Madworld

Madworld. It's violent. It's got blood stains. And it's got a man with a chainsaw mounted onto his arm. It's on the Nintendo Wii, too...

Nintendo's Wii, like all of the Japanese giant's previous platforms, has made a name for itself as a kid's console. Yes, the whole casual gamer thing has opened up the doors to a whole market of non-gaming game players, and the console is about as mainstream as it gets, packed with titles that appeal to the majority (if not the actual gaming demographic), but there's no ignoring the bucket loads (or should that be shovelware loads?) of family-friendly titles available.

Of course, that's not necessarily a bad thing, and we're all for pleasant, and enjoyable family fun, but for more hardened gamers, it's not all that interesting, and no amount of cooking, horse riding or quizzes are going to appeal. Sorry, Nintendo.

So, it was with equal amounts of shock and excitement that I met the announcement of MadWorld for the Wii. Not only is this a game coming from some of the now-defunct Clover Studios team, responsible for the excellent Okami, but it's also one of the most violent, and downright hardcore games to stain the pure white image of the brand. MadWorld promises to be both unique, innovative, and more importantly, a gamer's game, something the Wii is seriously lacking of late. Bring it on, I say.

MadWorld stars Jack, a rather intimidating bloke who just happens to have a mechanical arm with a chainsaw mounted into it (must be a Bruce Campbell fan).

Jack is sent, by a secret government agency, to infiltrate Varrigan City. This city has been overrun by a terrorist organisation known as ‘The Organizers', who have isolated the urban area and have turned it into a Running Man-style game show. A virus was released into the populace, with the promise of an antidote to anyone who kills other inhabitants. Soon, the DeathWatch game show grows to epic proportions, with contestants, or ‘Killseekers', vying for the number 1 ranked position. Jack is forced to enter, gaining sponsorship of the mysterious XIII in order to qualify.

Presented in a striking, and just downright cool black and white monotone comic book style, MadWorld is, at its heart, a 3D beat ‘em up, forcing you to fight an army of psychopaths and freaks to progress. This isn't as simple as merely punching and kicking your way around town, though. Oh no.

While Jack can indeed use his hands and feet to great effect, it's the environmental kills that form the meat of the combat. You see, MadWorld is violent. Very, very, very, very violent. And, in order to rack up enough points to unlock boss battles, and the way to the next stage, you have to kill in interesting and entertaining ways. So, simply punching a guy's face in isn't enough. However, shoving a tire around him, impaling him though the head with a signpost and then throwing him onto a spiked wall should give you a respectable score.

This bit of the old, ultra violence forms much of the game's challenge and appeal. There are tons of environmental weapons, structures and other items around that can be combined to ludicrously over the top kills.

You can throw hapless foes into the path of a moving train (which also has spikes on it, as if several tonnes of 200MPH train wasn't enough), shove them into flaming oil barrels, impale them, ass-first, onto vertical spiked poles, deep fry them, throw them into an automated sushi chopper and more, all the time able to combine elements to boost your score.

As well as the environmental weapons, Jack can also use more traditional arms, including spiked baseball bats, knives, and the never-fails-to-entertain spear, with which you can impale and carry up to three squirming foes at once.

Let's not forget Jack's own, built-in weapon, his chainsaw. This can be used with predictably violent results, and can chop foes clean in two, but you can only use it a couple of times, after which you need to wait for it to recharge.