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Logan Basave

Mrs. Ikram

ENG 105

12 December 2023

Madworld: An Overlooked Diamond

I recently received a Nintendo Wii for my birthday when I was six. Being a fan of more

action-packed games, Wii sports didn't necessarily fit the bill, even though it came with the Wii.

It just wasn't fun for me. A few days later, I urged my father to take us to a GameStop so I could

find something new to play on my system. Nothing caught my eye in the store until I spotted a

very out-of-place video game by itself in the pre-owned section of the store. The game's cover

had a very rage-induced man with a bloodied chainsaw as a prosthetic right arm, stance as if he

were ready to cut someone down.

I had never been more curious in that moment because I was generally shielded away

from mature games that had lots of vulgar language and excessive violence. The more I think

about it, the more I realize my father is an idiot for even letting me look at the game, let alone

buy it! Except that's beside the point. When I played this game, I don't know how I wasn't scared

or traumatized because this game, MadWorld, is anything but a child's game, yet somehow, it

managed to become my all-time favorite game ever played.

MadWorld is a first-of-its-kind third-person beat-em-up that isn't afraid to go above and

beyond what is considered excessive. MadWorld combines gameshow-like elements such as

"The Price Is Right" and movie aspects like "The Purge" all into one big competition. Whoever

can kill in the most gruesome manner receives the most points and is ranked on the leaderboard

for the DeathWatch competition. (Brought to you by ShockTV!)

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The gameplay of MadWorld is expected once you start fighting enemies that come your way.

Jack Cayman has a very particular set of skills, including a mechanical prosthetic right arm with

a built-in chainsaw. Jack can very quickly and ruthlessly dispose of his enemies, whether that be

stuffing someone inside of a flaming barrel or shoving a stop sign pole through someone's head

so perfectly that they are still alive to stumble around. (to give the player time to find more sign

poles!)

The entirety of MadWorld is always in black, white, and red, similar to the Crime genre

called Noir, while also seemingly fluid and drawn like you were reading a comic book.

Madworld was released by PlatinumGames in 2009 as a Nintendo Wii exclusive, which caused

many people to disregard it because of the game's controls. Madworld has a set design for the

Wii that allows the person playing to swing their controller in a punching or slicing motion to

control Jack's attacks and movements. This is precisely what makes the appeal of Madworld so

abundant to me because the developers were trying to immerse the player with real-time actions

and movements to give players a better gaming experience.

Madworld will also impress you with its memorable announcers, Howard "Buckshot"

Holmes and Kreese Kreely, who comment on the gruesome combos Jack executes on his

opponents throughout the game mainly to deliver more crude satire to the experience. The game

also provides very catchy songs produced by Doujah Raze, who made every single match the

aesthetics and theme of each level.

The amount of detail I could go on about for this game is a lot, but I don't want to spoil

the experience for those who will actually play the game. I understand I cannot persuade

someone to buy a Wii just to give this game a chance, but I hope I piqued your interest in

something that brought me a lot of joy for the love that this game was made with.
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