I wrote this up the week of MadWorld’s release, which is the over the top and ultra violent action game released back in March for the Wii. I was incredibly excited about it, and did multiple posts on this blog and on Press X to Win hyping it. I expected it to be one of the best, if not the best Wii game of the year. These impressions from back in March generally reflect my final opinions on the game, and although it’s no longer my favorite Wii game of the year (Punch-Out!! holds that title right now), it’s definitely very high up there as one of my favorite Wii titles.
Let me start by saying that the game does live up to my lofty expectations, and I have a lot to talk about here. Is it violent? Yes. Is is ridiculous? Yes. Does it have problems? Yes. But is it fun? Oh hell yes. MadWorld is pretty much God Hand, plus violence and gore, a more serious story (believe it or not), and a hard mode that is just as difficult as God Hand’s hard mode. It’s quite the experience, let me tell you.
What makes MadWorld so good? Let’s start with that, more specifically, the visual design. The game has the most unique art style I’ve seen in any video game. I’m not calling it the “best,” just the most unique; Clover’s other true beauty, Okami, still takes that prize from my perspective. People think the black and white art style will cause problems, making it hard to navigate, with everything eventually looking the same. I don’t know where people got these crazy ideas, but they are incredibly wrong; the environments are incredibly easy to navigate (well, for the most part, you just have to avoid the traps) and there really is never any problem with “being lost” if you use the handy map.
Next, let’s talk the sound, more specifically the voice acting. First, Steve Blum does a fantastic job as the sometimes sarcastic, but very mysterious Jack. He’s the game’s lead character, and provides the best “badass” voice you can imagine for a guy with a chainsaw strapped to his arm. The announcers are the stand out performances, with Greg Proops from Whose Line is it Anyway fame, and John DiMaggio, known for his work as Bender from Futurama and Marcus Fenix from Gears of War. Both announcers are spot on with each kill, and it feels like they are there, watching everything happening, and announcing it live. There are some problems with some lines being overused, but I’m on my second playthrough now and I’m still hearing lines and dialog I’ve never heard before. Overall, both of them are hilarious and absolutely vulgar; the perfect announcers for “Death Watch.”
The story is pretty generic…at first. I won’t delve too far into it, but lets just say there are a few key plot twists, and the story is actually surprisingly involving, although it does generally take a back seat to everything else happening in the game. But I’m glad that the developers didn’t just tack on a story, it all works around the Death Watch competition and it was well done for what it was. I must say I was pleasantly surprised with it by the end of the game.
Now let’s get into the real meat and potatoes, the gameplay. Basically, the game boils down to this: You run around a different environment, kill people in the most unique and sadistic ways, and you earn points for these kills. The points you earn unlocks different things on the stage, like extra lives, new weapons, and sometimes it unleashes a “mini-boss” type character or starts a new death trap. You have to earn enough points overall to gain access to the boss fight for that stage, and then once you beat the boss, it moves on to the next area/level.
Every once in a while, a Bloodbath Challenge is triggered, in which you have a set amount of time to kill opponents in a very fun mini-game. From Man Darts to Death Press, each game is excellently designed and they can all be replayed once you finish the level in a two player multiplayer mode. Plus, every once in a while, you unlock a new Bloodbath Challenge on an old level, which makes returning and replaying each level even more fun. These challenges are a great addition to the game, and thanks to a hilarious introduction by the mysterious Black Baron, you learn exactly what you have to do for each. Some are more complex than you would think, but all are very fun.
Let’s talk about the boss fights. Each fight, like another very fun, original, and violent game for the Wii (No More Heroes) offers a different challenge, and most of them are pretty memorable. They all start out pretty each, but get more complex as you move on, and it all leads up to a final showdown with…well, I won’t say, but let’s just say that the top ranked person was pretty unexpected and the best fight in the entire game. It’s a great way to end the game.
Those worried about the challenge of the game, don’t. I had some problems on the normal difficulty setting, but it’s pretty easy for the most part. It does get more difficult in the later stages, but I definitely suggest those who just breezed through the game to play it again on hard. It’s almost like a completely different game, trust me on this. Those looking for a challenge will find it with MadWorld, as I find it to be one of the more difficult games I’ve played in quite some time.
The controls work, for the most part. The Wii motions during the specific deaths don’t feel tacked on, they all work incredibly well, and they are all pretty well executed (no pun intended…well, maybe it was). But I did have some problems. First, the camera can be a bit annoying, since you have no way to control it, you can only center it behind your character using the C button on the Nunchuck. Also, locking on is a bit of an annoyance as well, since you have to hold C to lock on and it’s quite specific on how close you have to be to the enemy before you can actually lock on to them. It takes some getting used to, and after a while I never had too much trouble with them, but they are some minor problems I had with the game.
Overall, MadWorld is a resounding success, as it is pretty much some of the most fun I’ve had with a game this generation. Is it my favorite game on the Wii? No, surprisingly enough, No More Heroes still holds that spot (next to Punch-Out!! now), but MadWorld is very close to the top in my book. I hope there are more games like this, and No More Heroes, on the Wii, and it’s good to see the newly formed Platinum Games is already off to a fantastic start.
What’s next for them? Bayonetta, for the 360/PS3, and from the creator of Devil May Cry. I’m not as excited about it as I was for MadWorld, but it’s definitely near the top of my list as a highly anticipated game for this year. But as it stands, MadWorld is probably the best way to show people that Platinum Games is pretty much the heart and soul of Clover Studios; the name may be different, but Clover/Platinum is still one of the best developers around, and MadWorld is the best proof of this. If you own a Wii, I can’t recommend MadWorld enough.
