MadWorld looks like Sin City. MadWorld lets you impale victims with a signpost. MadWorld has a boss named Herr Frederick von Twirlenkiller. Rad? You bet, but unless you’ve been stuck under a rock — or perhaps, on a pike — you’ve heard it all before. So at the 2008 Nintendo Media Summit, we set out to find new information about the most gruesome title ever devised for the Nintendo Wii.
1.) Think it’s over the top? Wait until they add the sports commentators.
To be fair, earlier builds of the game already had minimal commentary — when you stuff a signpost into a hapless enemy’s throat, you heard things like “He should’ve seen the signs” — but Sega tells us those were merely placeholders for what’s to come. Cognizant of a need for more variety, Sega is currently recording enough “oh my god, did you just say that?” lines for each level to have a unique set of dialogue — hopefully keeping repetition to a minimum.
2.) Level progression is linear, but environs are free-roaming
Though you may not be able to choose how MadWorld protagonist Jack’s as-yet-unannounced story unfolds — and by association, when he is able to mount his powerful motorcycle for some interactive highway hijinx — each individual level features a wide-open environment filled with objects on which to impale and decapitate foes. We particularly enjoyed the “Automated Cutting Plant,” a factory filled with so many unprotected spinning saw blades that the slightest push had our fellow game show contestants looking for their missing limbs.
3.) Quick-time sequences allow for furious fisticuffs
Like God Hand (and Resident Evil 4) before it, MadWorld integrates quick-time sequences into combat. When surrounded by foes, Wiimote-Nunchuk cues appear on screen, allowing Jack to quickly and brutally level the playing field.
4.) Too good for guns
Baseball bat, dagger and chainsaw are all good to go, but don’t expect to see projectile weaponry in MadWorld. Taking a page from The Dark Knight, Platinum Studios has decided that they want to let players… savor all the little emotions available in melee combat. “They just wanted something more visceral, more hands-on,” said a Sega representative.
5.) Need a quick pick-me-up? Chow down on a cheerful shallot
Ogres may have layers, but Jack eats them for breakfast. After fulfilling certain conditions in a level (our demonstrator demolished a mini-boss) you can unlock the “Happy Onion,” an consumable that provides a temporary stamina boost.
6.) MadWorld is made in Japan, but may never see release in its country of origin
At GC 2008, Sega confirmed that both MadWorld and House of the Dead: Overkill had been banned in censor-heavy Germany, but we’ve just learned that Japan may not get the game either. “It’s not slated for release in Japan,” said Sega producer Keith Dwyer. “There is a little bit of concern about the level of violence in the game as far as the Japanese rating system is concerned, but also just the appeal to the Japanese in general. The game is very American.”
MadWorld is slated for North America and Europe, and should arrive during the first quarter of 2009 on the Nintendo Wii.
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