Madworld delivers, but is that what we wanted?
I picked up Madworld on a whim, on some ill-concieved notion that Nintendo needed me to support their hardcore market while they took money baths up in Washington. I had read about Madworld sure, and had read nothing but good impressions. But like No More Hereos, Madworld left me questioning whether a super bloody game is the type of mature experience the Wii has been lacking.
Madworld is without a doubt a very good looking game, one that couldn't have been pulled off any better on another system, and as a Wii owner it excited me to have such a high profile exclusive on my console. The problem though lies in too many overlooked minor details. It's becoming increasingly more worrying to see otherwise decent Wii games ruined by uncomfortable camera controls. I was excited about games like Mushroom Men and Deadly Creatures, but camera controls made the experience frustrating where it could have been enjoyable, and the same problems plague Madworld. Likewise the humor feels underdone. Things are funny maybe once but after that first awesome kill, it just isn't awesome anymore, which is a problem for a game like this. Once you aren't laughing you just feel gross. Once seeing a man impaled on a wall of spikes isn't funny, you wonder why you're still playing it, and if it was even funny to begin with. When a 5 hour game doesn't have the variety to keep you entertained halfway through, you have to wonder what kind of direction was neglected during the development process.
I walked away from Madworld much like I did from No More Heroes. Both games have unprecedented style,a nd the teams behind each had excellent ideas, but poor planning and lack of polish left both games disappointing shells of excellent ideas. If Madworld had done small things, minor even, my opinion would be entirely different, but without a guiding sense of direction Madworld is unfufilling and unecessary.
