The Nintendo Wii has tarnished its squeaky clean family fun image with its release of Platinum Games MadWorld. Released last week, MadWorld has been a center of controversy for Nintendo across the globe. Various media groups have spoken out in regards to MadWorld and the game’s outrageous violence, including the National Institute on Media and the Family. MadWorld’s level of gratuitous violence has led to the game not being released in Germany, as well as talks of banning MadWorld’s release in the UK.
Nintendo Wii’s MadWorld is played as the protagonist character “Jack Cayman”. Jack is an ex-marine mechanic that has a chainsaw attached to his right arm. In MadWorld, the storyline inspiring such violence is this… the city in which MadWorld is set has been taken over by a terrorist group by the name of The Organizers. The Organizers have made the citizens of the city compete for their lives and $100M in a game show called Death Watch.
The game play features Jack having to kill the various opponents in which he comes in contact. However, this is no typical fighting game… Your success in MadWorld involves the use of random objects as weapons. Simply put, anything in your path can be used as an instrument of death. These objects include sign posts, tires, chains, and passing by trains… the options are fairly open. However, the more pain you induce to your enemy the more points you receive. Say for instance you decided to throw an opponent in front of a passing train. If you throw a tire over the opponent’s head, then stick him in the neck with a sign post, and then throw him in front of that same moving train, this would gain you more points for the sheer violence of the attack.
MadWorld is designed in the tradition of a graphic novel in strict black and white. The only color you see in MadWorld’s graphics is red from blood splatters. MadWorld’s graphics are intricately rendered and are as aesthetically appealing as this degree of violence can be.
Nintendo Wii’s MadWorld has received as much recognition by video game critics as it has criticism from media groups. MadWorld has experienced a tremendous reception from gaming critics the world over. The lowest score received by MadWorld is a 7/10, while it averages an 8.5.
With it’s over the top nature, (in addition to its excessive violence there is also profanity usage and nudity) the era of the Nintendo Wii solely being utilized as a family fun console is long gone. MadWorld, while disrupting this previous expectation of the Nintendo Wii, has allowed it to cross genres. Overall, MadWorld is as entertaining as it is bloody and violent if you are into that sort of game.
Image credited to Wikipedia Commons User Jecowa
