GoNintendo 'End of day' thoughts - Cort's MadWorld hands on impressions!

Man, am I happy that Cort has this fantastic article to kick off the weekend with. Not only does it provide you guys with something awesome to read about, it also cuts me a break!

For those that watched the live-stream podcast, you know that my laptop got hit by some nasty viruses. I’m not going to point fingers at the person that screwed around on the computer, but if you watched the podcast…you should have a pretty good idea!

I spent the last 8 hours fixing not one, but two computers. The good news is, all is well now! Everything is running in tip-top shape, and I am protected out the you-know-what. After all this extra work, I am absolutely beat! Thanks to Cort for putting together this awesome impressions piece, as well as giving me a break for the ‘Eod’ section. I always find his articles much more interesting! Now, it’s off to bed for me. See you in a few, short hours. - RMC

Yesterday I had the pleasure of visiting Sega’s offices out here in my new home of San Francisco to get a sneak preview of the über-mature MadWorld game slated for release in a couple short months this March.

A number of people have been taking notice of MadWorld for likely one of two reasons:

One, it’s a title so brimming with murderous violence it makes Double Dragon more like Julie Finds a Way, and movies like Hostel and Saw look like Mary bleeding Poppins, literally.

Two, the art style is second to none, which is no surprise considering some of the dev team has worked on Okami and Viewtiful Joe. Being stylised like so much Frank Miller graphic novel, the boldness of a stark black and white world is hard to ignore visually. It can be difficult to tell from small images, but in motion on a TV, things are much less “busy”; the depth of field compensates to help all that contrast pop quite cleanly. (Click images to enlarge detail.)

I got to see one level and play another, complete with bloodsport challenges where you face over the top scenarios too gruesome to be considered “mini-games”. Plus they blend in with the rest of the action… feeling more like boss battles than mere diversions.

For example, the first part of the level is straight up brawling, where your goal is to wander the level eviscerating any and everyone to rack up points. Once you reach the prescribed threshold, you test your mettle against one of the blood sports, like “Man Darts”, which is exactly what you’re imagining it to be: a giant dart board festooned with the glitz and flair of The Price is Right where the goal is to use a bat to beat, then launch streetwalkers home run-style onto the various point zones of the board. I had a knack for scoring the triple 6, further cementing the notion in my mind that evil lurks within.

Now we didn’t get much into the story or plot of things (it seems set in a kind of sadistic deathmatch game show from what I gather), but there are some pretty slick cut scenes between levels that introduce the forthcoming mayhem. While these interstitial scenes are pretty with comic book visual effects and all, they and the storyline may very well wind up being little more than lip service to the real purpose at hand: to break, bash and saw the crap out of everything; something it does very well.

So about all this madness: the controls are fairly simple and straight forward:

• A is the main action button, use it to maul people; spam the button to pull off various combos that are context sensitive.
• Hold the A button to pick people and things up; use a throwing motion while grasping something to give it a toss… into another person, into an environmental hazard, whatever you choose. We’ve seen the “rosebush” manoeuvre before, but a few other things I got to experience: tossing someone into an electrified sign, a spiky dumpster, fan blades, and a giant meat press. Careful though, what hurts them can hurt you too!
• Use the B-trigger to whirl up the chains on your saw a bit. Then give the Wiimote a swing (and yes, it registers the difference between a vertical or horizontal swipe, so you can cut someone in half at the waist or right down the middle like a banana peel).
• C (nunchuk) centres the camera behind. You’ll use it a lot as you spin around looking for trouble.
• Z (nunchuk) jumps.
• Giving the nunchuck a shake will avoid/block/dodge enemy onslaught.
• There are also context sensitive finishing moves that make use of motion controls; we didn’t cover much of this aspect today, but they clearly add a few more coins to to the jukebox of merriment on screen.
• And it should be noted that you score more points for varying your kill methods up with some creativity, getting you to your goal quicker.

Finally, a word on the audio. The music is pretty hip, and matches the edgy, urban visual vibe. It lacks the cheese you might find in other titles (cough, cough Sonic), and is all original, including some artists discovered from the local Tokyo scene for example. The game is filled with explosive amounts of dialogue, voice acting, etc. Again, we’re not talking Sonic voice acting here… this is genuine, Triple-F street language. I heard more Effenheimers in one level than a whole afternoon with the Boondock Saints (link NSFW), plus some really satisfying cues that reacted to the on-screen action.

For someone not into a lot of violence in my movies or games, I loved every minute, which says a lot. Maybe it’s the art/comic styling that suspends the realism and diffuses the brutality, but the bottom line remains: there is nothing pedestrian about this game; it’s completely over the top–a mature action game with the dial cranked to 11. I can’t wait to strangle my Wiimote for the next session. –cortjezter