Review: Madworld (Wii)

Author: Tigervamp | Date: April 7, 2009

If a worldwide poll was taken right now on which videogame company meant the most to people it would no doubt be a close call between Sega and Nintendo. The significant dent made by Sony and Microsoft in recent years is admirable but still pales in comparison with those industry veterans. I was fortunate enough to own both the Megadrive and SNES as a kid but, while I appreciated what each had to offer, I preferred Sega’s console as it provided something different to Nintendo’s offering. I would liken the SNES to the established and conservative BBC while I saw the Megadrive as more of a fresh and edgy Channel 4. Mortal Kombat is something which has stuck in my mind to this day and when faced with the choice between a Megadrive version featuring blood and a SNES version with more family friendly sweat there was only one winner. For many people this decision damaged the level of respect they had for Nintendo and in some ways they have been paying the price to this day. There is no doubt in my mind that this family friendly policy has helped make the Nintendo Wii the huge success it is today but the tides may be slowly changing with some much needed adult material appearing on the console, enter Madworld.

Madworld reminds me of that over the top cheesy classic The Running Man with its ultra violent “reality” based survival gameshow and the basic but entertaining story here is on par with that. You take control of Jack who is even beefier than Ben Richards (Arnie) from that film with a similar no-nonsense attitude and as the game progresses he is shown to have quite a lot in common with Richards. Jack is normally a solid name for a character but is littered with contradictions. For every Jack “I like to torture terrorists” Bauer from 24 you have a Jack “I like removing my top and pouting” Shephard from Lost, but rest assured that the Jack in Madworld is much more like the former. Those familiar with The Running Man will see Jack’s chainsaw and be reminded of Buzzsaw from the film and may also remember this gem relating to the demise of that particular foe: “what happened to Buzzsaw?” – “he had to split”. Arnie magic!

I had a great deal of fun with this game and as with anything else I enjoy I wish there was more of it on offer. The thing people must keep in mind is that this is very much an arcade style of game and the replay value comes not just from the harder difficulty setting but in the pursuit of a higher score and this makes it a lot like Sega’s other recent Wii title, House of the Dead: Overkill.

The black and white visuals are stunning and, with everything looking as though it jumped straight out of a graphic novel, is reminiscent of Frank Miller’s Sin City in style as well as content. If beating a crazed thug over the head with a baseball bat and finishing him off by impaling him on a wall of spikes sounds like something you’d like to do in a game then this will be right up your street. If that’s not your thing then perhaps one of the other options would be more to your liking. You can pummel the enemies with your substantial fists, force a sign post through their bodies, throw them into a dumpster and watch as the lid slams down and chops them in half, electrocute them, and of course use your retractable chainsaw to slice and dice them. Lots of blood and violence? Yes. Lots of fun? YES!

I’ll leave you with one more quote from The Running Man, this time from the organiser Killian, which I think sums up Madworld pretty well.

This is television, that’s all it is. It has nothing to do with people, it’s to do with ratings! For fifty years, we’ve told them what to eat, what to drink, what to wear… for Christ’s sake, Ben, don’t you understand? Americans love television. They wean their kids on it. Listen. They love game shows, they love wrestling, they love sports and violence. So what do we do? We give ‘em *what they want*! We’re number one, Ben, that’s all that counts, believe me. I’ve been in the business for thirty years.

9/10