Voodoo Vince

Voodoo Vince Description

Continuing its onslaught into the platform genre, and in an attempt to compete with the likes of Sony's Jak II and Ratchet and Clank, Microsoft has unleashed the bizarrely named Voodoo Vince for Xbox, courtesy of developer Beep Industries. Turning the tables somewhat on the standard platform play mechanic, Voodoo Vince has players beating up their own characters in order to progress. He is a Voodoo doll after all, and doing damage to yourself will inflict pain on your enemy targets, leaving you unscathed and ready to fight another day. It's perhaps the first game that has players actually using the game's hazards instead of running from them. Placing yourself under falling safes and subjecting yourself to prickly pincushions and bolts of lightning will get you far in this all-new adventure. It's refreshing to see an original approach within the saturated platform genre. But it is still a platform game, and a solid one at that. As a lost Voodoo doll, your goal is quite simple: to find your owner, Madame Charmaine, before the world's hostile inhabitants tear you to shreds. But to do so you'll have to traverse numerous game worlds in an adventure that is typical of most other platformers. Locations include graveyards, boggy sewers and the like, and all play host to a series of mini games that must be completed in order to progress. There are 30 levels in all, and the game does look fabulous on Xbox, boasting hi-res textures and a good level of detail to create one of the most convincing fantasy environments we've seen for a long time. Voodoo Vince is a fine game for Xbox, and although it may not receive the same level of attention as a Sony or Nintendo equivalent, it's definitely worth a look.

• Voodoo combat action. Players can employ more than 30 voodoo attacks that do outrageous things to Vince, but it's the monsters who end up hurting! Unlike in other games, players must actually use dangers and hazards instead of running from them. Falling safes, prickly pushpins and bolts of lightning bring a whole new meaning to the phrase "no pain, no gain."
  
  
• Magical voodoo world. Thrust into the depths of a twisted and dangerous world, Vince must trek through crawfish-laden swamps, a graveyard filled with imps and lost zombies, a fantastic French Quarter and a network of boggy sewers.
  
  
• Vehicles and minigames. As the game unfolds, Vince must master and pilot a number of vehicles, including a fanboat, a submarine, an airplane - even a rat gives him a lift at one point. Vince must master one mind-bending minigame after another to complete his quest.
  
  
• Dynamic cast of characters. No adventure would be complete without its host of surly characters. Offbeat characters with all the charm of New Orleans are around every corner. Vince encounters everything from Gingerdeadmen, who are not exactly sugar-coated, to a pair of intoxicated gas pumps that offer up a fiery challenge.