aspro73 said:

I started playing this one so I'd knock out a quick completion (after just finishing Heavenly Sword and Gear2) and I've got to say, I'm not that impressed by the game.

I find the brawl mechanic tedious and repetitive. I like the cutscene artwork, not that impressed with the in-game art which is rough by comparison.

It feels a lot like Jet Grind Radio for the Dreamcast, something that looks great, is original but cannot be consumed in time sets greater than 10 minutes (sans the j-pop also, which would have been interesting).

I have no issue with the violent content, in fact, I found it tame for all the talk. So all in all, not worth the $30 for me.  I'll try again after I finish Yakuza 2.

How far into the game are you?  Have you gotten past the first level yet and made it to Asian Town?  Generally most people do not really like the first level, and it gets old after 5 minutes.  But once you get into the later levels things change. The story kicks in (which is surprisingly good), AI gets smarter and a little more threatening (once you reach the castle you'll start dying) and the environment has a greater variety of interactivity which makes killing more fun.

Platinum seemed to drop the ball on that first stage and I think its come back to haunt them. A lot of reviewers clearly did not play through the game and you can tell which ones did not.  Most bad reviews only mention things from the first stage and its kind of obvious that they didn't make it into the later level where the real meat of the game is.

aspro73 said:

gamingeek said:

Aspro, the cutscene art and in game are virtually identical? Are you playing on an HDTV?

Dont give up on the Brawl mechanic, you need to explore individual environments to spot environmental kills and special weapons. If you're doing the same thing it will be repetitive.

The first level is a borefest too BTW.

I have the Wii hooked up with component cables to a HDTV, which I suspect was the problem (the Wii graphics took a down-grade with the new TV).

Welcome to the club. All your wii games now look like shit, congrats!

Just to be clear, the first two levels are kinda boring, its only once you hit Asia Town that things get interesting.

The story kicks into things suprisingly late in the game but does pay off in the end and gives you a motivation to keep going.

The levels need to be played repeatedly to get the most out of them. Because of the black and white, it can be hard identifying hotspots, environmental kills and such and you'll find that second and even third attempts at the same level yield new ways to cause mayhem.

Sometimes the game can feel like an endless slog, but that's because some levels are like arenas, not forward pushing progressive levels. If you want fun, you have to go find it and have fun by finding more creative ways to kill. If you camp in the same spot and just cheaply slaughter guys it is boring, no doubt.

After you complete the game you also get the use of a badass katana to slice and dice, sort of like Ninja Gaiden in a slower, more brutal sense.

aspro73 said:

^Thanks for fleshing that out GG. Even in the first level I started mixing it up with the kills.  So they give you the first example, you know tires, signposts, spike walls. how were you killing, say in the third level, when you were at your most creative?

I don't want to spoil anything, but I'd say you can start getting really creative in the 3rd level and onward.  The 4th level is hard as hell though, so you're going to spend more time just trying to stay alive rather than getting creative.  

The 5th level though. . .  that is a masterpiece.  It's not the hardest but there is a huge variety of ways to kill people and it's just a party. You'll want to replay that one over and over.

gamingeek said:

Dvader said:

Cool review GG. Definetly want to get this one day. So should I put this game ahead of LKS in the waiting list or behind it.

Now you're mocking me!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1

From your impressions on Madworld before you might have a similar experience to me, an 8.5 ish game, slightly repetitive that you have to work at to get better in. The arenas aren't great either. Its worth the ride but you have to dial down your hype meter. It's a solid game, meaty and brutal, but it can be sluggish and workman like. Thus, I would put LKS above it.

I went back to read impressions in this thread. GG you know me so freaking well its scary.

I love the gravity gun in that level. I like the QTEs in the boss fights, when they make you do things like shaking both controls to fire revolvers incessently. It had me LOLing quite loudly on a number of occasions. And on area 66 you have this bit where you slice crates in half as a boss throws them at you. Thats cool.

How did you find Frank? And what did you think of the difficulty spike once you hit the zombies?

You are quite near the end, the credits will make you LOL. Also try the game with the samurai sword once you've completed it.

I played some hard mode and tried to do some more challenges. Yeah hard mode is more of a challenge but more in the you have no life and enemies do more damage way rather than uping the AI or something. I dont find this to be a game that is fun to replay, it gets way too repetitive. Once you have seen every type of kill in each level, replaying them is just an excerise in killing enemies the same ways over and over. The actual combat isnt that interesting, nailing a guy with a sign, then a trash can and slaming him into a rose bush gets old.

Overall its a great game that tries to do something totally different than the average action beat em up. The first time through, and maybe the second, it remains a blast as you uncover what crazy stuff the game throws your way next. The levels progress beautifully, each getting more and more crazy (until the last one, let down). It's not about fighting as it is about finding ways to kill enemies so that first or second try at a level is so much fun as you discover new contraptions to kill. There is never a moment of down time, the action is always in your face and most importantly its always fun.

I loved the art style, the music, and the overall atmosphere were so fresh. It nailed that Sin City comic book vibe. It even had a decent story which surprised me. The annoucers are some of the most funny voice acting in game I have ever listened to. Madworld is more of an arcade style action game experience so the overall game is actually a bit simple when you look at it. You basically just play in small arenas and do many of the same types of kills over and over for a high score. I must hand it to Platinum games for taking that concept and dressing it up with such style and such over the top mayhem that it works.

Overall Score: 8.0

gamingeek said:

Great mini review, I agree with it all except I enjoyed it a little more so would give it a slightly higher score. On reflection reading about your impressions about the first two levels I'm starting to think that they are the way they are, to be intentionally easy to walk you through and get you used to the whole process before the game kicks off properly.

Did you try the samurai sword?

Of course, cool weapon but no where near as cool as the double chainsaw.