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.
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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.
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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.
Honest reviews on Voodoo Vince
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.
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