. They’ve also added a new area to play in: in space. This means that you have zero gravity and everything can go flying everywhere. It’s pretty insane.

There’s no doubt that Surgeon Simulator 2013 inspired a whole host of YouTube Let’s Play fodder, designed to be played by the PewDiePie’s of the world. These “simulation” games, from Baking Simulator to Goat Simulator to Robot Vacuum Simulator, attempt to emulate the humor of Surgeon Simulator. However, with the slew of “funny simulator” games that have been released since the initial game, does the humor of Surgeon Simulator still hold up, or has it been drowned out in a sea of copycats? Thankfully, the macabre humor still holds up well. There’s something genuinely hilarious about using a hammer to beat out your patient’s teeth or trying to pop out their eye balls with scissors.

While the PC version allowed you for full movement of your fingers by using different keys, the PS4 version makes you use the shoulder buttons to control sets of fingers. This can be somewhat frustrating, especially if you are trying to grab a specific item like a small knife or a set of scissors. While the PS4 version works decently, the controls aren’t great for long playthroughs. By the time you’re finished, your hands will be cramped.

Surgeon Simulator Anniversary Edition is everything that was great about Surgeon Simulator 2013, but with more craziness. The humor is still incredibly dark and hilarious and, while the PS4 version’s controls leave something to be desired, it’s still incredibly fun to play. Surgeon Simulator was one of the first comedy simulation games and it’s still one of the best.

SCORE: 9.0 out of 10.

A code for Surgeon Simulator Anniversary Edition was provided to Pixel Related for review.

Still on the fence about Surgeon Simulator Anniversary Edition? Be sure to watch our stream of Surgeon Simulator Anniversary Edition below.