Most Helpful Customer Reviews
|
|
24 of 25 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Finally -- Xbox gets a worthy platformer, September 25, 2003
By A Customer
I have actually played the complete version of Voodoo Vince. I must say, this is a breath of fresh air on the shooter-heavy Xbox. This game has a high degreee of polish and personality from beginning to end. The gameplay, level design, puzzles, mood and even the music all work extremely well.First, the character controls. Vince is really responsive and has almost no "laggy-ness." He turns, moves and jumps very easily. His basic moves are standard platformer fare: He runs, jumps, double-jumps, punches, spins and head butts his way through the game. Vince himself is a hoot. The game is filled with sarcastic comments which make fun of other characters, Vince and the platformer genre. I thought the little animations Vince does when he gets bored were especially well done. His voice is sort of odd, sounding like that guy from the Man Show, but after a while it kind of grew on me. Probably the biggest stand-out for me were the voodoo powers themselves. Since Vince is a voodoo doll, it okay to do bad things to him. Vince can get destroyed in all sorts of strange and funny ways. Some of these are "powers" which are basically highly animated smart bombs. Some are related to puzzles and boss battles, where finding a harmful, dangerous thing and turning it against Vince is how you beat the monsters. These are both clever and funny. The levels are beautiful, and well designed. The platforming could get more tricky than I've seen for a while, but that's okay. Plunging into an unexpected pit had me a bit frustrated at times, but the game has a great auto-save feature which means you don't have to play very much over again if Vince dies. There are lots of cool mini-games to be found in Voodoo Vince. At times, he gets to fly an airplane, drive a fanboat or jump around on a giant spring. There is even a totally insane boss battle where he rides a rat. I thought this gave the experience the right amount of variety and kept the basic gameplay from getting monotonous. The game has a lot of in-game cut scenes, where Vince deals with other characters, gets his latest mission or some pay-off for doing something right. These were also superbly animated. The music gets a special nod. It's mostly old-style jazz, but it changes over the course of the game perfectly to fit the southern, New Orleans setting. I don't think I've ever heard stuff like this in a video game. The fact that this is a game which might appeal to younger gamers, plus the fact that it's on the light, humorous side means it might not appeal to some serious gamers. But I thought there was a lot to like in Voodoo Vince and I heartily recommend it.
|
|
|
15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Highly Underrated Platformer with A Lot of Laughs!, July 8, 2004
I didn't pick this game up until it dropped to $20, mainly because I had heard mixed reviews about it. After playing it, I'm beginning to think that many reviewers are just jaded from the surplus of platformers available on the market. The game is beautiful and easy to learn. Voodoo Vince is a very cute mascot with just enough personality to crack up even the most serious of players.Story
The story is pretty entertaining. You are a voodoo doll named Vince. You are the "third best" doll of a woman by the name of Madame Charmaine, who has been kidnapped by Kosmo the Inscrutable. During the crime, Vince has zombie dust sprinkled on him, bringing him to life and allowing him to receive telepathic messages from Mme. Charmaine. Characters
Vince is a very likable character, with his tongue in cheek disdain for all things platforming (e.g. "Another musical gate puzzle...hooray"). I can't decide if he has very low or very high self-esteem, because his character seems to waffle between the two. In any case, he is very entertaining. Mme. Charmaine's visual role is small after her abduction, but her voice haunts you throughout the game (think Cleo from the Psychic Friends network). The main "baddy", Kosmo, reminds me of Bert from Sesame Street. He is supposed to be quite comical, but I find it hard to believe that a Muppet could pull off such a heist! Gameplay
The gameplay is standard 3D platforming at its best -- jump around and float/hover to drop more slowly and find secret areas. Your special attacks are one of the more novel I have seen. To harm a large number of enemies around you, you invoke a random special attack which involves...hurting yourself! You collect icons throughout the game that add to your portfolio of attacks, including my favorite: the shark attack. WOW! Animation and Great Tunes
A few other reviewers have dissed the animation, saying it isn't XBox calibre, but I couldn't disagree more. The first time Vince looks in an old, worn out mirror in the first level, I was amazed at the attention to detail that the designers put into this game. The burlap on Vince looks so real that I expect to get a rash from touching its rough surface! Everything else is cartoony, but the lighting effects are excellent, as is the feeling of age in certain areas (e.g. inside an old drainpipe). Jazz and blues tunes permeate this title, giving it a real Cajun feel. The Main Street level of The Quarter really feels like New Orleans, especially how the music speeds up when Vince catches on fire. (Don't ask...it's an important part of the story). Will This Gather Dust?
It certainly won't in my collection. Vince is cool, and his antics are classic. I am still revisiting levels trying to get all of the pages and skulls that I missed the first time through. At $20, this game is a steal. Overall Recommendations:
You'll like this if:
* You grew up on platformers and still love them.
* You like Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga style humor.
* You like New Orleans.
|
|
|
8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Voodoo Vince - A platform game that mocks all platform games, November 14, 2003
So what do you get when you add your typical platform game, a third-rate voodoo doll, and a fun Louisiana Cajun storyline? Voodoo Vince! As much as I've been bored by many of the platform titles that have come out over the past few years (and the millions of sequels issued after them), Voodoo Vince was a welcome change of pace. You play an animated voodoo doll that is out to rescue his owner, Madame Charmaine, who is captured by Kosmo the Inscrutable (think Vizzini the Sicilian from Princess Bride - add a Fez and you're getting close). The game pokes fun of other platform titles (pardon the pun), as much as it plays like one. It has the genre's obligatory boss battles, puzzles, and hidden items, but Vince always has something witty to say about each new challenge that will keep you in stitches. It steals some ideas from a few other platform games, such as target-based grappling ala Rayman and a spin attack that is reminiscent of Crash Bandicoot, but those aren't bad platform~ games to take from. The last thing that still makes me giggle is Vince's DIE! How can you not like a game in which you are supposed to set yourself on fire? This game stands apart from other platform titles for its atmosphere, especially the music. I rarely am able to keep the sound up on a title for an excessively long amount of time, however, with this title the music and background effects are superb. I wish more titles had the musical direction that Voodoo Vince has, but then again not many are from the bayou! The imagery of the game is vivid and colorful, and it is the prettiest platform title for the Xbox since Oddworld. As far as knocks on the game, I think the biggest one I have, which is one that I have for all games of this genre, is this: the camera angle will kill you for a while. All third person perspective titles have this problem, and I don't know what it will take to fix it. It isn't as bad as some titles have been, but there are parts where you won't be able to determine how steep an incline is, or where an item or switch is. Luckily enough, there are special abilities that will help you later in the game to get over this problem, helping you out in determining where things are. I don't knock the game too hard on this as I've come to realize that third person camera angles just have this problem. If you're going to run through the game without collecting every secret item, you can get through it within 10-12 hours easily. I was going through getting everything, as I loved seeing all the different voodoo powers, personally enjoying all the different ways to chop/slice/smash all of the monsters, and it took me about 20 hours. If you're looking for something that's going to make you laugh out loud and have fun, this game is for you. If you don't have a sense of humor, buy one. Overall I give Voodoo Vince a solid 4 out of 5 TJ's (That's Throbbing Joysticks to anyone who doesn't know my ratings scale). If you're broke, go rent it; it'll soak your weekend into oblivion - you won't be disappointed.
|
|
|
Most Recent Customer Reviews
|
