‘MadWorld’ Review (Nintendo Wii)

Comic style graphics, brilliant VO, F-Bombs to make Sam Jackson cringe, and enough blood to make Freddy Krueger and Jason Voorhees jealous have all come to the Nintendo Wii. The world has indeed gone mad. MadWorld that is - Sega’s second must have Wii game for 2009. The new brutally destructive and viciously blood-spattered action game developed by Platinum Games and published by Sega is one title that’s sure to bring back adult gamers to the Wii.

Between House of the Dead: Overkill and MadWorld it’s clear that Sega is making 2009 the year it raises the bar on blood, vulgarity and downright fun in video games. Clearly the excessive use of blood and F-bombs may dissuade certain pious audiences from partaking in these titles, but who cares. These games were designed for a particular audience that delights in excessive blood spatter.

MadWorld is Platinum Games’ tribute to movies like Sin City. The game is designed with a pure black and white motif with a comic book feel. As you play through each level, the character models feel like they’ve been ripped right from the pages of a comic book. Coincidentally, I recently played Sonic’s Ultimate Collection from Sega, that has a Genesis game called Comix Zone that tries for this comic style delivery. MadWorld, however, is the first game that truly captures that world of comics on a console game.

Granted you’ll never be able to compare graphics on the Wii with that of the Xbox 360 or PS3, but Platinum Games new that in designing this title. Instead of trying to push the limits of the Wii with graphics that would cause excessive lag in gameplay, they opted to build a game that focuses on the Wii’s core strengths. So, instead of getting your real time rendering fix you get a uniquely satisfying taste of artistic mastery covered in buckets of oh so tasty blood.

Did I mention that red was the only color you’ll see in MadWorld besides black and white? You won’t just see red; you’ll bath in it. From the moment you begin your practice tour in MadWorld you’ll be tasked with making your enemies bleed in as many ways as are inhumanly possible. So, don’t be too quick about slicing your opponents down from head to groin with your chainsaw, which our hero Jack’s got has for an arm. Instead, decide on a more grotesque end for your enemies. MadWorld really wins out on the creative ways you can finish off your prey. You can come off with some serious combos by putting a tire over someone, and then stabbing a sign through their head, then tossing them into a flaming barrel, before finally throwing them onto the train tracks to be run over by a subway car. One time I even ripped off the head of a bullheaded victim and used that to bash an enemy’s head with. It was hilarious seeing this punk-rocker walk around with an entirely new head.

The world is fully interactive so if you see something that looks like it could be use to maim your victim – you can use it. See a commercial garbage can? Throw your opponent into it and watch his body be severed in half when it closes. See a random spike protruding from the ground, throw your enemy right on top and watch him get impaled from groin to head. Ouch. Or, simply see your opponent get sliced up by a blood thirsty mechanical turbine. Yikes! The point system here is great and with each added form of torture you discover – you’ll get an additional point multiplier. So, explore… explore… explore.

The boss fights are truly spectacular. Each boss has his own personality that will intimidate even the most hardened gamer. The first boss was actually one of the toughest, simply for the Wii-controls used to fight back. This giant beast picked me up, and I had to pump the living daylights out of my Wii-mote and Nunchuk in order to break free. The end result was a satisfying stab to the head with my chainsaw when I broke free. The only bad part was I was almost too exhausted to go on. Almost. Unfortunately, if you lose all your lives while fighting the boss you’ll have to go right back to the beginning of the level. I felt like I was thrown back into the 1990s when I discovered this.

On the downside, the gameplay suffers a little from the AI. Only one opponent will attack you at a time, which takes down the difficulty factor on this game. Also, the camera movements can be very clunky at times, so you’ll have to continuously press the C button to reclaim your perspective.

John DiMaggio, aka Bender from Futurama, delivers some of the most hysterical play-by-play VO in gaming history. He’s joined by Greg Proops who, together, deliver laugh-out-loud irreverent commentary. They once remarked on why Jack is the only one who can see the power up items. I love games like that that don’t take themselves to seriously and can make fun of their own design without compromising the title’s integrity.

MadWorld is one game to buzz about and is a must purchase for anyone needing a healthy helping of all out blood spatter. Unfortunately, the game suffers from a very short run time; you’ll easily be able to beat the game in less than six hours. The AI could have benefited from a multi-enemy attack boost, but all in all this is one game worth checking out. With House of the Dead: Overkill and MadWorld, Sega has successfully delivered two titles this year, that would make me want to own a Wii if I didn’t already have one.