MadWorld

Review from Phil - Thursday, 28 May 2009 @ 11:31am

Last year I remember seeing a trailer for MadWorld. At the time it really made its mark on me, even to the point where I commented to friends that MadWorld could possibly be the most disturbing game ever made. Silent Hill, Fatal Frame, all of that psychological horror has nothing on the concept of killing for entertainment. That is what Madworld is all about, as you dismember opponents and spray blood for miles around in the hopes of pleasing fans who enjoy watching death. I eagerly anticipated Madworld on the hopes that it could actually live up to my expectation of bringing games to a whole new level of violence.

It doesn't.

Now, I'm not some violence-crazed freak like some young disturbed internet users of this modern age. In fact, I am completely and utterly put off by any kind of violence outside the video game medium. In fact, the difference between real life violence and video game violence is so gigantic to me that I could never think gaming would drive anyone to act out what they play. That's why I was so eagerly wanting Madworld to be good, so I could have the maximum violence in a completely controllable environment.

He doesn't look mad. Just disappointed.

The main character had the chance to be a brutal, sarcastic and ultimately despicable sadist, but instead they opted to choose a stock-standard beefcake male design, coupled with a stock-standard cheesy American voice actor, topped off with the most stock-standard overused Hollywood name in existence.

Jack.

Yes, we all know the name Jack is cool. After all, it was used by Pirates of the Caribbean, 24, Lost, Gears of War, Far Cry, BioShock, Metal Gear Solid, and many more hugely popular franchises. Stop it. Just, stop it.

So, after all the hype that Madworld would do things a little differently, it starts out in a pretty gosh darn predictable fashion. Still, it is a brawler, and the key selling point is how it plays. Thankfully, it's an enjoyable enough romp, with violence and gore a plenty,

Jack has his chainsaw arm, naturally reminiscent of Ash from Evil Dead, and he uses it to dispose of enemies extremely quickly. You can rev it up and swipe heads off, but that doesn't net you all that many creative violence points. Each stage has a points goal, which must be attained within a certain time limit. You're essentially given a virtual playground, masquerading as an open city but generally very small and linear. Enemies will spawn all the time, and you can use many items to get more creative and rack up the points quicker.

I got a chainsaw, I got a chainsaw, I got a chainsaw hey hey hey hey!

For example, the standard combo involves whopping a rubber tire around some grunt's body, ramming a street sign through his skull, and then (because a metal pole in the brain isn't enough to kill these days) smashing him repeatedly against a wall of giant spikes, affectionately called a "rosebush". That nets you a healthy swag of points. As you make your way throughout the city with its various districts, you'll find yourself quickly surveying each area to find out where the spikes are, so you know exactly where to go for massive damage when you grab hold of some anonymous grunt.

There's many other ways to dispatch baddies, but since I'm already going to spoil my conclusion that Madworld is worth a rental, it's best to find these out for yourself. Several moments had me vocally spouting such phrases like "Badass!" and "Wicked cool!" while high-fiving all my buddies. I'm still down with the lingo that the kids dig. Tubular!

So that's about all there is to the main game. Play through the city, chop up dudes, listen to the over-the-top commentary and humour, then partake in a few boss fights / set pieces / QTEs every so often. It starts off with a blast, but the depth just isn't there to sustain interest for very long. It's short, but if it were any longer gamers would be ejecting the disc and booting up something more dynamic. Like, Wii Fit or something.

This is gonna get worse before it gets better...

Motion controls are implemented frequently, but work well for the select situations in which they arise. Usually just back-and-forth motions, they feel suitably awesome the first several times you execute killing moves, and they don't really become annoying once the novelty wears off. Boss fights usually have some motion waggling, and the on-screen indicator pretty much tells you to flail your arms about wildly, but it seems to work just fine. MadWorld is a good example of action done well in motion.

The in-your-face graphics are good, and I kind of dig the black and white colour scheme, but the comic book style feels really out of place. Like I said earlier, MadWorld had a chance to become something violently significant, but by adding the wacky comic book feel and cartoonish qualities, it almost cheapens the whole experience until you feel like you're playing a kids picture book that someone sprayed with red paint. It seems Little Billy has been having nightmares lately! Each area in the city is supposedly different, but thanks to the lack of colour, there really won't be much to distinguish one from another. It's all a mess of black, white and red, and while it's a good mess to play around in, eventually you'll be wishing someone cleaned it up.

So no, MadWorld isn't the saviour of the Wii, which descended from heaven to single-handedly convert all hardcore 360 and PS3 owners to the ways of the Wii. What it is, though, is a very compentent brawler that had a good home and should probably be played by just about every adult gamer out there at some point.

Pros

Killing, killing and more killing. Those will an insatiable lust for blood will find it, and find many ways to spill it. The black and white graphics only accentuate the impact of seeing red spurt out of someone's face.

Cons

Very shallow, and ultimately doesn't provide the landmark action/violence experience everyone was hoping for on the Wii. A step in "a" (not "the") right direction for Nintendo, but more refinement is needed before we see Johnny Hardcore ditch his COD4 for a Wiimote.