MadWorld Review: Has Platinum Games Delivered the Gold?

With the addition of House of the Dead: Overkill to the Nintendo Wii’s library earlier this year it’s obvious that Nintendo are trying to broaden the collection of mature games available for their console. With a little help from their old nemesis, Sega, the Nintendo Wii welcomed MadWorld to its system, but has it stepped up to the marks?

The same problem with a lot of Wii games is that the novelty of shaking a Wiimote around and watching your character react in a manner that is vaguely similar to your movements has begun to wear off. For instance feigning throwing an enemy into a skip and watching the results as the container lid snaps shut cutting him in half, can be jaw-dropping. The main element of MadWorld is fun. If you’re looking for a game that requires skill and strategic thinking then this isn’t one for you.

MadWorld is based around a fictional televised game show called Death Watch; the premise being contestants kill each other to become the top-ranked fighter and win a huge cash prize. You play as Jack Cayman, the ‘enigmatic’ chain-smoking, testosterone fuelled, chainsaw wielding contestant with an ulterior motive. The player’s goal is to hack n’ saw your way through to the top-rank.

On each level the gamer is given 30 minutes to rack up the required points to summon the level’s boss and continue. Points are gained by killing enemies, where the number of enemies you kill at one time and the circumstances on how you dispatch them raises your score considerably. Generic enemies pose little threat to the player, as the chainsaw attack can kill with one hit; however the fun comes when the player chooses to use his surroundings to butcher his enemies. While the options are certainly not endless, there is space for the player to be creative and afflict a chain of attacks on an enemy, leaving them disassembled on the floor.

Throughout each level exist Bloodbath Challenges allowing the player to rack up more style points in the form of some bizarre, violent and sometimes chuckle inducing mini-games. For instance, the first challenge requires Jack to throw as many contestants into a giant wind turbine in an allotted time, without getting himself sucked into the rotating blades.

Looking at MadWorld from a distance you could easily refer its visual style to that of Sin City, and while you would be right in comparing the visuals of the game to the work of Frank Miller. MadWorld is a slapstick game, potentially a parody of the more hardcore games.

The audio work is at a high standard too with screams of pain and ripping of bodies sounding excellent. Though the in-game music takes a back seat, it’s for a perfectly justified reason; namely the games announcers, Howard “Buckshot” Holmes, played by improve comedian Gregg Proops and Kreese Kreeley played by John DiMaggio, voice of Futurama’s Bender and Gears of War’s Marcus Fenix. The dialogue between these two announcers provides comical moments to compliment the gameplay; however some parts of the script repeat during several moments in the game.

A multiplayer option is available, which doesn’t seem like a complete after thought like with some games. The two-player option opens up the Bloodbath Challenges and puts players up against each other to see who can rack up the most points. It’s a great laugh and gives two mates something to do on a dull Friday night.

The game is frenetic, flippant and fun and manages to keep a stylish look at the same time. It offers a few hours of gaming entertainment and is certainly a worthy addition to the Nintendo Wii’s mature archive.

7/10