What else can we say about Sega Platinum Games’ Madworld that hasn’t already been said? The game’s goddamn crazy. It’s violent, funny, and surprisingly… on the Nintendo Wii exclusively. It walks, talks and speaks like a spawn of God Hand, No More Heroes and Manhunt 2, dressed by Frank Miller. Though we couldn’t get our hands on the playable build demonstrated for us by the folks from Sega, our eyes and ears were pleasantly surprised.

Madworld is a great example of knowing how to use limited graphics capabilities. Take for example the complex architecture surrounding the main character, providing the illusion of an industrial complex, though a closer look reveals an impressionist style of brushstrokes making up the background. There’s no doubt about it: Madworld looks like a graphic novel. In the same vein as Street Fighter IV and Okami before that, MW employs cell-shading and minimalism. What do you mean by minimalism, you ask? During our time with the game, we saw four colors (black, white, yellow and lots of blood red), though more than half was the blood of enemies splattering the screen.

The premise is a lot like The Running Man. In fact, it’s so much like The Running Man, we’ve got this full quote from IMDB’s Running Man plot summary page for you:

“In the year 2017, the world economy has collapsed. The great freedoms of the United States are no longer, as the once great nation has sealed off its borders and become a militarized police state, censoring all film, art, literature, and communications. Even so, a small resistance force led by two revolutionaries (Mick Fleetwood and Dweezil Zappa) manages to fight the oppression. With full control over the media, the government attempts to quell the nation’s yearning for freedom by broadcasting a number of game shows on which convicted criminals fight for their lives. The most popular and sadistic of these programs is “The Running Man,” hosted by Damon Killian.”

So, it’s a lot like that, except the greater message about the military industrial complex (found by QP’ers in New Jersey, by the way) gets lost and replaced by emotionless murdering — rad! Madworld’s gameshow is named Deathwatch and it’s commentators are infinitely more vulgar and hilarious than anything from the ’80s Schwarzenegger flick.

And though we can’t say whether the controls actually work or not, waggle directions appeared on-screen multiple times when our tour guide was showing us the game and he proceeded to follow instructions for violent murders ranging from repeatedly slamming someone into a spiked wall to jamming traffic signs into their heads and everything in between (which apparently includes lifting someone in the air using the blade you just stuck through them, sticking them with another in mid-air, and then ripping the person in half from the inside out).

With electro/hip-hop pumping in the background adding to the ridiculous commentating, Madworld may actually deliver on what No More Heroes promised — and failed to deliver — so many months ago. We’ll find out for sure in March of ‘09, when it’s planned to hit store shelves for the Wii exclusively.

Write a comment