Big Fun in the Big Easy

From the moment you enter the bakery and encounter the tasty-but-vicious Ginger Dead Men, you’ll be completely absorbed in the clever humor, eye-popping graphics, and non-stop action of Voodoo Vince. A platform game from the mad geniuses at Beep Industries,Voodoo Vince offers an appealing combination of monster bashing, item collection, and puzzle solving in an awesome 3-D setting.

You’ll play Vince, a sarcastically cheerful and surprisingly resilient voodoo doll created by Madame Charmaine, one of New Orleans’ top fortune tellers. Vince’s charm is undeniable and hits home early, usually about the time he casually removes his eye to polish it on his chest . He’s not over-endowed in the height department—he stands about a foot tall—but he can run quickly, leap, hover, punch, kick, and even spin around with fists and feet flailing in a whirling ball of voodoo vigor. And, as Madame Charmaine’s third-best voodoo doll, you’ve got quite a task ahead of you tonight.

Self-immolation for fun and profit!

When the Madame is kidnapped by thugs in the employ of her rival, the mysterious and arrogant Kosmo the Inscrutable, it’s up to you to find and rescue your creator. Challenges and obstacles lurk around every corner as you run and leap through a supernaturally exaggerated cityscape. Madame Charmaine isn’t the only one in trouble: Kosmo’s clumsy goons broke open a container of her famous voodoo mummy dust when they busted into her shop, and now the perilous powder is wreaking havoc throughout the town, warping buildings, streets, vehicles, animals, and even the good citizens of New Orleans. Gather up as much of the stray dust as you can, along with the floating skull pages of Madame Charmaine’s voodoo spell book. Along the way, you’ll interact with an array of weird characters, commandeer some truly dangerous vehicles, and play a number of entertaining games-within-the-game.

As if all this weren’t challenging enough, Kosmo the Inscrutable is well aware of your efforts and intends to stop you if he can. He may be nothing more than a disembodied (and occasionally rude) floating head, but Kosmo’s own brand of black magic is nothing to sneeze at. From city to bayou, his evil powers animate everything from bloated winged bullfrogs to a gigantic sadistic doll that throws rat-shaped missiles—and each and every one of these horrific creations wants nothing more than to ruin your day!

What harm could a lamp possibly do?

Fortunately, you share a mental link with Madame Charmaine, who offers occasional hints that help you overcome the various obstacles in your path. Replenish lost health by grabbing bags of voodoo dust hidden in the intricate environment. Death, however, isn’t necessarily a career-ending injury for Vince. If you fall into a bottomless pit or get chewed to pieces by a hungry dog, you’ll return to life to try again.

By far the most effective weapon in your arsenal—and one of the game’s coolest features—is your voodoo power. Hidden around the city are a number of voodoo icons, and each unlocks a new power. Every time you defeat a monster, it vanishes in a puff of voodoo dust that you absorb into your little patchwork body. When you’ve absorbed enough Mardi Gras beads to trigger a voodoo power, you’re “voodoo meter” will be charged up, your body will emit an eerie blue glow, and then you can jump right into the middle of the biggest group of monsters and let fly with your supernatural talents. Then, sit back and enjoy the carnage as you’re crushed, burned, mangled, electrocuted, flattened, and maimed! Don’t worry—watching Vince destroy himself in countless inventive ways might seem a little ghoulish, but it’s at least half the fun.

Niiiiiice doggie…

Remember, you’re a voodoo doll, so damage you inflict on yourself is reflected instantly onto your opponents, who suffer the gruesome fates meant for you. Among Vince’s arsenal of voodoo powers are attacks that squash him flat with an anvil, slice him in half with a chainsaw, electrocute him with lightning bolts, and zap him with lasers from an alien spaceship. The sheer number of ways in which Vince gets pounded, melted, minced, and pureed almost defies imagination.

Voodoo Vince combines the very best elements of superb platform gaming with an innovative story line that will keep you absorbed for weeks—possibly months (the content is that deep and extensive). Hats off to the developers at Beep Industries, who clearly spent many long design sessions dreaming up new and inventive ways to express Vince’s unique version of cause and effect and bringing them to life as the voodoo you do!

By Jason Carl