 No More Heroes 2007 Grasshopper Manufacture 1p Rated M Nunchuk Required NMH stars Travis Touchdown, a bad-attitude otaku who wins a beam katana on an online auction. (How one comes across a totally lethal weapon such as this—the limb-lopping similarity to the lightsabers used in the Star Wars series is no mistake—is completely beyond me. Also: where can I get one?) Regardless, Travis kills a hitman with his new toy, and in doing so, unknowingly becomes the 11th-ranked hitman in town. Now that he is on ‘the list’ and a target himself, there is no place to go but up; NMH tells the story of Travis as he rises thru the ranks, kill after bloody kill. The game is divided into two main phases: the city map, where you go shopping, take on side jobs to earn cash, and eventually unlock the boss battles. The city map is easily where NMH seems most like Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, right down to the map location marker icons. For as violent as NMH is, one key difference is that you are unable to jack cars or murder innocent citisens. Travis speeds from location to location on his motorcycle, which looks like something cribbed from the anime classic Akira. Once you have earned enough money working those side jobs, you can purchase the right to challenge the next-ranked assassin above you.  This, of course, leads to the second main portion of the game—the amazing boss battles. Once you pay up, the location of the next boss battle is revealed to you by your sexy, mysterious, informant. She will guide you there, but beyond that—she only serves to tease and taunt. The boss battle is in itself a full-blown level—you may or may not need to use your map (the levels are fairly linear), and even though health/energy pickups are abundant, you will have to put in some work to even reach the assassin. Once you’ve slashed your way thru wave after wave of henchmen, you’ll eventually find yourself face-to-face with some of the most interesting characters, ever! (But what would you expect from a guy named “Destroyman”?) The challenge increases, naturally, as you climb the ranks.
I mentioned that NMH has loads of style, and that may be an understatement. The game employs an incredible 80’s-style, pixellated, graphical design, that lends tons of panache as well as disguises the Wii’s shortcomings. Extremely classic, and VERY well done. Beyond that, you’ll swear that Travis Touchdown actually exists—he is dripping with personality. He is far from perfect—he proves not to be too bright, from time to time-- which of course only adds to his personality. I will refrain from giving away spoilers, but your ‘home base’ is simple yet extremely well done. The ‘loading’ screens are awesome; the art team is a wonderfully gifted bunch of folks (and the game even gives you a little something to do while waiting for the load!). The save-game sequence is…interesting. Excellent presentation, all around. Another standout area is play control. I’ll begin with the negatives—the only thing that annoyed me about NMH is that when riding around the city map, Travis’ motorbike has some extremely strange physics behind it. Try running into a car head-on, and you’ll come to an abrupt, noiseless, halt two or three feet from it. Strange. You’ll find yourself getting hung up on corners, and while it generally isn’t a problem, it can be annoying. However, one of the title’s strongest points is the combat system, which is absolutely crucial. It would have been very easy to map Travis’ sword swipes to a waggle of the Wiimote, like many Wii games have. Instead, the ‘A’ button is used to attack. Once you take an opponent’s life force down, a pixellated-looking arrow displays the direction in which you need to swing the Wiimote, in order to execute a finishing move. These finishers are both very simple and yet, extremely rewarding. Travis is also a huge pro wrestling fan, so he mixes in all sorts of wrestling moves. When prompted, you can initiate a series of suplexes moves by again following those pixel-arrow commands, this time using both the Wiimote and the nunchuk. The upshot is that the gameplay is kept simple and accessible. You can mow your way through 100 foes, and your Wiimote-arm will not get tired!  If you like Mature-rated action games, or games that revel in Japanese culture (have you Googled ‘otaku’, yet?), you’ll dig this game. It can be very hit or miss, however, so do your research. It isn’t the longest affair, but if you are a completionist, you’ll get some good hours out of it. There are three difficulty levels, and no two-player or online options.
 For my tastes—please remember that Yours Truly is a sword-collecting, 31-year-old bachelor who shares a small apartment with a kitten—this is easily one of the best, most artistic games out there, on any platform. Because people like numbers: Audio (in-game and menu music and sound effects): 9.491007/10 -Travis’ catchphrases/the enemy’s cries of death (“deathphrases”?) do get annoying after you behead 28 guys in a row, sadly. My only complaint. Love the classic sound effects. Video (graphics, style, presentation): 8.97200465/10 -Really good, I’m probably totally being harsh. The Wii’s power shortcomings are almost completely ameliorated by the game’s art style. Almost. Every ugly moment is countered by three or four totally awesome presentation points or cutscenes, it pretty much ends up being a wash. The story, though convoluted, is well done-- you'll get a kick out of the alternate ending. Gameplay (controls, replayability): 8.834/10 - Riding Travis’ cool-arse bike around town doesn’t feel so cool. Some portions of the game seem less…developed… than others. Also, one of my biggest petpeeves makes an appearance—the invisible wall. Come on, either rethink your level design, or throw a rock or something in there (if it looks like I can go that way, I should be able to)! There are some seriously cool moments, though, such as getting a call on your cell—you’ll end up holding the Wiimote to your ear, just like a phone. And thank goodness they didn’t overdo Wiimote-waggle during combat…TMNT, I’m looking in your direction… Overall (just a feeling, no math involved): 9.600017/10 -In some ways, this score is admittedly awarded due to style over substance. No More Heroes isn’t as iconic as Twilight Princess, for example, and certainly not as lengthy or deep… but it is almost just as good. I found it hard to put down, and couldn't wait to beat it so I could begin a second runthru. Go watch a video of it, get a feel for its stylised violence and adult feel, and if you’re still even halfway thinking about it? Go buy it. This game is completely dark and over the top in some ways, yet strangely tender and all too human in others. In fact, screw the rest of this review… if you’ll excuse me… |
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