GameSpy Review of MadWorld

Platinum Games' MadWorld might be rated "M," but that doesn't mean it's a very mature game. It's a gleeful romp filled with decapitations, disembowelment, and language bluer than the sky. In other words, it's designed for the snickering 15 year-old in all of us. It's a huge obnoxious joke that's a fairly equal-opportunity offender. It also happens to be one of the best beat 'em ups to come along in some time. In an odd way, it hearkens back to the repetitive brawling games of Sega's past, such as Streets of Rage, albeit with a stronger dose of cynicism... and a chainsaw. It's one of the most unique games to grace the Wii.





In MadWorld's near-future dystopia, the island borough of Varrigan City has been blockaded off, and its numerous CCTV cameras have been converted from public safety wardens to voyeuristic devices. Varrigan has transformed from a sprawling city into a giant set for reality TV shows. "DeathWatch" is the top-rated show, a brutal bloodsport run by a secret group called "The Organizers." You play as Jack, a tough ex-Marine who's there to kill his way up to the massive cash prize. The more you play, though, the more you realize that these ideas merely tease at a more intricate unfolding plot.












MadWorld is a patchwork of pop-culture influences. It's easy to see strands of Frank Miller, Richard Bachman's "The Running Man," ultra-violent manga, the WWE and "Itchy & Scratchy" all combined in its virtual DNA. The first thing you'll notice is its highly-stylized visuals. It makes use of the same nearly-monochromatic color scheme as the film "Sin City," and like No More Heroes and killer7 before it, MadWorld offers a stylish visual splendor to accompany its wince-inducing brutality. It's also important to note that although MadWorld's graphic violence is initially appalling; its over-the-top approach is equally hilarious. Unlike the sadism of Manhunt 2, this game's approach to cruelty is far more "Happy Tree Friends" than pseudo-snuff film.





It's also bursting with insane characters, and that's not even counting "DeathWatch's" gutter-mouthed "sportscasters." Recalling the wacky level bosses of No More Heroes, MadWorld features a diverse rogue's gallery, ranging from Gestapo-like Herr Frederick Von Twirlenkiller, who boasts two airplane turbines on his arms, to sumo Yokozuna, who's so nice you've got to kill him thrice. There's also the Black Baron, a completely offensive pimp character who introduces each Bloodbath Challenges before getting brutally dispensed by one of his employees. But then, what's not offensive in a game in which the color commentators make jokes about cuckolds and anal sex? At points, the game even admits that some of its stereotypes are ridiculous. MadWorld doesn't just slay sacred cows, it seems to make a leather jacket from them, with a picture of a middle finger on the back.





It's also a deceptively simple game to play. You rack up points by grabbing goons and killing them via horrific means, usually via conveniently-placed environmental hazards. There are point multipliers for uniquely brutal kills, like jamming a tire over someone's body, jamming a sign post through his head, then tossing him onto a wall of spikes, dubbed "the rose bush." There are more than enough saw blades, spikes, and meat hooks around to keep the mayhem interesting. As you continue to rack up points for your carnage, you'll begin to unlock mini-games, and eventually, a boss encounter.

















The game starts off easily, and any strong-stomached Wii owner will be able to make it through the first few stages with few issues. Hardcore gamers can be forgiven for finding the beginning a tad repetitive. MadWorld indeed pays homage to the aforementioned Streets of Rage in the sense that enemies are fairly mindless, lack any pack mentality, and are as disposable as Kleenex.





Those same hardcore gamers would behoove themselves to stick around. There are some annoyances -- the camera control is fickle, to put it nicely -- but generally, if you can handle the redundancy of violence, you'll be fine. As the game progresses and the story picks up its difficulty increases, and just like in classic brawlers, there's an unforgiving continue system and a finite number of lives. After the first few stages MadWorld gets a lot better. Suddenly, that flick of the Nunchuk makes the difference between escaping an attack and losing a chunk of life. On each stage, Jack gets three lives (four, if you're good enough to collect a rare extra life icon), and by the later stages you'll be working hard to save as many lives as possible to survive boss encounters. As I learned the hard way, you'll flush away about 20 minutes of effort if you can't survive the boss battle. Arguably the biggest gripe that hardcore gamers might have is the length -- it's not exceptionally long. That said, a much longer game of this nature would likely be a grueling experience.












It's become a bit of a cliche to put cinematic button-pushing events into action games, but MadWorld's approach to this works well, thanks in part to the Wii itself. Button taps can be a bit annoying to remember, but in MadWorld's combat, a swing of the Remote feels more intuitive than remembering which button to tap on a split-second's notice. They're also well-tied into the experience. As you finish off each level boss, your motions will incorporate into the sanguinity onscreen. That means shaking the Remote and Nunchuk as Jack uses guns to strip the flesh off someone, or swinging the Remote to knock a boss into a fireworks cannon and launch him into Mt. Fuji. These sequences might annoy many hardcore gamers, but they make a nice fit for MadWorld's depraved action.





The game also makes great use of another Wii staple, mini-games. In Bloodbath Challenges, Jack has a set time limit to hit certain goals. In a subway level there's the "Rocket Reamer" mini-game, in which Jack tosses goons into the path of a bullet train for points. My personal favorite is "Man Golf," where Jack decapitates foes and sends their heads flying toward targets. It's arguably the most intuitive golf mini-game I've ever played. (I'm not sure what that says about me.) They're not all a complete success, though. In one mini-game, Jack must jam hyper-carbonated cola down goons' throats and send their exploding bodies hurling towards spikes. It sounds better in theory than in execution.





Make no mistake, MadWorld isn't just a re-warmed beat 'em up with a painted-on coat of nihilism. It's got an entertaining story that skewers our reality show-obsessed culture, equal-opportunity offensive humor that could make a Marine blush, and a dazzling visual style. It evokes the better elements of early '90s brawlers and updates them with a sensibility tailor-made for the Wii. It's got some annoyances -- a game of this nature is bound to get repetitive, some of the mini-games are duds, and the camera can become genuinely irritating at times -- but generally, MadWorld offers plenty of blood-spattered fun.

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