preview
Throwing generic enemies underneath spikes never felt so good.
After getting the chance to play MadWorld at the New York Comic Con, it appears to live up to its hype.
The game is very easy to pick up and play thanks to the simple-yet-deep controls. The Nunchuk is used for a variety of things besides movement with the analog. The Z button jumps and the C button centers the camera behind the main character, Jack. The camera can also be manipulated by holding C and moving the analog stick.
A basic gesture of the Wii Remote does a powerful melee attack while the A button is used to do basic punches and kicks. The B button activates whatever weapon you're wielding at the time; in my case, the chainsaw. You use the weapon with a Wii Remote swipe. When the A button is held near an enemy, Jack grabs the enemy. Gesturing with the Wii Remote then throws the enemy. However, if the enemy is squirming, you have to shake the Nunchuk and then Jack head butts the sucker into submission. As you stun enemies, the ability to finish them off in an absurdly violent manner becomes available. If you press B at the correct time (when "Finish" appears on the screen) and then do the correct gesture, as indicated on screen, you perform a powerful finishing move. In the demo, I did such things as sawing off an enemy's legs and then stomping his head, and ripping a person in two.
The gore factor in this game is high, but it's extremely stylized so it's not unsettling. MadWorld is all about stylistically killing people to earn points. It's very satisfying when you notice a fan off to the side and then knock an enemy into it, only to see him be cut into pieces moments later. After I accrued a certain amount of points, I unlocked a "Bloodbath Challenge," which appears to be the category that the infamous Man Darts mini-game falls into.
The Bloodbath Challenge that I played, called Death Press, involved throwing baddies into a hole in the ground where a big spiked platform would fall into and then rise. It was very simple, but it was a lot of fun. There are a lot of really nice touches. For example, when you grab an opponent, you are automatically turned to face the hole. Also, as you throw more and more enemies into certain doom, the hole fills up with blood and the bodies begin to float in. It sounds very morbid, but the effect is really impressive.
MadWorld doesn't seem to be an overly complicated game, but it seems to do everything it intends to do wonderfully and with a lot of style. Color me black, white, red, and excited for this delightfully gory game.
Here is MadWorld's latest gameplay trailer.
MadWorld
MadWorld
