MadWorld

Initial impression: it's pretty alright.

Set in a Running Man-esque kill-or-be-killed game, and drenched in a monochromatic (plus blood) Sin City aesthetic, MadWorld has a lot of style to live up to - at this point, I'm not sure that I'd say it succeeds. Just in the introduction, the story is already showing signs of inappropriate melodrama; not that this kind of game needs a good story, or can be ruined by a bad one, but in MadWorld's case it would be a missed opportunity.

On the other hand, the non-plot-related writing is superb. The ongoing color commentators (Bender! and that one guy from Whose Line!) are brilliant. "BloodBath" challenge sequences are introduced by an irreverent pimp. Thus far, all of the non-player characters have hilarious dialog, and amazing voicework to boot. A suggestion, though - go to the game options, and turn down all the volume settings except the commentary. Because the commentary is best enjoyed loud (and similarly, the music is best enjoyed quiet).

There are some real problems with MadWorld, notably the - obvious? - fact that the black-and-white design frequently makes enemies difficult to pick out from the background. I'm also pretty underwhelmed with the game's difficulty, but presumably things will pick up from where I am now.

Progress: Finished the first level