$20 Game of the Week: MadWorld

As I played this week’s $20 GOTW entry, three questions immediately popped into my head. How were the people who made Okami make the transition from something so beautiful and artistic to well….this? How did Sega get the green light from Nintendo for this to be released on the Wii of all systems? Most of all, WHY IS NO ONE BUYING THIS GAME? The Wii’s hardcore gamer audience would love this game, as it contains the perfect combination of extreme violence and “what the hell is this” brand of zaniness that made No More Heroes and Killer 7 cult classics. It’s Japanese producers designed this game with a western audience in mind. In fact, as of this writing it’s unsure of weather of not this game will even be released in Japan!

MadWorld takes place in Jefferson City. A group of terrorists have taken control of the city, and have instigated a gameshow called Death Watch. In Death Watch, players get points for killing each other. Think of it as survivor meets Battle Royale. You play as a man named Jack, who has a chainsaw attached to his arm. It is up to Jack to survive Death Watch and find out the truth about what’s going on while earning his way to top ranking in the Death Watch games. You increase your rank by killing enemies. The faster, more elaborate, and gorier your kills are, the more points you score. You are encouraged to use weapons, objects in the environment, and whatever else you can use to kill them. You can impale them on a street sign, toss them into spikes, or throw them into barrels and toss them into a dumpster. After scoring various amounts of points, you are awarded with new weapons, items, and eventually a fight with the area’s boss. You can also unlock minigames you can play against a friend. The game’s graphics are in black and white, reminiscent of Frank Miler’s Sin City, although the bright red blood offers a sharp contrast. The music is composed of underground hip hop from Japanese artists, and throughout the game there is an announce team making hilarious wisecracks about what’s going on.

Even though this game (along with House of the Dead Overkill which was also released by Sega this past spring on the Wii) isn’t selling the way it should, it’s good to see that companies such as Sega are committed to giving the Wii some much needed entertainment geared towards older audiences. It’s a bit on the short side, but you’ll have hours of fun just racking up combos, playing the challenges, and earning points. Hopefully this game’s low sales won’t discourage it’s creators from making a sequel.