MadWorld Interview
The team talks about its ultra-violent, super-stylized creation for Wii.
Australia, November 18, 2008 - MadWorld is definitely one of the most visceral games coming to Wii (or any other platform for that matter) in the next six months, and we've fallen in love with its dedication to over-the-top violence and its stylish black, white and red presentation. We've seen it in action a number of times now, but we still had plenty of unanswered questions. Enter Platinum Games' Atsushi Inaba, Producer on MadWorld, who was kind enough to give us a little more info on the title.
IGN AU: This game truly is set in a mad world. Where and when is the setting, and how did it come to this?
Atsushi Inaba: MADWORLD takes place in a dystopian future where a terrorist group has put together this thing called Death Watch which is essentially a broadcast show where people are literally beating each other to death. It's a really twisted form of entertainment that this group has forced upon the citizens of Varrigan City. You take the role of Jack, a local mechanic and now a contestant in this game show, literally fighting for your life.
IGN AU: What were your sources of inspiration for this game? Running Man? Sin City?
Atsushi Inaba: Neither really. Of course we like Sin City very much and we have seen Running Man before but they are not the sources of our creation. The concepts of MADWORLD are "visual impact" and "over-the-top violence", and these two themes run right through the game.
IGN AU: Why Wii?
Atsushi Inaba: It has a huge install base and we're really interested in the Wii platform so we wanted to create a really cool and stylish game for that.
IGN AU: The game has an incredibly unique look – how hard was it to capture this style?
Atsushi Inaba: Artists, game designers… all team members are constantly working very hard to capture the style we want the final game to have. It's been hard, making a game only in black in white with red blood is a real challenge, but we've been motivated and driven the whole way through the development process. We're hoping that nobody else decides to sneak out a full black and white game before us!
The least violent way to kill someone in MadWorld.
IGN AU: What are some of the technical tricks you're using to achieve this look?
Atsushi Inaba: It is visually very difficult to play a game in black and white. Sometimes you cannot see enemies or items. How can we create beautiful screens without sacrificing the good gameplay as an action game? It was the challenge. Sometimes people say that "MADWORLD is not utilizing the Wii's hardware potential because it's simply in black and white", but it's not true. We are using the Wii's hardware performance in full power.
IGN AU: How will the game be structured? Will every area be self-contained and end with a boss battle?
Atsushi Inaba: Yes, each area is self-contained and it ends with a boss battle. However, a stage consists of multiple areas, which means that you have to fight against multiple boss characters (we call them "rankers") in each stage. You cannot meet rankers unless you have a high enough score which you build up by fighting the lesser enemies and getting attack combos. By creatively killing your enemies, you can entertain the audience of the "Death Watch" show to earn high scores. Against the bosses, you'll need to have a good strategy to take down each one.
IGN AU: Is the chainsaw the greatest videogame weapon of all time?
Atsushi Inaba: It's definitely up there. It looks great, sounds great and works great. It's really a strong weapon in all aspects.
IGN AU: We've also seen the twin daggers. What other weapon upgrades will there be?
Atsushi Inaba: I'm afraid you'll have to wait until we announce our full weapon list. There will be quite a few surprises in there for sure….
Click above to check out the last MadWorld trailer. Please note: contains traces of Twirlenkiller.
IGN AU: Which hip hop acts are you working with for the soundtrack?
Atsushi Inaba: The in-game music tracks are from various musicians, including pros and semi-pros. They rather joined the project not for the money but for their own enjoyment. They all liked the game first and then accepted our offer. We'll be announcing who some of the acts are nearer the game's release date.
IGN AU: We certainly like what we've seen so far, but how are you planning on keeping the game interesting over its full play-time? What steps are you taking to ensure it's not repetitive?
Atsushi Inaba: The graphical theme is totally different in each stage and you will need to change your combat style to take out your enemies. We very much doubt that gamers will think that it's repetitive. Also, the story is very interesting. We are quite confident that gamers won't get bored as there's lots of variety in the gameplay and a really strong storyline.
IGN AU: Where did the name Herr Frederick Von Twirlenkiller come from? Is this a reflection of a zany sense of humour on the team's part?
Atsushi Inaba: He was named by an American guy who works in our studio. Von Twirlenkiller is the boss in the first stage. The name came from his battle style and his look. It's a good example of using his creativity and sense of humour to create his name, something that we probably wouldn't have thought of if not for our colleague.
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