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Finally -- Xbox gets a worthy platformer

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 24 / 25
Date: September 26, 2003
Author: Amazon User

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.

Highly Underrated Platformer with A Lot of Laughs!

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 16 / 17
Date: July 08, 2004
Author: Amazon User

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.

Vince = Comfort Food

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 8 / 8
Date: October 09, 2003
Author: Amazon User

When my S.O. wanted to buy an Xbox, I wrinkled my nose in disgust. I hate these game things. They make me angry. I'm simply neither patient nor coordinated enough to perform any of the complexities required to succeed at modern video games. When I came across this game, the idea really appealed to me - kill the baddies by hurting yourself? Well darn! Given my track record with video games, that should be a piece of cake! So I picked it up, and I've been hooked ever since.

Vince is like video game comfort food. The levels are visually pleasing, not *too* complicated, but not *too* easy either. It's about equally split between kicking the baddies and solving the puzzle that will release you from that particular level. It keeps the brain working, has a pretty good sound track, and the wisecracks of the little burlap-and-stuffing main guy are amusing.

My S.O. (who is a video game master) turns up his nose, because he could "beat that game in about three hours"... so maybe this isn't the game for the savvy Xbox expert... but it is amusing and fun. It's mentally challenging, and some of the stunts are hilarious. I definitely recommend this game for someone who wants to play a game that doesn't take itself seriously, is completely addictive, and will not leave you pounding the controller against the floor after you die for the 1,235,456,879,000th time.

Voodoo Vince - A platform game that mocks all platform games

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 8 / 8
Date: November 14, 2003
Author: Amazon User

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.

Crazy wacky! Addictively fun! Super Amazing!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 5 / 5
Date: December 15, 2004
Author: Amazon User

Yes - it is that good. Great graphics, music, tons of humor all threaded beautifully through a zany story line. So many things to discover in this game. Each level holds complex surprises that you have to figure out - who knew you'd have to light yourself on fire and run across rooftops to blow up the evil, wrench hurling, trash talking gas station -the whole time dodging flying frogs and bottomless pits?! Ride a mouse in Rodent Rodeo, drive a flyboat in the bayou, fight goblins in a graveyard using your voodoo powers (one attack consists of dropping a cow on yourself which, in turn, voodoo style, squashes all monsters in the area), swing like Tarzan through swamps, battle a possessed talking doll who throws poodles. This game is just a totally fun, hi-larious good time.

Vince oozes style!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 6 / 7
Date: October 05, 2003
Author: Amazon User

This is a very well-made platformer. The production values are consistenly high, from the stylish catchy jazz soundtrack (all the music was played by a real live band) to the off-kilter level and character designs.

The gameplay is simple and fun. As with all 3-D platformers the camera can sometimes be a minor problem, but as you can control the camera, it doesn't take long to figure out the best way to position it for a certain jump or whatever. Unlike what a previous reviewer said, the camera is not "atrocious" - I suspect he simply had not figured out that you can control the camera. Similarly, the same reviewer spoke of the controls being backward, and not being able to change them - this is incorrect, you can invert both up-down and left-right control without leaving an on-going game.

The voice acting in the game is also very good, although I might have prefered a different actor for Vince himself. A lot has already been said about the voodoo powers you can use, so I won't go into that. Suffice it to say that they are inventive and fun, and definitely add a lot to this already appealing platformer. Character designs are similarly well-executed. Vince himself is one of the most amusing and likable video game characters in a while. The beautiful, Tim Burton-esque levels are populated by a large cast of faux-spooky characters.

This is one well-made game and I hope the upcoming XBox platformers Psychonauts and Wallace and Gromit in Project Zoo manage to meet the high quality bar set by Vince. I have always liked platform games, but I lost interest in the genre after playing several mediocre PlayStation 3-D platformers. This game and what I have seen of the other two I mentioned above is giving me new hope.

I haven't yet finished Voodoo Vince, but from what I have seen so far, it looks like an excellent buy if you like quirky, stylish games.

Extremely fun, but also extremely frustrating

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 6 / 7
Date: November 05, 2003
Author: Amazon User

Voodoo Vince is, in a word, intense. It's also funny, snarky, and challenging.

Controls for Vince are very easy to pick up, although, with certain combinations, it can be painful or downright deadly for Vince if you have a brain freeze, and hit "dive bomb" instead of "propeller" (like, say, over a bottomless pit).

The camera controls aren't perfect, but they're pretty easy to pick up, and eventually they become second nature when you're playing.

My favorites, and the thing that VV is known for, are the "voodoo powers". Like another reviewer said, they're basically slickly-animated smart bombs. However, having said that, it's definitely a kick to be surrounded by monsters, and then setting off things like Blender, Vial of Acid, William Tell, or Wrecking Ball (unless I've missed something, it's randomly chosen, but they all have the same effect on the monsters).

The mini-games are also quite clever, and the boss fights are sufficiently challenging, although if you don't execute them perfectly, the re-do factor of trying to damage the boss can be extremely trying.

Ultimately, this is a very addicting game, and one that I really hope comes out with a sequel.

Enter Voodoo Vince...

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 3 / 4
Date: September 12, 2004
Author: Amazon User

Voodoo Vince has class! REAL class! I love it.
Firstly, the locations are awesome. You'll be playing in a New Orleans-like setting, then you're in a Mansion, a Swamp, a Carnival, and a bunch of other places. There's one part where you're setting this clock to make all these bussinesses open so that you can get stuff and finish the level.
The monsters are fun to beat up and really cool looking!
Now, the Voodoo powers are just great! Really funny! There's a bunch of them and they all make me laugh. "Chainsaw" will make just that pop up and saw you in half, a Anvil will drop from the sky, on you...there's Toxic Waste, Blender, Shark Attack, Alien Attack, Bear Trap, Angry God, Lightning, the list goes on and on...and all of them will use that same effect on other monsters! My favorite Voodoo power is "1930's Mob Hit".
All the special moves are awesome. Head slam is great, Spin move, you can also Float to places while in mid-air, which really comes in handy.
Vince himself has class. He always has a little wise-crack or something to say, and the other characters are just as fun as he is.
Honestly, I can't think of a single thing wrong with this game. It's not too hard, but then it's not too easy. It requires a little strategy, but all of them are made really creative.
This is THE most original, most creative, most fun game I've ever seen. Period. It's totally worth the money. Thumbs up for Beep Industries(the guys who made the game)!

Highly Recommended

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 3 / 5
Date: May 01, 2004
Author: Amazon User

The game has three-D graphics and allows multi-direction movement of Vince. The levels are challenging and solutions cleaver. The game will hold the interest of players from early teens and up.

It just might work its voodoo on you. Good - not great!

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 3 / 7
Date: April 21, 2004
Author: Amazon User

Voodoo Vince. I bought it for the Xbox because it got pretty good reviews and my XBox needed a platformer. By the way... three out of five stars for me, means that I liked the game and would reccomend it to fans of the genre. In truth it is worth 3.4 stars, but no way is it ever gonna be worth five. The only five star platformer I have played was the original Super Mario 64, so based upon that game, 3.4 is a fair assessment of Voodoo Vince. What can you expect?

Graphics...Astounding: 4.5
Music...Very Original and good: 4.0
Control... better than most: 4.0
Originality...somewhat lacking: 2.0
Humor...sometimes funny, sometimes dumb: 2.5
Gameplay...fun...but nothing new: 3.0

OVERALL SCORE: 3.4 out of 5

This game is probably one of the better platform titles for the XBox, so if you must have a platformer... rent it first. Odds are, if you like platformers, you will have fun. If you don't like them, however, Voodoo Vince isn't going to convince you otherwise.

JEFF

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