Whacked! – XB – Review

Those of you who are
familiar with the more extreme Japanese game shows know that contestants are
tossed into some really messy and even painful situations in order to win that
much desired secret prize.  Now imagine a game show where the contestants are
literally at war with one another, using any means necessary, to win the
mysterious prize in a wacky game called Whacked!  Ladies and gentlemen, let the
demented games begin!

Welcome to Whacked, a game
show hosted by the strange mutation of every game show host from Bob Barker to
anyone who hosted Family Feud named Van Tastic (who is literally all hair and
teeth). The game’s premise is to win the secret prize that awaits one of the
seven oddball contestants in a series of violent–yet somewhat
hilarious–challenges.  This is definitely not your parent’s game show.

There are two ways of
playing the game: Gameshow Mode (a single player mode) and Battle Mode (the
multiplayer mode).  Either mode you play, gamers can choose from seven unique
contestants.  There’s Lucky (an irritable rabbit whose hands and feet were cut
off by good luck charm factory), Charity (an incredibly psychotic-looking little
girl who loves shiny objects) or Lucy (who simply just wears two strategically
placed censor bars instead of clothing). Each character has their own
personality and all of them will do anything to win.

Gameshow Mode takes gamers
through a series of challenges in unusual backdrops such as under a giant
Christmas Tree or an Artic Pipeline.  The challenges range from a no-holds
barred battle royale against other contestant to collect fifty stars (and you
can even steal stars from the other contestants) or compete in Grab n’ Run
(where the first player to carry around a gold trophy for the specified time
wins the game). Of course, there are quite an extensive collection of weapons (a
giant stapler, rubber ducky grenades, or sticky bombs to name a few) and
Question Mark power-ups to help (armor or invisibility) or hinder (such as
getting the plague or being on fire) you.

The problem is that the
action becomes really repetitive and this could have been the game’s downfall if
it were not for the fact that it keeps throwing different obstacles or
situations.  The six different ways of playing the game can change.  For
example, playing Chicken, where crazed flesh-eating chickens are after you,
starts off as a simple game of kill as many chickens as you can.  The second
time you’ll have to kill the chickens using a specific weapon.

As decent as the single
player game is, though; Whacked is most definitely a true multiplayer game. In
fact, with so many options, you’d think the main game mode is the multiplayer
games.  You can play against four players using a single Xbox console or connect
two consoles using an Ethernet hub and cables for a System Link game (used when
you don’t want to clutter a single screen during play with four players). But
the ultimate highlight of the multiplayer option is the extremely delightful
fact that you can play this game online using the Xbox Live service!

Graphics-wise, Whacked has
some of the sharpest and high-in-detail visuals that wonderfully bring this
demented world to life.  The unusual backgrounds in the playing environments are
like a mental patient’s distorted fantasy land, they’re filled with fully
interactive objects that make the rest of the area appear fully
third-dimensional.  And the characters are simply amazing both during animated
cut scenes and during the competition.  This is definitely one good looking
game.   

The sound also wins big
points especially in the effects category as well as the voice and music.  From
the sharp clicks of your giant stapler to the angry clucking of insanely violent
chickens, you’ll find the game is alive with sound effects.  Gamers will find it
hilarious how each character has his or her own comments for different kinds of
situations during the action or how cornball host Van Tastic sounds.

Whacked is a viciously
twisted game that isn’t afraid to get its hands dirty but it falls short when it
comes to the challenges.  The action can grow somewhat repetitive even when the
game throws extras to keep gamers on their toes.  It’s multiplayer options make
this a decent party game to be enjoyed with a group of friends or with a network
of all-new gamers once the Xbox Live is finally launched.  

#Reviewer’s Scoring Details

Gameplay: 7.1
Where the Loony Tunes-inspired
Loons: Fight for Fame failed, Whacked slightly succeeds. It not only takes seven
contestants through a variety of different challenges of the fragfest kind but
also clever mutations of games like tag or dodge ball.  The action will also
seem monotonous–although the game tries to throw something new at the players
in mid-game such as the Big Red Button that instantly changes the rules of the
game or distorts it enough to make it seem different.

The controls are also easy
to manage in this game since all you do is jump and attack. You can power jump
to get to those hard to reach places by holding the jump button or do a spike
attack by pushing both the jump button and the attack button . . . simple
enough.

Graphics: 7.8
Whacked is also a sharp looking game
with plenty of details and fantastic-looking backgrounds.  Gamers will admire
the vivid colors and fully interactive objects such as the kitchen sink’s giant
running facet to the jar of mustard you can jump up on. The characters are also
amazingly detailed, especially Charity whose wild eyes and crazed grin look
really disturbing. 

Sound: 7.7
From the cheesy game show’s music to
Van Tastic’s incredibly corny delivery, the sound is a real highlight.  The
soundtrack is very retro 70s game show music that has been spoofed so many times
in television shows that it so surreally fitting here.  The voices are
cartoon-quality yet every remark is rude, crude and downright lewd but never
overly offensive. The sound effects are also effective here and most of it is
really comical. 

Difficulty: Medium
The computer-controlled contestants
do put up quite a battle in both the single player mode or battle mode (when
four players aren’t on screen, the remaining contestants are
computer-controlled).  There are four difficulty settings and they can be
changed to fit your comfort level but the game is still somewhat challenging
even in the Normal setting.

Concept: 7.2
Whacked has enough challenges but
there is nothing really unique in terms of ideas.  There are a number of things
that set it apart from other similar games such as the inclusion of funny
animated commercials in-between levels but it‘s not enough. 

Multiplayer: 7.5
There’s no doubt that Whacked was
made with multiplayer action in mind and the multiplayer option in this game is
what party games are made of.  For one thing, up to four players can play using
a single Xbox (seen in as split-screen) or you can set up a System Link game
with another console.  There are also plenty of playing modes such as Combat,
Dodgeball, Grab n’ Run, Fragfest and King of the Hill.  You can even change
certain settings to modify the games.

When Xbox Live finally
goes online, gamers from all over will get to battle it out (up to four players
at a time) using all of the different playing modes and weapons.  The service
also promises to feature the use of the voice communicator so gamers can talk
trash while they play and it also includes a feature that allows gamers to
invite friends to play.

Overall: 6.7
If you’re looking for seriously
deranged antics and wildly fun challenges, Whacked is the game for you.  Still,
there isn’t a whole lot to this game and that is quite a tragedy since its silly
sense of humor and wickedly crude action could have made this a game show to
remember.