When you think of the Wii, you don’t normally conjure up images of poles being jammed down people’s throats or chainsaws ripping through torsos. Enter MadWorld, the first game to be released by Platinum Games, which is a studio made up of former Devil May Cry, Okami and Viewtiful Joe developers. MadWorld brings a bit of the old ultra-violence to Nintendo’s kid-friendly console, and hardcore gamers who have been waiting for the next big adult title since No More Heroes need to look no further.

When looking solely at the screenshots that Sega has released thus far, it is hard to see how truly amazing MadWorld looks. In person, the graphics are fairly stunning thanks to the super-sharp visuals that are further accentuated by the largely black and white color scheme. The art style is unlike any other game out there, wearing its influence from Sin City and other similar graphic novels on its sleeve, and the limited use of color adds further accentuation to the already striking visuals, especially so when the bright red blood breaks the colorless palette as it spews forth from a downed enemies’ wounds.

The demo level was set in a factory, with all types of grinders, spike platforms and saws strewn about for use in the dirty deeds. The game felt very much like the aforementioned No More Heroes in action, as most of my time was spent bashing my foes heads in with whatever I could find. The world seems to be setup like giant amusement park of pain, with each room offering different ways to send your opponents to their untimely ends. You move Jack, the main character, around with the nunchuck and perform attacks with the buttons on the Wii Remote or through some perfunctory motion swipes. After several moments, I was throwing enemies into spinning blades and power-slamming them into a bloody pulp on the pavement with ease. It may not have flowed as smoothly as Travis Touchdown’s light sword combat, but I am confident that it will become second nature once you have learned the intricacies of the fighting system.