Voodoo Vince
Encyclopedia
Voodoo Vince is a video game for the Xbox
Xbox
The Xbox is a sixth-generation video game console manufactured by Microsoft. It was released on November 15, 2001 in North America, February 22, 2002 in Japan, and March 14, 2002 in Australia and Europe and is the predecessor to the Xbox 360. It was Microsoft's first foray into the gaming console...

, created by Clayton Kauzlaric
Clayton Kauzlaric
Clayton Kauzlaric is a game designer, writer and animator. He and Ron Gilbert co-created episodic adventure game called DeathSpank, produced at Hothead Games in Vancouver, British Columbia. Kauzlaric was a founding member of Cavedog Entertainment and was the founder of Beep Industries, a first...

, developed by Beep Industries
Beep Industries
Beep Industries is a video game developer known for creating Voodoo Vince for the Xbox video game console.-Company history:Beep Industries was founded in 2000 by Clayton Kauzlaric. Their best known console release is a platform game called Voodoo Vince, exclusively for the Xbox...

 and published by Microsoft Game Studios
Microsoft Game Studios
Microsoft Studios is the video game production wing for Microsoft, responsible for the development and publishing of games for the Xbox, Xbox 360, Games for Windows and Windows Phone platforms. They were established in 2002 as Microsoft Game Studios to coincide with the release of the Xbox, before...

. Its was released in the United States on September 23, 2003.

Voodoo Vince has yet to receive a backwards compatibility patch from Microsoft
Microsoft
Microsoft Corporation is an American public multinational corporation headquartered in Redmond, Washington, USA that develops, manufactures, licenses, and supports a wide range of products and services predominantly related to computing through its various product divisions...

, and thus cannot be played on the Xbox 360
Xbox 360
The Xbox 360 is the second video game console produced by Microsoft and the successor to the Xbox. The Xbox 360 competes with Sony's PlayStation 3 and Nintendo's Wii as part of the seventh generation of video game consoles...

.

Gameplay

In the game you play as Vince, a voodoo doll who can perform an assortment of moves to make his way through the levels. Vince can perform standard moves such as jump, punch, and a spin attack. The game revolves around Vince's ability to use voodoo powers, which the player can get by finding special voodoo icons scattered through the game. When Vince's voodoo power meter is full, the player can use a voodoo power to destroy every enemy nearby. Each voodoo power hurts Vince in a unique way, but they all have roughly the same effect on Vince's enemies.

Scattered throughout the game's levels are special items for Vince to collect: Zombie Dust Bags, which upon collecting 100 will increase Vince's health bar, Hearts, which give Vince extra lives, Beads, which are collected from fallen enemies and fill Vince's voodoo power meter, and Skull Pages, which upon collecting all in a certain level will reveal a Skull. If the player manages to find, chase, and capture the Skull, it will increase the number of voodoo powers Vince can perform at one time. Many levels also offer a trolley station, which allow the player to travel between different levels of the game.

Many of the game's levels have some sort of puzzle in which Vince must activate some sort of device in order to use it to inflict pain on himself to destroy a larger enemy (the bosses in particular). For instance, in one of the first levels of the game Vince must defeat a pair of unruly gas pumps, by setting himself on fire and then throwing himself in a puddle of gasoline surrounding the gas pumps.

Several levels differ from the standard gameplay the player will experience through the rest of the game and involve piloting a vehicle or playing a minigame. Over the course of the game, the player will control Vince piloting an airplane
Fixed-wing aircraft
A fixed-wing aircraft is an aircraft capable of flight using wings that generate lift due to the vehicle's forward airspeed. Fixed-wing aircraft are distinct from rotary-wing aircraft in which wings rotate about a fixed mast and ornithopters in which lift is generated by flapping wings.A powered...

, a swamp boat, a submarine
Submarine
A submarine is a watercraft capable of independent operation below the surface of the water. It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability...

, a bumper car
Bumper car
Bumper car is the generic name for a type of flat ride consisting of several small electric cars which draw power from the floor and/or ceiling, and which are turned on and off remotely by an operator...

, and other vehicles.

Plot

The story of Voodoo Vince is told through the course of the game and the game manual, which reveals the names of some of the characters in the game and has bios of the game's main characters.

Characters

  • Vince -- Vince is the third best of Madam Charmaine's voodoo dolls. As a voodoo doll, he has the ability to hurt himself to hurt his enemies. Vince is only ten inches tall and is made almost entirely of burlap. He has a rather sarcastic attitude, often pointing out and criticizing obvious video game concepts.

  • Madam Charmaine -- Madam Charmaine runs a voodoo shop in the French Quarter
    French Quarter
    The French Quarter, also known as Vieux Carré, is the oldest neighborhood in the city of New Orleans. When New Orleans was founded in 1718 by Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne de Bienville, the city was originally centered on the French Quarter, or the Vieux Carré as it was known then...

     of New Orleans. She helps people who need it and sometimes uses Vince if necessary. She is wise and has great knowledge of magic and crafting voodoo dolls. Since Vince is her creation, she maintains a telepathic
    Telepathy
    Telepathy , is the induction of mental states from one mind to another. The term was coined in 1882 by the classical scholar Fredric W. H. Myers, a founder of the Society for Psychical Research, and has remained more popular than the more-correct expression thought-transference...

     connection with Vince and guides him through the game.

  • Kosmo the Inscrutable -- A seventh grade drop-out, Kosmo has plans for world domination
    Imperialism
    Imperialism, as defined by Dictionary of Human Geography, is "the creation and/or maintenance of an unequal economic, cultural, and territorial relationships, usually between states and often in the form of an empire, based on domination and subordination." The imperialism of the last 500 years,...

    , and has attempted many times to obtain Zombie Dust, the source of Madam Charmaine's powers. He runs the Carnival
    Carnival
    Carnaval is a festive season which occurs immediately before Lent; the main events are usually during February. Carnaval typically involves a public celebration or parade combining some elements of a circus, mask and public street party...

     De Prave, where he slowly hatches his plan to conquer the world. He's the main antagonist and often appears as a floating disembodied head, taunting Vince and telling the voodoo doll to turn back.

  • Jeb & Fingers -- Kosmo's clumsy henchmen who are unable to find better jobs. According to their bio in the game manual, Fingers lost his fingers in a carnival ride accident.

Story

In the opening sequence, Jeb & Fingers break into Madam Charmaine's voodoo shop in order to steal her Zombie Dust. In their attempt, they accidentally release the powers of the Zombie Dust, causing chaos in the shop. In the confusion, a stray bit of Zombie Dust hits Vince, bringing him to life. Madam Charmaine enters the room and attempts to stop the ruckus, but is hit by a flying object and is knocked unconscious. Jeb & Fingers then tie up Madam Charmaine and take her and her Zombie Dust to their boss, Kosmo the Inscrutable. Already, the escaped Zombie Dust starts to bend and warp reality.

Back in the voodoo shop, Vince wakes up. After a telepathic communication from Madam Charmaine, Vince leaves in order to rescue her. Vince travels through the French Quarter of New Orleans, where he defeats a few enemies in his way such as a sleepy "Piggy Bank of Doom" and Reggie & Primo, two unruly gas pumps. In the square, Bones McMurty, a skeleton jazz musician, tells Vince that he can find many answers in a nearby museum, but that he will only let him in if Vince plays a song with him. After exploring some of the shops in the square and producing a trumpet, Vince does a duet with the skeleton, who lets him in to the museum. Inside, the floating head of Kosmo causes a dinosaur
Dinosaur
Dinosaurs are a diverse group of animals of the clade and superorder Dinosauria. They were the dominant terrestrial vertebrates for over 160 million years, from the late Triassic period until the end of the Cretaceous , when the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event led to the extinction of...

 skeleton named The Bone Goliath to come to life and attack Vince. Using his voodoo powers, Vince defeats the dinosaur and discovers a hidden tunnel beneath its feet.

After falling through the tunnel, Vince finds himself in the underground city of Roachfort, where he meets Professor Ethel, an egotistical turtle
Turtle
Turtles are reptiles of the order Testudines , characterised by a special bony or cartilaginous shell developed from their ribs that acts as a shield...

 who is trying to make a balloon that will take them back to the surface. The professor sends Vince through Roachfort to gather supplies for the balloon, but when it is complete the balloon fails to take off due to too much weight. The professor chooses between her personal belongings and Vince, and decides to throw Vince off. After defeating the "obligatory boss battle", a two-headed cyclopian alligator
Alligator
An alligator is a crocodilian in the genus Alligator of the family Alligatoridae. There are two extant alligator species: the American alligator and the Chinese alligator ....

 named Two-Eyes, Vince finds a tank of helium
Helium
Helium is the chemical element with atomic number 2 and an atomic weight of 4.002602, which is represented by the symbol He. It is a colorless, odorless, tasteless, non-toxic, inert, monatomic gas that heads the noble gas group in the periodic table...

, which he uses to inflate himself and rise to the surface.

Vince arrives in the Crypt City, a massive cemetery
Cemetery
A cemetery is a place in which dead bodies and cremated remains are buried. The term "cemetery" implies that the land is specifically designated as a burying ground. Cemeteries in the Western world are where the final ceremonies of death are observed...

 full of zombie
Zombie
Zombie is a term used to denote an animated corpse brought back to life by mystical means such as witchcraft. The term is often figuratively applied to describe a hypnotized person bereft of consciousness and self-awareness, yet ambulant and able to respond to surrounding stimuli...

s. After a second meeting with Bones McMurty, defeating some monsters, putting some of the resident zombies to rest and destroying a massive statue
Statue
A statue is a sculpture in the round representing a person or persons, an animal, an idea or an event, normally full-length, as opposed to a bust, and at least close to life-size, or larger...

 brought to life by Kosmo, Vince travels to the Brusque Manor. The Manor is home to Dolly, a seemingly cute doll with a short temper who tells Vince that Madam Charmaine was taken to the Carnival DePrave. She offers to take Vince there, but demands that Vince defeat the monsters inside the Manor. After doing so, Dolly tells Vince they will take a train. But it turns out that the train is just a large model railroad setup, at which point Vince complains of his bad luck and his dealings with crazy people. Dolly, feeling insulted and with help from Kosmo pulling the string behind her back, changes into a larger and more hideous doll and proceeds to attack Vince, destroying her toy city. Vince uses the model railroad to hurt himself, thus destroying Dolly. Afterwards, he finds a passageway leading out of the Manor.

At the end of the passageway is the Bayou
Bayou
A bayou is an American term for a body of water typically found in flat, low-lying areas, and can refer either to an extremely slow-moving stream or river , or to a marshy lake or wetland. The name "bayou" can also refer to creeks that see level changes due to tides and hold brackish water which...

, home to a "colorful local character" named Crawdad Jimmy. Crawdad Jimmy also offers to take Vince to the Carnival DePrave but asks him to collect some ingredients for his gumbo
Gumbo
Gumbo is a stew or soup that originated in southern Louisiana during the 18th century. It consists primarily of a strongly-flavored stock, meat or shellfish, a thickener, and the vegetable holy trinity of celery, bell peppers, and onions...

 (onion
Onion
The onion , also known as the bulb onion, common onion and garden onion, is the most widely cultivated species of the genus Allium. The genus Allium also contains a number of other species variously referred to as onions and cultivated for food, such as the Japanese bunching onion The onion...

, sausage
Sausage
A sausage is a food usually made from ground meat , mixed with salt, herbs, and other spices, although vegetarian sausages are available. The word sausage is derived from Old French saussiche, from the Latin word salsus, meaning salted.Typically, a sausage is formed in a casing traditionally made...

, crawfish
Crayfish
Crayfish, crawfish, or crawdads – members of the superfamilies Astacoidea and Parastacoidea – are freshwater crustaceans resembling small lobsters, to which they are related...

). After Vince successfully collects the ingredients and wins a swamp boat race, Crawdad Jimmy reveals that he was just buying time for Kosmo, who unleashes a hurricane
Tropical cyclone
A tropical cyclone is a storm system characterized by a large low-pressure center and numerous thunderstorms that produce strong winds and heavy rain. Tropical cyclones strengthen when water evaporated from the ocean is released as the saturated air rises, resulting in condensation of water vapor...

 Named Hurricane Hannah to destroy Vince. Using some fans and a windmill, Vince manages to defeat the hurricane and makes his way to the Carnival DePrave.

In the Carnival DePrave, Vince has to face down some more challenges. Kosmo has set up for him to activate the carnival's rides in order to reach a runway with a motorcycle that Vince can use to jump into the Big Top, where Madam Charmaine is being held. Upon entering the Big Top, Vince finds that Kosmo is piloting a massive robot
Robot
A robot is a mechanical or virtual intelligent agent that can perform tasks automatically or with guidance, typically by remote control. In practice a robot is usually an electro-mechanical machine that is guided by computer and electronic programming. Robots can be autonomous, semi-autonomous or...

, called the "Kosmobot", which he then tries to use to crush Vince. Vince manages to hurt himself, dismantling the robot's legs. He then has to climb up the robot to get to an airplane, which he uses to fly into the robot's head. Inside the head, Vince climbs to the top and attacks the brain, destroying the robot. Vince manages to get out just in time before the robot explodes. But just as Vince is celebrating his triumph, he realizes he forgot Madam Charmaine and turns around. Fortunately, Madam Charmaine is fine, as are Kosmo and his henchmen. Kosmo attempts to use his last bit of Zombie Dust to defeat Madam Charmaine, but she easily repels the attack. Using some Zombie Dust Vince gives her, Madam Charmaine uses her magic to turn Kosmo and his henchmen into balloon
Balloon
A balloon is an inflatable flexible bag filled with a gas, such as helium, hydrogen, nitrous oxide, oxygen, or air. Modern balloons can be made from materials such as rubber, latex, polychloroprene, or a nylon fabric, while some early balloons were made of dried animal bladders, such as the pig...

s. Then, Vince pops them using his powers and with their enemy gone at last, Vince and Madam Charmaine start the journey back home. As the credits roll, Vince questions Madam Charmaine on why, because she so powerful, she can't provide a decent home and even a second eye.

Soundtrack

The game's music was written by Steve Kirk
Steve Kirk (composer)
Steve Kirk is a composer, arranger, guitarist, and singer. He owns Steve Kirk Pop Studios in Oakland, California.Kirk has composed music for video games, including the Zynga Facebook game FarmVille, the Disney game for the The Princess and The Frog feature film, and the full soundtrack of Voodoo...

, and is heavily influenced by jazz, to give it a Southern feel to fit the setting of the game. The soundtrack was also released separately from the game.

Reception

Voodoo Vince was fairly well-received by critics, earning an overall score of 73% on Metacritic
Metacritic
Metacritic.com is a website that collates reviews of music albums, games, movies, TV shows and DVDs. For each product, a numerical score from each review is obtained and the total is averaged. An excerpt of each review is provided along with a hyperlink to the source. Three colour codes of Green,...

. Many critics felt that despite its familiar platformer elements, Voodoo Vince offered a fresh take on the platformer genre with some unique elements. Some critics considered Voodoo Vince to be one of the best platform games for the Xbox at the time.
The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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