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
Wouldn't it be distorted, then?
99% of your ass is red raw. The other 1% died a long time ago.
No its not, if you have a toggle button on your remote to flip widescreen on and off (on a 4:3 TV). I assume the sides of the screen are slightly cut off each side, but you get an in ratio picture, much larger on the screen and because jack is always central, it works perfectly with madworld. No so much for other games of course, where it does look distorted. But you can just flip it in Wii the settings menu.
Ouch, on the platinum games boards, people are complaining about the PAL conversion:
"It's like your wife is pregnant and you're really excited to have a kid, but it comes out and it's got no arms and a mental disability, I can't pretend to love that, i'm just going to have another Wii game instead."
That. IS. Mean.
Is there any problem with the PAL version or are people just being dicks?
It's just the borders. On a widescreen TV its not too bad. On 4:3 its letterbox, but you can alleviate it considerably by putting your wii in 16:9 mode.
GAffers have already thanked me and tried it out themselves. It works.
it's great knowing this. i'm hoping my game arrives tomorrow. it shipped over a week ago from the UK ... about time
So I played the first level of the castle area. I have to say, after the all good Asia town, this was an unwelcome shock.
Asia town felt like you were progressing through a level. Then they sit you an arena and give you 30 minutes to slug around.
But the enemies are zombies and they swamp you, so you're more concerned with surviving then killing. This grim reaper comes out and he can kill you with one hit.
So I find myself camping out at kill spots to grind up zombies as quickly as possible. Since zombies have to be dissected you have to use the chainsaw a lot too.
If you thought Madworld was easy BTW, once you hit this level you are in for a shock.
I died, then I tried again, got the level layout down and fought the boss. I almost got him. Almost. It's a little unfair because he spawns out lesser enemies to fight you. It's hard enough getting close to him.
Also there is this giant chandelier that crashes down on you and zombies okay. But in the boss fight, it doesn't work on the wolves? WTF?
The Castle level was the one that took me multiple tries to get through. Like you said the zombies and grim reaper make it a lot tougher. That being said, once you learn how to deal with the grim reaper it's not as much of a problem. Really the best thing you can do is just charge him the second he spawns. While he does have the one-hit-kill it takes him a minute to get going, so if you can slash him quickly enough he'll be done. The other option is to let yourself get grabbed by zombie, and then waggle your way out right before he strikes and then you can catch him extremely vulnerable.
What I liked about the castle was I thought was the most interactive level (at least at that point of the game). There's a fantastic gimmicks involving the long dining table and the fountain in the courtyard.
And just wait until you see the dungeon level of the castle afterwards. Pure awesomeness and . . . it has a giant hand. Don't let Steel know about though, he might get too excited.
Oh, I would have beaten the boss, but the QTEs which up to this point had been 100% reliable seemed off. Firstly they started throwing random directions at you, before it was the same for each attack. And then the responsiveness was off. I died because of QTEs.
What does the fountain do? Is the hand dungeon like the zelda hand?
My favourite Bloodbath so far is without a doubt man darts. I was grinning and standing up like I was playing Wii Sports again for the first time. Other than that, the fireworks one. Golf is pretty good.