MadWorld

Inspired by games in the same genre such as God Hand and No More Heroes, this is a really interesting and fun game despite the controversy in some regions due to the over-the-top violence in it, and the fact it did not sell well. A follow-up on the PS3 and Xbox 360 exists and it's named Anarchy Reigns, sharing the same main character and gameplay mechanics, but not in the graphics part as the developers shifted to more realistic 3D models and environment.

The plot is about a fictional city where its inhabitants were infected by a strange but deadly virus, and the only way to cure themselves from it is to compete each other in a full-action game show named 'DeathWatch' with the objective of earning a dosage of the vaccine. Jack and some other strong rivals join the game in order to be the new DeathWatch champion, though Jack's real intention is to find out who's behind all the disaster in the city. Through the story, he meets a man who managed to obtain a sample of the vaccine through unknown means, and also learns that the games were organized as part of an evil plan to infect the entire humanity.

The gameplay mechanics are typical of a regular beat-em-up game, while having many elements from games in the hack and slash genre due to the usage of Jack's chainsaw. There is also a small but nice selection of secondary weapons, some of them tied to a score limit in a stage, plus that these may break after using them a certain amount of times, encouraging either wise usage or reserving them for the mini-bosses or actual bossfights. Some stages feature additional challenges where you have to beat some strong enemy in a specific way, save the girls or pick up special items. I managed to do only the unique ones that can be done in the first playthrough, as the later challenges are mostly defeating X amount of enemies, reaching a higher score, not getting damage through the whole stage or avoiding the usage of your chainsaw for example, not to mention there are no important rewards for completing those. There is also another set of challenges in some stages which are all unique and were definitely worth showing, named 'Bloodbath Challenges', that can reward you with a nice extra bonus if you do well. And finally, the game also features a couple driving sections where you either use the chainsaw or perform melee attacks to get rid of enemies and even do nice combos with proper skill.

In terms of graphics and music, the developers did a very great job in every single aspect of them, especially the original soundtrack that reminds me a lot of the one used in House of the Dead: Overkill, and even featuring lyrics which gives them a really nice touch. As for the graphics, it looks like they were also big fans of Sin City and so they went to make everything in B&W comic style except for the blood, staying away from the generic 3D modeling that was already a standard. However, during development of its sequel, the comic concept was scrapped in favor of a more realistic look, probably due to how poorly this game performed commercially.

Upon first time completion you get the chance to replay the story in a higher difficulty and also the option to use two extra weapons (katana and double chainsaw) which are variations of a couple ones the game already puts at your disposal, the latter is exclusive to NG+ playthroughs though. Nothing else, no gallery section nor anything similar, aside from the optional NG+ challenges mentioned above. Overall a game that despite the controversy surrounding it, should be given a try, especially if you've played God Hand or any other similar game before.

0:00:00 - Start
0:00:55 - Prologue
0:03:36 - Varrigan City: Central Station
0:26:38 - Boss: Little Eddie
0:29:58 - Varrigan City: Downtown
0:44:56 - Boss: Jude the Dude
0:47:53 - Varrigan City: Red Line Way
0:51:28 - Boss: Von Twirlenkiller
0:56:37 - Asian Town: Great Wall St.
1:16:34 - Boss: RinRin
1:20:37 - Asian Town: Bistro
1:41:34 - Boss: Shogun
1:47:46 - Asian Town: Sumo Arena (vs. Yokozuna)
1:58:35 - Mad Castle: Courtyard
2:13:25 - Boss: The Shamans
2:17:20 - Mad Castle: The Dungeon
2:32:02 - Boss: Frank
2:37:45 - Mad Castle: Sanctuary
2:39:43 - Boss: Elise
2:46:08 - Area 66: Access Hangar
2:57:33 - Boss: Kojack
3:00:55 - Area 66: Facility
3:17:43 - Boss: The Masters
3:22:14 - Area 66: Robot Factory (vs. Martin)
3:33:02 - Casino Land: The Strip
3:49:18 - Casino Land: The Tower
4:01:51 - Final boss: The Black Baron
4:10:48 - Ending & credits