A black and white gore-fest that proves Wii is, once again, the king of hyper-violence.
Last year, Suda 51 stunned gamers with the Kill Bill-esque super-violent action title No More Heroes. It was a cyber-punk anime adventure that left Wii players in a daze. Now, one year later, SEGA has come along and topped No More Heroes mind-numbing violence with MadWorld. In MadWorld, you control a man named Jack, just Jack. As Jack it is your job to take down a terrorist threat that has lockdown Jefferson Island and is holed up in Verrigan City. To take down the threat you must compete in the ultimate bloodsport DeathWatch, and work your way to the top of the ladder. The story is fun, and crazy. The only qualm I have is torwards the end of the game, the story all of sudden starts getting very complex, and DeathWatch has a deep purpose now. MadWorld seems to be a game that would benefit from a story being light on the details, and not one that would cause you to think. It ends up hurting the story, and the fun, a bit for me.
The gameplay, where MadWorld truly shines, more than makes up for the dull narrative. As a beat 'em title, you think you'd be limited to hack and slash and punching. Here, that is most certainly not the case. Jack has a handy chainsaw attatched to his arm for gory results. You can also use post signs, tires, fan blades, spikes, flames, and many more options to dispose of your enemies. Not to mention, in most levels there is a DeathWatch Challenge where you get to play a little minigame for more points which you need to unlock weapons, the boss battle, and even the challenge on each stage. In these challenges you get to play things like Man Darts where you hit opponents with a spiked bat onto a dart board. These challenges provide extra variety to a game that's already brimming with it. After awhile, impaling enemies may get a little tiresome, but the campaign only lasts 5-7 hours, so it's over before you can really get bored.
MadWorld's visual style is quite unique. It's presented in complete black and white except for blood which retains its natural color. At times the graphics can get a little annoying, but for the most part it holds up very well. The main problem with it though is that things in the game, especially bosses, tend to lose their impact due to the presentation. Everything seems to get lost and forgotten after completion.
This bloody escapade also has a few more tricks up its sleeve in presentation. One thing is that MadWorld has a very upbeat, and catchy hip-hop soundtrack for you to listen to while you're slicing enemies from foot to head. And one of the most shining aspects of the game is a pair of foul-mouthed announcers that narrate all the action throughout the tournament. They're unbelievably hilarious, and never become bothersome. The game can be a little loud though with the chainsaw, which also comes out of your Wiimote speaker, and the soundtrack making things hard to hear and just seem mashed together. All in all though, MadWorld is a solid beat 'em up that revels in its satire of bloodlust. A super-violent game that has a plethora of gameplay options that never leave you tired, and a presentation that most games can only dream of. It's no No More Heroes, but it's the next best thing, and it proves, just like Suda's game did in '08, that no one does hyper-violence better than Wii.