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MadWorld Review

Posted: Thu Apr 02, 2009 8:10 pm
by Maevik
MadWorld Review
By Chris Kee


Mad World is the 2009 Sega title exclusively for the Wii in which you play as Jack, an ex-marine with a retractable chainsaw arm. The game is set in Varrigan city which is, in essence a massive stage for a game-show called “Death Watch.” The city residents, having been exposed to a lethal virus, are forced to kill one another for a chance to obtain the vaccine. The majority of the game play takes place in the city as you participate in this game-show by maiming your opponents in the most horrific ways imaginable. It may have been an exciting premise, if it hadn’t been done before, over and over again.

In 2007, Steve Austin starred in The Condemned, a motion picture in which “Stone Cold” is on death row until a TV producer pays for him and nine other inmates to battle to the death on a desert island, with freedom being the grand prize. In 2000 a Japanese film “Battle Royale” came out in which 40 9th grade students are each given a different weapon and forced by legislation to fight to the death for a new television show. In 1987 Arnold Schwarzenegger starred in Running Man, a motion picture where is a wrongly accused convict who must run a deadly gauntlet on a television show in order to secure his freedom. Ok, well at least it’s unique in being an original premise for a video game. Except that it’s not… In 1990 Acclaim produced “Smash TV,” an arcade/Nintendo game in which players compete in, you guessed it, a deadly game-show. The game took place in the future year of 1999, and even ten years beyond that we are being given the same plot and are expected to see it as a fresh new idea.

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Mad World has received critical acclaim for its art direction. The game uses cell-shaded 3D graphics and bold contrast of black and white, with little color in the game (the little that is used being mostly red for the large amount of blood.) Matt Casamassina of IGN writes “I adore the look. Not just the refreshingly different monochromatic makeover -- a veritable middle finger to the countless games out there that steal and re-steal the same boring style…” Well steal is an interesting word to use Matt, considering every frame of this game looks like it could have been plucked from the pages of Frank Miller’s “Sin City,” or Jhonen Vasquez’ “Johnny the Homicidal Maniac.”

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With the vast amount of violent content, and plenty of foul language to top it off, it’s easy to see that Mad World is geared towards an older audience (and the MA, or Mature Audience, rating ensures that those are the only ones who will be able to get their hands on the game in the first place.) You would think then, that it would offer engaging and challenging game play. Unfortunately, this is not the case. The main challenge of the game comes in killing the enemy minions in creative ways so as to earn enough points to move on. You do your best to find as many tires, trash cans, or signposts to stick in or around your enemy before finishing them off. This usually boils down to spending a large amount of time running away from the enemy in order to avoid killing them before they are worth decent points, and after twenty or so signposts, “creative” certainly loses it’s meaning. The signpost bit is repeated over a hundred times before the end of the game.

In summary, Mad World does plenty to earn its MA rating, but provides little content that is actually capable of engaging an older audience. In the end what you’re left with is a tired plot, with unoriginal art direction, and slow paced game play that discourages wading into battle with your chainsaw revved. However, if you’re looking for violence for violence’s sake, and little else, you may very well enjoy the game. I however, did not.

Re: MadWorld Review

Posted: Tue May 19, 2009 8:49 am
by Kros
I saw the title and thought you were reviewing tears for fears/gary jules.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mad_World_(song)

Edit: Very nice job with the review, I'd probably read it closer if I had a Wii. :)

Re: MadWorld Review

Posted: Tue May 19, 2009 2:42 pm
by Maevik
LoL, that's a great song. I like the version they did for Donnie Darko.

The review was actually something I just did for an english class. We were supposed to write a critique, and I had just bought this piece of crap...

Re: MadWorld Review

Posted: Tue May 19, 2009 10:35 pm
by Innerscope
Did you actually play through the entire game? I thought it was alright, nothing fantastic, but not awful.

Re: MadWorld Review

Posted: Wed May 20, 2009 11:41 am
by Maevik
I finished it, there wasn't much to it. Even with the grindy game-play it took me ~7 hours to beat.

Re: MadWorld Review

Posted: Wed May 20, 2009 11:42 pm
by Innerscope
I finished it, there wasn't much to it. Even with the grindy game-play it took me ~7 hours to beat.
I'm not a huge fan of beat-em-ups or overly violent games to begin with (this plays like a union between Final Fight and Mortal Kombat), but this has to be the best I've played recently. The boss battles were above par and absolutely ridiculous. As were the Blood Bath challenges/mini games. (ninja fireworks? zombie head golf? f*'n ridiculous)
Story wasn't awful either. Sure it's not a completely original concept, but the storytelling is thought out and well done. (nice cut-scenes, dialog wasn't moronic... well aside from some of the commentary, lots of crude humor)

This isn't shovelware in my opinion, this is good software. It deserves some recognition.

I would have rated it on a classic 1-10 scale a 7.5-8. It's a good game. Not the best game, but not bad at all.

Graphics: 8 (Stylized black and white with a great level of detail in each stage, set the mood)
Game-play: 7 (beat-em up with a few twist, a variety of fulfilling finishers, some annoying control mechanics)
Sound: 7 (sfx are great, music could have been better, some commentary was repetitive)
Presentation: 8 (cool cutscenes, boss battles, challenges)
Overall: 7.5

[edited for a second opinion review]

Re: MadWorld Review

Posted: Thu May 21, 2009 11:13 am
by Maevik
Look, I thoroughly disliked the game. Sure it had some things it did well but most of my I experience I was annoyed so I had negative things to say about it. Sure it's not a thorough review of every aspect of the game, but like I said, it was an English paper. I sincerely wouldn't recommend it to a friend, so I elaborated on why. If I thought it was good, I probably would have said more about the good stuff (as I would have had a lot more to say.) The boss fights were probably the best thing about it, but I didn't feel that it was anything like Final Fight or Mortal Kombat. I don't remember spending the majority of the time playing either of those running away and/or holding back so I could make the most of grinding those points. There wasn't to it; you could easily beat it in half a day and you'll spend the majority of that time searching for signposts. No I'm not comparing it to WoW and frankly it's a little insulting that because I didn't like the game I'd be so ignorant to it's "genre relativity." As far as single person adventure titles for the wii go, you're far better off with No More Heroes, LoZ: Twilight Princess, Metroid Prime: Corruption, or "U R MR GAY"
And yes, in that order :P
(ZOMG Nintendo Fanboi)

Re: MadWorld Review

Posted: Thu May 21, 2009 6:45 pm
by Innerscope
Look, I thoroughly disliked the game.
I'm still wondering how you play a game that sucks for 7 hours. I'll give a game a good 45 minutes, if I think its crap, I just put down the controller and walk away.
it was an English paper.
Ok, I understand that you don't want to write a criticism paper and talk about how wonderful the thing you're critiquing is. But this ain't English class. :lol:
but I didn't feel that it was anything like Final Fight or Mortal Kombat.
What? Ok, technically the game-play mechanics aren't similar at all. I was talking more about the appeal. The more recent MK's: stage fatalities, extreme gore etc. Final Fight: beat-em-up, rescuing mayors daughter... well not really, but the character/overall design on some of the villains/stages reminded me of Final Fight) I'm sure you could come up with a more accurate comparison, but I was giving a general idea.
There wasn't to it; you could easily beat it in half a day and you'll spend the majority of that time searching for signposts.
Try the difficult mode, call me when you're done.
No I'm not comparing it to WoW and frankly it's a little insulting that because I didn't like the game I'd be so ignorant to it's "genre relativity."
You said there wasn't much to it, but you don't mention enough in your review to justify that. (Honestly, your review reads like you only played the first 3 levels) You're right, I clearly used WoW for the sake of the argument. Admittedly, pretty ridiculous.
As far as single person adventure titles for the wii go, you're far better off with No More Heroes, LoZ: Twilight Princess, Metroid Prime: Corruption, or "U R MR GAY"
And yes, in that order :P
(ZOMG Nintendo Fanboi)
Well, I thought it was better than No More Heroes, but I'm not about to write a review saying NMH was garbage. Nintendo Fanboi? :lol: I like good games. You'll have to tell me about "U R MR GAY", haven't heard to much about that title.

Re: MadWorld Review

Posted: Thu May 21, 2009 8:47 pm
by Maevik
Innerscope wrote:
Look, I thoroughly disliked the game.
I'm still wondering how you play a game that sucks for 7 hours. I'll give a game a good 45 minutes, if I think its crap, I just put down the controller and walk away.
Two reasons, the first being that I was already intending to do a write up on it (although at the time I honestly thought it would be positive.) The second being the reason I play most games I don't like through to the end... I just shelled out $50.
Innerscope wrote:
it was an English paper.
Ok, I understand that you don't want to write a criticism paper and talk about how wonderful the thing you're critiquing is. But this ain't English class. :lol:
So it makes sense that I didn't present the positive, but only in the context of the medium in which it is presented?
Innerscope wrote:
but I didn't feel that it was anything like Final Fight or Mortal Kombat.
What? Ok, technically the game-play mechanics aren't similar at all. I was talking more about the appeal. The more recent MK's: stage fatalities, extreme gore etc. Final Fight: beat-em-up, rescuing mayors daughter... well not really, but the character/overall design on some of the villains/stages reminded me of Final Fight) I'm sure you could come up with a more accurate comparison, but I was giving a general idea.
You're right. In the context that it's a whole lot of "Biff Muscle-Meat" cro-magnon types whaling on each other in a bid for pack alpha, then yes I suppose they are similar. But having similarities to a good game is not worth an iota of merit in and of itself. Alex Kidd in Miracle World was very similar to Super Mario Bros. That didn't stop it from being a complete waste of money...
Innerscope wrote:
There wasn't to it; you could easily beat it in half a day and you'll spend the majority of that time searching for signposts.
Try the difficult mode, call me when you're done.
That might be an interesting prospect if it just meant tougher baddies, but it also comes with a slop load of extra point grind, and to that I have to say no-thanks.
Innerscope wrote:
No I'm not comparing it to WoW and frankly it's a little insulting that because I didn't like the game I'd be so ignorant to it's "genre relativity."
You said there wasn't much to it, but you don't mention enough in your review to justify that. (Honestly, your review reads like you only played the first 3 levels) You're right, I clearly used WoW for the sake of the argument. Admittedly, pretty ridiculous.
EDIT: Posted before realizing I hadn't responded here, but I'm over it...
Innerscope wrote:
As far as single person adventure titles for the wii go, you're far better off with No More Heroes, LoZ: Twilight Princess, Metroid Prime: Corruption, or "U R MR GAY"
And yes, in that order :P
(ZOMG Nintendo Fanboi)
Well, I thought it was better than No More Heroes, but I'm not about to write a review saying NMH was garbage. Nintendo Fanboi? :lol: I like good games. You'll have to tell me about "U R MR GAY", haven't heard to much about that title.
The Fanboi remark was directed at me (since I had just named 5 titles and 4 of them were liscenced nintendo. I'm glad you agree they're good games though :D And there are plenty of good reasons not to like NMH, but I did, and so I would recommend it. The thing I think you're missing is that this is entirely subjective. I can hate on a game, and that doesn't mean it's shit, it just means that Chris thinks it's shit. One time I stepped in something foul and thought THAT was shit, but in actuality it was a moon pie.

As far a U R MR GAY, it's something a drunk friend of mine pointed out to me once...
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If you have the game handy, you can see that it's the same on the cover. If you look at the logo, there is a white sparkle on select letters. If you extract only the letters with sparkles you get "U R MR GAY" fun trivia :D

In any case, this is probably getting more heated than is really necessary. Perhaps we should just agree to disagree...

Re: MadWorld Review

Posted: Thu May 21, 2009 9:05 pm
by Innerscope
The thing I think you're missing is that this is entirely subjective.
Fair enough, consider my take on it a second opinion.
If you have the game handy, you can see that it's the same on the cover. If you look at the logo, there is a white sparkle on select letters. If you extract only the letters with sparkles you get "U R MR GAY" fun trivia :D
:shock: Damn, that is some funny shit. MR GAY is faAAabulous! :lol:
In any case, this is probably getting more heated than is really necessary. Perhaps we should just agree to disagree...
Yea, I was just about to say the same thing.