Madworld: Will it Leave You Mad?

MadWorld is supposed to prove that Wii isn't just for kids and casual gamers anymore. I don't know If I'd take it that far, but I'll tell you that it does do something for the maturity conveyed by Wii. Traditionally, just like with the gamecube, I was turned off by the Wii because of it's heavily placed teen orientation, but this goes far to prove otherwise. It does have all the characteristics of a casual game though:

1.Simple gameplay that you can easily put down or pick up depending on your mood or time frame.

2.Multiplayer with an easy learning curve geared towards those who don't have all the time in the world to play games.

3.A Family friendly theme geared to attract young teens and below (grrrr.)

The voicing is pretty good and funny. Greg Proops and John DiMaggio are an integral part to the success of the voice acting in MadWorld.

This game's violence verges on the side of gratuitous at times, which surprised me for being a Wii game. Still, it's not overbearing. it's not like being forced to watch Saw over and over. The cartoonyness of it all does lend to a sense of innocence and when it's all said and done you kind of get used to it after a while. It's..."artsy gory" and yes I did just make that up. This game is not just gore though, the plot is very good.

You start as Jack, a rogue type character all intwined in a gameshow of survivor mixed with gladiator. The gameplay is fairly simple. You press some buttons and your character acts accordingly. There is no conplexity here, but then comes the points system. This is the most addicting thing about this game, and if it weren't for this the game would feel a bit empty. You can ultimately get through the majority of the game by hitting a few buttons, but the real fun starts to come when you get creative. Swipes and slices are all possible with the Wiimote, so with all Wii games you feel like you are the one actually kicking tail, which is fun! You'll find that while fighting, you'll get carried away at points and start waving the Wiimote around just so your character will do something disgusting like slice an enemy in half vertically.

The boss battles work really well in MadWorld. The bosses aren't only hard, they're quite enjoyable and creative when it comes right down to it. There's a stupid bubmling giant, an cowboy (ice dancer guy), a turbine-fisted Nazi and quite a few werewolves. In some of the battles there are certain movements you can make to drastically increase your chances of getting out of there alive. During Jack's confrontation with Frankenstein's monster, for instance, he must beat up before starting a QTE in which you spin the Wiimote and unscrew the bolts from frankenstein's head.

All in all, if you want a fun game to play you can go pick up MadWorld. It won't be all that immersive or in depth but it's certainly fun. I don't think anybody can doubt that.