This Hero Has Style
No More Heroes is different. It doesn’t try to be deep and meaningful, and it doesn’t try to appeal to casual gamers. It’s colorful, ripe with dark humor and most importantly it’s incredibly fun.
Travis Touchdown is your average guy, living in a motel in the middle of the city Santa Destroy. That is until he wins a beam katana on an online auction. Suddenly, he’s an assassin, hired by the UAA, or the United Assassins Association. He performs his first hit, killing “The Drifter” to move up to rank 11 in the Association. From then on the only way forward is up the rankings, as Travis embarks on a quest to become the number one assassin in Santa Destroy.
The gameplay is No More Heroes is good. It’s not incredible, but it’s good. Travis rides around on his motorbike, the Schpeltiger, or simply goes on foot. The Schpeltiger is a beast of an automobile, and a number of special moves can be performed on it, such as jumps and drift turns. The actual driving is limiting, as it’s controlled by the Nunchuck analogue stick, but it’s passable. The combat is handled very well. You perform basic attacks and combos by tapping the A button. You can lock onto your enemies by holding Z. There are also 2 different stances you can take up- the high stance, which is performed by holding the Wii Remote upwards, or the low stance, where you hold the Wii Remote downwards. There are slight differences in the combos between the stances, but it doesn’t change that much. You can also perform special wrestling moves on your opponents. To do these you must stun your enemies by either tapping or holding the B button. When your enemy is stunned, press B again, and then follow the actions on the screen with the Wii Remote and the Nunchuck to perform the move. Sometimes you will enter the screen lock mode, where you and you opponent have clashed weapons. here you have to make circles with the remote to break the clash, and then follow the on screen instructions to kill your opponent. Your katana will also run out of battery after extended use. You can either press 1 and shake the remote to recharge the katana, or find a battery recharge item. When your opponent is near death, you are given the option to perform a Final Move. The screen slows down, and an arrow appears. If you swish the Wii Remote in the direction of that arrow, you perform a certain move. You may decapitate your foe, or slice him in half straight down the middle. In order to gain the required amount of money to enter your next Ranked Battle so you can move up the UAA rankings, you have to get enough money. Seeing as Travis is pretty much dirt poor, this means that you’ll be forced to do odd jobs around town, and once you’ve completed these jobs, assassination missions. The jobs play out as small mini-games. You’ll pick up rubbish, gather coconuts or round up scorpions in order to gain a little cash and move up to the assassination missions. The assassination missions were the games biggest falling point for me. They’re basically all the same, and the repetition can become very annoying. There are basically 3 types of assassination missions – kill a number of enemies, kill a certain enemy surrounded by enemies, or kill using only wrestling moves. It’s disappointing that there’s no variation in these missions, as the rest of the game is so different and fresh. Once you’ve gotten some cash from either odd-jobs or assassinations, you can spend it on a wide variation of things. You can buy add-ons for your katana or even a brand-new and much more powerful one from Naomi, a scientist. Or you can train Travis up at the local gym, performing 3 different mini-games that increase his health, strength and combo-length. You can choose to visit one of the two different shops in Santa Destroy, buying either new clothes for Travis or wrestling videos so he can learn new moves to be performed during combat. The clothes are basically the same thing in different colors with new logos slapped on, but it is fun to find the most ludicrous outfit possible and force poor Travis to wear it. The wrestling videos are basically meaningless, as you do the same amount of damage with every move – they’re purely there to change up the combat. If you don’t feel like spending your money on these things, you can use it to buy your way into the next boss battle. These are the best bit’s of the game, as the bosses are truly incredible creations that are brimming with creativity. Everyone will have their favorite, whether it’s the criminally insane Bad Girl or the suave Dr. Peace. You can feel the love that the team has pumped into these characters, and each one is a highlight of the game. The gameplay is No More Heroes can be prone to repetition at times, but the sheer creativity of the boss battles and the great implementation of the Wii Remote in the controls certainly overshadows any negative points the game may have.
Visually, No More Heroes is an absolute stunner. The game is cel-shaded, but this is no Wind-Waker. It’s done in an incredibly artistic way, much like the upcoming Prince of Persia title from Ubisoft. There are so many different colors to experience and enjoy. There are no muddy textures or deep browns and greys here – Santa Destroy is full of color. There is some slight pop-up throughout the game, but it’s hardly noticeable. Also, the enemy character designs lack some detail, but you’ll be killing them so fast you’ll hardly notice. There are also some glitches, especially when you’re on the Schpeltiger, which has some of the worst collision detection I’ve ever seen. However, these are all small things that you’ll only notice if you look really hard, and they hardly impact they enjoyment you’ll get out of the game.
The sound is simply fantastic. The voice acting is top-notch, and sound-effects of when your katana hits the flesh of a foe is truly satisfying. Playing this in surround sound at the highest possible volume before your eardrums explode is an experience to remember.
Overall, No More Heroes is simply a must buy. The controls are spot-on, the graphics are splendid and the sound is truly remarkable. Cons do exist, but when the pros outweigh them this much, who cares?
The Bad: Some glitches; Assassination missions are repetitive; Enemy character models not detailed; Santa Destroy lacks detail
Gold Y Award