Voodoo Vince

"Good platformer falling just a few steps short of greatness"

The game follows Vince, a voodoo doll with an attitude (funny), as he tries to save his owner who's been kidnapped by some nerdy lunatic who wants to use her voodoo dust for evil purposes. Nothing special here and it really doesn't need to be. While you do get numerous cut scenes throughout the game between Vince and the bad guy, the story isn't really that important and serves more as comic relief, Voodoo Vince is about the game play and the general comic atmosphere. It never tries to take itself seriously and to that end it succeeds.

Gameplay: 8/10

Vince being a voodoo doll is not your typical action hero. While he does have a punch and a spin move, his main power is inflicting damage to himself which in turn gets inflicted to all the enemies around. So the strategy is to jump in the middle of a bunch of bad guys and use your power. There are dozens of voodoo powers you acquire. Things like having a cow fall on your head, getting cut in half, hit by a mob squad, playing with scissors and other funny and creative ways to die. The problem is that these different voodoo attacks are just for looks. Meaning that no matter which one is used; in the end it does the same exact thing. You also have absolutely no control over which power is used. They are all randomly picked. Because of these two reasons I feel this part wasn't implemented to its fullest. I'd have liked to pick my own power and for each power to have a slightly different effect. Like one could have had a longer range, another homing/guided feature, make you jump higher, put the enemies to sleep and so on.

Speaking of enemies, they have very little significance, at least the regular ones. There are so few of them and they are so weak that they might as well not even be there. There are two ways to die in Voodoo Vince: fall of a ledge/cliff/platform and get killed by a boss. You'd have to actually try pretty hard to get killed another way.

Voodoo Vince's game play can be divided in two parts. The first half of the game involves you trying to find your way to the end of the level, solving various item puzzles. These puzzles are fun and inventive! The second half of the game is platform jumping. The further you get in the game the smaller the platforms, the further apart and the faster they move. The last level is absolutely nerve wrecking but I guess that's why they call it a platformer. So if you're frustrated easily or don't like jumping across tiny platforms, this game might not be for you.

Thankfully the camera is the best I've ever seen period! Not once did it turn to mess up my jumps, plus you can control it manually. Every developer should learn how to implement camera in 3D games from these guys. They did an amazing job!

The bosses are another part of Voodoo Vince which is done to perfection. These guys are big, mean and require quite a bit of strategy to defeat. This strategy usually involves you figuring out the best way to inflict pain on yourself, which in turn gets inflicted on the boss. So without giving away any spoilers, this is about all I can say. Some boss fights make it evident what you need to do, other require a bit of exploring and trial and error.

Graphics: 9/10

The graphics in Voodoo Vince are pretty darn good. In fact I'd go so far as to say this is the best looking platformer I've ever played. Not only is each level highly detailed but they're all incredibly diverse. The animation is equally good, running at a seemingly 60fps without any hiccups. While there isn't any bump mapping, it does use reflections quite well and the lighting and particle effects are top notch. All of Vince's spells/powers look quite good and will definitely make you laugh, at least the first time you see them.

Music/Sound: 9/10

The music is equally good and has that New Orleans theme, though the bayou level's music almost put me to sleep. The sound effects are about average, nothing really stands out one way or another, except maybe the Voodoo powers which sounds pretty good. Yep, there is a flatulence power which sounds quite authentic. As for the voice acting, it's a mixed bag. Vince's voice is done really good with excellent acting. On the other hand the bad guy sounds like Sega was involved somehow. You know what I mean... hiring the janitor to read the script.

Replay Value: 5/10

It's a lot of fun to play but doesn't quite reach greatness. It took me a little over 10 hours to complete it and there is nothing extra to unlock, no new levels or powers to obtain after that. In fact even if you get 100% of the items, you still get nothing for it. So if you're a platformer fan, like good humor and don't mind a short quest with little replayability definitely pick up Voodoo Vince. Otherwise a rental would be the better choice.

The good:

-Very funny
-Nice long inventive levels
-Great camera
-Excellent boss battles
-Great fitting music
-Great graphics for a platformer
-Fun to play
-“Driving” levels are a nice diversion

The bad:

-Voodoo powers not implemented right since they all look different but do the same exact thing; can’t pick which ones to use
-The regular enemies are few and insignificant. Because of this, most of the levels look bare and unpopulated, and the game just feels like it’s missing something
-Absolutely no replay value

Overall score: 8/10

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 09/30/03