MadWorld

Running Man meets Sin City meets Evil Dead meets a semi truck full of F-Bombs

So a couple of months ago I picked up a copy of MadWorld. Seemed unique enough, and I figured it would satiate my bloodlust on the Wii. I played the first area, thought "meh, this is cool" and "isn't that the 'Whose Line' guy and Bender?" beat some ranked fighters and didn't touch it again. I didn't have any harsh feelings towards it.. no major gripes. It just didn't hook me. Well, last week I decided to give it another go. I don't know if I've just been feeling extremely hostile lately and just wanted to let loose on some poor suckers or I simply haven't heard the F-Bomb dropped enough, but I suddenly got it. I was locked in. Engaged out of nowhere.

Yeah thats just the first "boss"

Where at first I may have said that attacking just felt too random, that I didn't have any control over what I did to my enemies, I learned to take them out with extreme and satisfying prejudice. I'll put an tire over him.. then a sign.. yeah.. and another.. and another.. AND ANOTHER! Alright lets take a walk to this wall of spikes. Oh this is great! Now I know there are a lot of games that glorify violence. I've played them. Your Grand Theft Auto's your Manhunt's, what have you. But this one does it on a level I haven't experienced. So many weapons and traps. Oddly enough, occasionally I was reminded of Tecmo's Deception series.


Hold on! You've got something in your teeth. Let me shove this lamppost through your head and see if I can't get it

Mostly, the controls are pretty fluid. You will have the occasional "what the hell, I DID swing the Wiimote" moment but 9 times out of 10 it works just as you like it. You may get crowded by enemies and do the wrong thing to the wrong dude but its not like you won't have plenty more chances to make up for it.

The artstyle is hands down this games greatest asset. It is almost entirley unique. I say almost because it does borrow a bit from Frank Miller. But it adds so much character and style with comic book style "POW"s, "BANG"s and "KA-CHUNK"s. The character design stands out as each ranked fighter seems well defined and hugely entertaining. You almost crave more backstory on them. Especially in the Mad Castle area. What can I say? I'm a sucker for the old universal monsters. The mini-bosses are pretty great as well. From a fat Asian guy that rolls around like an armadillo to what I'm pretty sure is a cross breed between a Big Daddy and an elephant. They are a fun reprieve from the easy pickin's standard thugs.

Sound design is pretty great as well. I'm not a rap guy. But the soundtrack didn't grate on my nerves. It matched everything else in the game. Its better than say, cheesy metal riffs. Voice acting can be pretty hit and miss. Sometimes I really liked the cut scenes.. but other times not so much. I would put it up there with No More Heroes. The commentary on the other hand, while it sometimes felt like an 8 year old that just learned a bad word at wants to use it again and again, it was overall pretty entertaining. Sure it gets a little repetitive but you don't mind because Greg Proops and John DiMaggio are great! They actually had me laughing a couple of times. If they make a sequel I hope they bring them back!

By the time you get to the end of the game and fight your last title match, you feel like you've earned it. Sure it wasn't a 40 hour game.. or even 20.. hell, maybe not 10 but after all of the frantic mayhem, deaths (opponents and your own) and blood and guts (again, opponents and your own) you are ready to take the top spot. And for the most part its a pretty memorable final battle.

Now complaints, I have a few. Sometimes all of the white and black can hurt your eyes a bit. Don't know why. There were some camera complaints. I like control over my camera not just reseting it behind me. Taking on a ton of goons that are clones of each other can get a little annoying. Though with this many on screen enemies you can see why they had to do that. As stated before, voice acting can be a little cheesy. Could've been longer but playing through again with new weapons makes up for it. But my biggest complaint is not really knowing where the story was going. I'd be following for awhile then a twist would happen and I'd have no reason why or from where. Maybe I'm just not the sharpest lightbulb in the sock drawer.

Those are minor complaints really. Overall, this game is unique. A funny, intense, action packed, bloody effin game. So if you own a wii and have a strong constitution you owe it to yourself to give it a whirl.

(Note: I never touched the multiplayer. I know. How dare I review a game without trying out every fascist of the game?! But I just I never got around to it.

Score: 8.8