PROS: An amazing take on the beat 'em up genre; hundreds of ways to butcher enemies; awesome boss battles
CONS: Two-player mode feels cheap and tacked on; play-by-play commentary gets old; motorcycle levels are clunky
When Pat first booted up MadWorld, the ensuing screams of chainsaw mayhem brought editors and staff members a-running from every corner of the building. Every single person in the office crammed into the test cube to watch the bloody spectacle and holy hell were we impressed. Dark, brutal and hilarious in just the right way, MadWorld is a title that has rocketed to the top of every staff member's must buy list.
4.5 out of 5
A-
MadWorld is not a perfect game, and for some it might be a tad on the short side (five-to-six hours). But I had a blast on this roller coaster through a unique world. The immersive combat (aided by shockingly-fun Wii Remote and Nunchuk controls) would not have been as enjoyable if played on a traditional gamepad. Despite my early skepticism on the decision to bring this game exclusively to the Wii, I don't think the experience would be nearly as interesting on either HD console. The design constraints of Nintendo's system forced the developers at Platinum Games to be creative, and they followed through on their creativity by putting together a thoroughly enjoyable brawler with just the right amount of the ultra-violence.
IGN US Madworld review:
Closing Comments
I realize that not everybody will find MadWorld's unique visual and aural presentation appealing, but to me, the game is an instant collector's item and a Wii showpiece, not just for its amazing style, but for its label-busting content. Anybody who says Nintendo's console is just for kids will see things very differently after a few chainsaw- induced mutilations. More importantly, though, MadWorld does not place emphasis on style over gameplay, so there's plenty of fun, smart mechanics to back up the overwhelmingly slick look and sound of the title. You'll be floored by some of the scenarios that await you in the fast-moving beat-'em-up, surprised by the unexpectedly well-made storyline, and simultaneously grossed out and cracked up by all of the completely over-the-top gore. Even with some camera issues, some repetition, and a decidedly short single-player mode (if you play it on normal difficulty), SEGA and Platinum Games have still created Wii's first truly excellent game of the year.
I'm begging you, buy this game so that we'll see more like it.
9/10
IGN UK Madworld review:
Two things strike you very quickly about MadWorld. Firstly, it makes SEGA's recent The House of the Dead: Overkill look like a tea party in a nunnery. Secondly, it's one of the most visually arresting games ever devised.
What? That's un-possible! 
Think Hostel meets the Running Man, only cleverer and infinitely funnier. Much like Overkill, it's a game that shirks subtly for gratuity and ends up mailing most of its laughs back from somewhere far, far over the line of acceptability.
Surprisingly, it's not the violence that's likely to cause most offense in MadWorld though. That honour goes to Greg Proops and John DiMaggio's delirious turn as Death Watch's foul-mouthed commentators. It's an astonishing stream of no-holds-barred crudity that hurtles from bigotry to misogyny and back, by way of several thousand expletives – including one choice word that literally made us drop our controller in surprise. It's the kind of aural assault that's so relentlessly, knowingly offensive, you'd have to be fairly puritanical not to get totally swept up in its giddy revelry.
You see, it's all about points. You need a certain number to progress through a stage, unlocking mini-game-style Bloodbath Challenges, more outlandish weapons and boss encounters at various pre-designated milestones. MadWorld's rules are simple: pain, effectively, means points and – with a classic arcade multiplier system at its core - the more creative your masochism, the greater your reward. That would probably be justifiable grounds for grumbling politicians and horrified newspaper headlines if your arsenal wasn't quite so dizzily deranged. Success depends on informed experimentation and, as you progress, MadWorld's ultraviolent surface thrills melt to reveal its nuanced fighting system. Ultimately, it's about taking pride in your work - and the dizzying satisfaction as your most outlandish Rube Goldberg-style death machinations reach fruition. It's honestly and absolutely an obsessive compulsive's wet dream.
It's the classic Wii complaint – that there's too much reliance on the Remote's notoriously imprecise motion-sensors. There's an incredible amount of gesture input in MadWorld – from chainsaw swipes to nunchuck dodging – and, too often for our liking, arm movements either fail to register or produce unexpected results.
Seems to be at odds with the US Sites description?
Closing Comments
Control issues hamper fluidity but there’s no denying that, with some investment, MadWorld rewards in huge doses, delivering an incredibly visceral experience that's as stunningly unique and obscenely entertaining as it is just plain obscene.
8.9
IGN-Video-review-for-lazy-people
7/10
8/10
I played this at a friends house yesterday. For a while we were just going "WOAH!!!!" at all the killings but it kind of started to get repetitive, well the first level. I like how things keep changing up, like a bloodbath challenge would come up, then a boss. But it all seemed rather simple, hopefully its cause it was the first level. The boss fight wasnt that interesting. Bloodbath challenges got repetitive. The enemies were not posing any challenge.
The annoucers while funny started to repeat phrases very quickly. It looks beautiful at least. I am sad about the ranking system or lack there of.
I cant help but think of God Hand when I see this game, it was the last great 3D beat em' up. I remember instantly being hooked on that game, and I remember that game kicking my ass from the start. Not getting that from this.
Still want to try it fully but not as eager as I once was.
There's a hard mode. So hard that you will be killed in the tutorial!
First level got old for me and I had to push myself to keep playing. But the next level Asian Town was better. The 3rd level -the Castle was better than that, and so on. The first part of the Castle level took me several attempts before I could be beat it. Enemies get dramatically tougher there plus there's some DR challenges that are extremely entertaining.
Push on is all I can say. You'll be glad you did.
They put in a Sony joke in the commentary "THIS IS LIVING?"
Yeah I felt like that on the first level. You are just getting to grips with the controls, the camera, the environment. Its hard to identify hotspots, useable enviroment weapons or chain things together. The Bloodbath challenge was boring, throw them into an engine? meh
BUT it gets much better. Try the man darts blood bath challenge for instance, start wielding dual blades and spiked baseballs bats. Ninjatown is awesome too although the boss is a POS.
Fight the chainsaw wielding hogs, start ramming explosive alchohol down peoples throats. It gets alot better. And hallelujah, on a widescreen TV you only get 20% black borders (PAL version) compared to 4:3 where they force letterbox on you and 50% black borders.
The story is getting interesting too, it has a dark comic book vibe to the story. I'm really enjoying it now, although I cant play it around other people because of how much they say motherfucker.
http://i44.tinypic.com/2lig1gl.png
^This is what the Euro version looks like on a widescreen set. Much better than 4:3 letterbox mode where you lose half the damn screen. But still you miss 20% of the screen. I use a 50" TV so its okay on widescreen, but then you have HDTV scaling issues.
On the good SDTV I get a like a 15" visible picture.
Oh yeah, best commentary is Bender saying "Asshole in a can"
I never get tired of hearing that one.
Aha! For PAL gamers with 4:3 Tvs, set your Wii to widescreen mode - just for this game. It will look weird for other games, but for madworld you get a decent sized screen as oppossed to the forced letterbox mode, you get say 80% screen coverage.