I paid practically nothing for Madworld, I've not long had a Wii so didn't know what to expect. All I knew was that it was an 18 (rightly so!) and had a seemingly gorgeous black and white visual style. I popped it into the Wii not expecting much and was very, very pleasantly surprised.

Madworld is an absolute blast. It is sickeningly violent, it is the most violent video game I have ever played bar none, but providing you are not a psychopath or a Daily Mail reading paranoiac it's no more grotesque than many horror films that are readily available. Cleaving characters in half with a chainsaw, red blood spraying everywhere sounds wrong, but it is hard not to be enjoying the surreal experience of Madworld. The black and white colour scheme do detach the game far enough from reality to avoid trauma. It is not realistic in any way. To me, it is more like a living, breathing adult graphic novel. The comic book styling adds to this. The monochrome colour scheme (plus splashes of red and yellow) is stunning. It's my favorite game to look at on the Wii.

At first though, you may be underwhelmed. The control scheme uses every button on the numchuck and remote and is a little clunky. It took around 2 hours of play for me to feel comfortable with the setup. The difficulty too is not exactly progressive. Ridiculously easy for the first six levels, the introduction of Death Blade and his zombie infested castle ramps the difficulty to something resembling a challenge for most gamers. The game suddenly starts demanding precision, and the enemies start to threaten. At this point some may turn off, but I urge you to see Madworld through. You may battle against the poor lock-on system and the sometimes abysmal camera, but the pros far outweigh Madworld's many small niggly flaws.

Madworld sounds brilliant. It sounds utterly repulsively gruesome at times, but the witty commentary and pounding hip-hop are excellent additions to Madworld. Some of the metal riffs that begin when a boss battle arises are excellent also. The game is as great a joy to listen to as look at.

If you can get it for around a fiver, or second hand for peanuts, Madworld is worth anyone's time (over 18's, that is). It's original, refreshingly mature and a total blast. It's short yes, but I'm not recommending the game at a full £40 price. For comic book fans, add another star. Here's hoping for a sequel or two.