Overview:

System: Wii Exclusive
Developer: Platinum Games
Publisher: Sega
Genre: Action

Sega is really doing big things with Nintendo’s little white box. Though the two were, at one time, mortal enemies, the house that Sonic built is quickly becoming one of the biggest third-party supporters behind Nintendo’s system. The House of the Dead: Overkill treated Wii gamers to a zombie-blasting bloodbath. The upcoming title The Conduit is a game everyone is talking about. And here we are with MadWorld, one of the most stylish, violent, funny, and just pure bad ass games of this generation on any system.

Review:

I don’t usually start my reviews with discussion of graphics, but that is the first thing anybody notices about MadWorld. This is easily the most stylish game on the Wii, this generation, possibly ever. The boys at Platinum games created an entire world consisting of only 4 colors. Every object in the game, with some minor exceptions, is renderred in pure high contrast black and white, the gallons of blood you’ll spill on your journey are a solid red, and the words that pop up on-screen are yellow. It’s beautiful.

A lot of people seem to think that the black and white would make it hard to tell what you are looking at, but Platinum put so much time and effort into making sure each object in the world is easily distinguishable that problems with differentiating objects arise only rarely.

MadWorld is easily the Wii’s definition of style.

And since I started out with the visuals, I figured we could go ahead and cover the games sound design. Brilliant. Everything from voice acting to sound effects work wondrously. Most notable are the performances of the commentators and the game’s music.

The commentators are absolutely hilarious in a downright “Fuck you, Mom” sort of way. You will constantly find yourself laughing out loud at some of the stuff they say. But if heavy cursing isn’t your thing then you might want to try to tone them out. Then again if you aren’t man enough to play a game that set the Guinness World Record for most swearing in a single video game then Madworl isn’t your cup of tea. Because tea is lame. Men drink blood.

The other thing that deserves special recognition is the music of MadWorld. While I’m not a gat toting gangsta from da hood I am able to appreciate good hip hop, and this game is full of it. You’ll find yourself bobbing your head and tapping your subconciously to the tunes that are playing in the background, take a moment of time out of your blood soaked day to appreciate the music, and then throw some sorry sucker in front of a train. MadWorld has a brilliant original soundtrack that is sure to be nominated for an award or two at the end of this year.

Now on to the gameplay! MadWorld is funner than Hell. Period. No game on any system can provide you with the satisfaction of trapping an enemy’s hands at his side, running a signpost through his head, and bashing his quivering corpse repeatedly against a wall of spikes. Even basic attacks like slicing a foe in half feel disgustingly rewarding when you see the gallons of blood spray out of his lifeless corpse.

MadWorld does have its fair share of flaws, of course. The control layout, for instance, will take just a little bit of getting used to and doesn’t seem as intuitive and standard as it perhaps should. But once you get the hang of it that complaint goes right out the door.

Another thing is the lock-on system. Instead of just tapping the C button to initiate lock-on and tapping it again to cycle through available foes you are forced to press and hold the button for about a second before anything happens. And when you push C again thinking you’re going to cycle to the next baddie you just lose your target. There were several other, more intuitive ways this lock-on system could’ve been done, but this was just a questionable design choice.

Final Words:

All in all, MadWorld proves itself as being a truly fun, graphically stylish, somewhat innovative beat-em-up. Some of the kills in this game are so unbelievably gruesome that you might find yourself wondering if you should call the police on yourself for enjoying ripping a man in half above your head and letting his blood rain over your body.

It’s an amazing game that everyone with a Wii should pick up.

And in case our opinion isn’t enough, check out reviews by our friends SuperPhillip Central and World 1-1!

Pros

• Ultra-stylish visuals
• Killer soundtrack
• Hilarious commentary
• Brilliant combat

Cons

• Controls take a little getting used to
• Lock-on system

Score:

Overall: 8.75/10 (Great)

Gameplay: 8.5/10 (Super fun)
Graphics: 9.5/10 (Brilliantly stylized black and white visuals)
Audio: 9.0/10 (Hilarious commentary and brilliant soundtrack)
Entertainment Value: 8.0/10 (Once it’s over, it’s over)

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