MadWorld

Well here I am with another title from Sega, to which its tongue is firmly sticking into cheek. Some of you may remember my review of House of the Dead: Overkill and its rather colourful voice acting. Well MadWorld is following suit with dishing out the profanities, though House of the Dead can rest easy with its recent award from the Guinness book of world records for the most swear words held in a gaming title.

Though with that said, what MadWorld lacks in profanities compared to Overkill, it more than makes up for it in the violence stakes as you will soon discover that the crimson flows thick and fast through the streets of Varrigan City, which again warrants a BBFC 18 certificate with good right.

Our protagonist for this outing is a stereotypical grizzled hard man, named Jack, who acts cooler than the proverbial cucumber in the face of insurmountable odds, equipped with a prosthetic right arm which conceals his deadly chainsaw of death. All of which, in a stylised black and white theme akin to Sin City with subtle influences from western comic books, makes this a refreshing change from the usual push towards realism. This could also explain to how Sega have been able to get away with the level of violence within the game for Nintendo to allow this on the Wii.

So the story starts off with an introduction to the mysterious sponsor only known as XIII, looking for a potential volunteer to sponsor to participate in the Death Watch games. Some local uncouth inhabitants are seen beating seven shades of black and white out of each other with one yobbo coming out on top, seemingly acquiring XIII's sponsorship. Then out of the shadows steps Jack challenging the victor for sponsorship and with one deft punch the opponent is out for the count with Jack then obtaining the sponsor of XIII.

The game then takes you to a brief tutorial level allowing you to become accustomed to the relatively easy control system, utilising both Wiimote and nunchuck, the 'chuck stick' moves jack around with the Z button to jump and the C button to lock onto targets or reset the camera to view Jack from behind. Flicking the nunchuck makes Jack back flip out of danger or if you are currently holding a local yobbo, you then head butt the said yobbo into a stunned state. If you feel particularly mean, keep flicking the nunchuck until you make your opponents head 'pop'.

The A button allows you to grab items or foes along with dishing out quick repetitive jabs, while the B button lets you unsheathe the chainsaw - this has its own meter which decreases and replenishes over time, so while you can't run about causing havoc constantly you also don't have to look out for any pick-ups to refill the gauge.
Finally, swinging the Wiimote horizontally allows you to swipe away at enemies while a vertical motion uppercuts adversaries into the air sometimes allowing for a rather brutal finisher involving your chainsaw while the opponent is still airborne. The same motions applied while having your chainsaw out simply just slashes in those directions. 

After your basic moves come more complex and brutal ways of dispatching your enemies, the more complex the move is the more points Death Watch award you, so be imaginative in your methods of killing and the points come rolling in. For example simply punching someone into submission may get you 3000 points while throwing a tyre over them, then impaling them with a sign post before repeatedly impaling them on a spiked wall, known as a rose bush, could net you in excess of 25000 points.

Each level contains additional weapons such as spiked bats or butterfly knives which unlock at certain point totals, additionally 'Bloodbath Challenges' can be unlocked which are basically little mini games held within the confines of your location. These allow you to obtain even more points for your ever increasing total, a personal favourite being 'Man Darts'; I'm sure you can guess what's involved in that one. Each challenge is introduced by the Black Baron, a trash talking pimp who then gives a brief description of what each challenge involves, before getting swiftly dispatched in that very method by his Debbie McGee like assistant. Whilst watching the cut scene was initially humourous, the novelty quickly wore off after the third or fourth challenge.

While you rampage through the streets painting the town red, quite literally too, your actions are commentated by Greg Proops of Have I Got News For You?, along with John DiMaggio, the voice of Futurama's Bender. Comically interpreting your actions in a sports caster like manner, both drop enough "F Bombs" to make even the most hardened of sailors blush. While most of the commentary was pre scripted, there are some ad-lib moments between the pair during the recordings, some of which were retained for the actual release of the game.

The ultimate goal of each level is to gain enough points in order to face the level boss, each with their own extra-brutal finishing move once dispatched, after that you then gain their Death Watch ranking and move on further into Varrigan City to face your next opponent in the rankings. Now not all is as it may seem within the MadWorld scenario, more sinister happenings are afoot which become more apparent while you progress through the game.

It comes to light that there is more to Jack than first impressions gave. Jack is actually a former marine and former three-time champion of previous Death Watch games who is secretly on a mission to find the mayor's daughter holding deep within the city. The organisers quickly discover the truth of Jack's intentions but realise that he is quickly becoming an audience favourite, and although they could dispose of Jack at any time they wish, the opportunity to try and kill him in the games with so many sponsors and people betting on his success seems to be the wiser course of action.

Annoyingly though, the later stages in the game are on controller breaking frustration levels and the camera can work against you at times - like when you want to line up that perfect swing with the spiked baseball bat - or just be a plain pain in the arse and not behave in the manner you want it to, normally resulting in you taking a beating.
As a piece of entertainment you can't go wrong with MadWorld, while not perfect by any means its bloody good fun, bottom line is, MadWorld is definitely one for the collection without hesitation.