No More Heroes Review

Talk about a game that makes you change the perception of what a game can be. That's exactly what No More Heroes is and that says a lot about its creator, Suda 51. Hell the whole Suda 51 name is different than what you would think of from a game developer. There's so many nuances in this game that even though, at it's core, it's a simple hack-n-slash game, you would dare not want to put it into that same category with other HNS games. It almost makes a category for itself.

NMH takes place in Santa Destroy, California. Our hero, Travis Touchdown, not only has a great name but he also has striking similarities to the average gamer. I know that personally so of his likes are what I like. For example, he's big into wrestling, anime and even carries around a lightsaber(yes I said lightsaber, but in the game it's called a beam katana). Travis is broke and wants to buy some more stuff so he takes a job from Sylvia Christel to kill a guy named Helter Skelter. This job puts him in the United Assassins Association that has a ranking of the top assassins in the world. Starting at #11, Travis works to reach the #1 spot.

It seems that games on the Wii rarely go outside of the box when it comes to using the Wii controls. As much as I hate to say, the Wii controls have a lot to offer but a developer needs a big imagination to come up with new ideas for the controls. A majority of the time you'll be using the controls for hack-n-slash gameplay which consists mainly of using the B button to lock onto an enemy and hit the A button to attack. Once the enemy is about to die, the game will do a little pause and an arrow will be displayed on the enemy. This is the deathblow and when flicking the Wii controller in that direction will unleash the deathblow. Each direction will do a different deathblow animation. For defense, constantly holding the B button will allow Travis to block constantly with his beam katana. Travis also has a roll, and if you time it just right, this roll can lead to a Shadow Step dropping all the defenses of an enemy. In particular, this Shadow Move is almost a requirement for bosses. Every time you defeat an enemy, a little slot machine on the screen will begin. Match up three of the same symbols, and Travis will go into various modes that range from him doing one hit kills, having a targeted enemy immediately ready for a deathblow, and he can even shoot out a projectile that will obliterate an enemy in one hit. These modes only last for so long, and can come at anytime sometime leaving you without any enemies to kill with it.

Right here is I'm going to break down the unique uses of the Wii controls throughout the game. First off, during combat, you can stun opponent with the Z button. Once stunned, can you do several wrestling moves depending on your location to the enemy and what moves you've learned so far. To pull off the moves, you'll need to move the Wii controller and nunchuck in certain directions. Something very cool is that within the game, when you're approaching a boss, you'll receive a phone call from Sylvia, and the way you hear it is by putting the speaker on the Wii controller to your ear like a phone. It's funny because there's nothing that prompts you to do that with the controller, but it's so natural to gamers that they do it anyways. While driving around in the city on your bike, you can do a big jump or quick turn by flicking the Wii controller in a direction. Finally, and truly the best for last, comes during combat. The beam katana has a set amount of battery life which can be replenished by picking up batteries found throughout a stage. If you run out of battery life and there's no battery around, then you have to replenish the batteries on your own. This is done by taking the Wii controller, holding it like you would hold a can, and begin a jerking motion going up and down. As funny as it looks seeing someone doing that in person, it's even funnier seeing Travis do it, especially when he double fists it.

As I mentioned previously, Travis has a bike that can be ridden around town giving a bit of free roaming to the game. Throughout the city, you can partake in side jobs for money. There are two kinds of jobs you can do: assassin jobs and menial job. Assassin jobs consists of killing a certain person, who usually surrounded by guard, kill a number of enemies as fast as you can, or kill enemies in a certain way(wrestling moves only for example). The menial jobs are simple jobs that aren't really thought of as a way for an assassin to make money. Jobs include picking up trash, mowing lawns, and pumping gas. These jobs don't pas as well as the assassin jobs but sometimes you have to do these jobs first before you can do the assassin jobs. The reason for the jobs is that you need a specific amount of money to challenge the next assassin on the list, but that's not the only reason to make money. Throughout the city, there are places to spend money. You can buy new beam katanas that do more damage and more combos, new clothes for Travis, or you can go to the gym to workout from a very homo teacher. Workouts include increasing Travis' strength, health or even combos. These workouts are done by either pressing buttons the Wii controller very fast, or through use of motion of the Wii controller and nunchuck. Also scattered around the city are treasure spots that are shown on the map(which is a very blocky 8bit looking map). Treasures are either money found in the ground using your beam katana to "dig" it out, clothes or money hidden in dumpsters, and red balls that are emotional memories of a certain drunk at a bar who will reward you for collecting a certain amount of them. Travis' motel room is also available if you want to stop in. That's where you change clothes, weapons, look at cards you've collected, hear any phone message, and save your game in possibly the most awkward way that you have to watch it for yourself.

When you collect the specified amount of money to challenge another assassin on the list, after a cutscene, the location for the boss will appear on the map. Each boss has their own level filled with enemies that share a common costume theme. Most enemies can be killed by your standard hacking and slashing, but there are a sometimes when enemies will have to be killed in a specific way. As expected, enemies will start blocking, dodging and swarming you when you get into later stages eventually making them worthy fights. The bosses come in various forms from a schoolgirl samurai, a superhero, and a gunslinger. While early on bosses require simple strategies, later on you'll need a lot of patience to take down a boss. They are not pushovers at all, and you'll find yourself dying many times eventually learning the pattern needed to kill the boss. Once defeated, Travis will get a bump in health and a lot of money.

Common in the Suda 51 games is the cel-shading graphics. While cel-shading is typically used to try for a more cartoony look, Suda 51 goes a different route. Instead they try to give a darker and stylized look to the game. The looks remind me of the graphics of Killer 7 but with a lot more detail. It's a shame that the game is only for the Wii because I'm sure that the PS3 and Xbox 360 could make the game look even better.

The audio for No More Heroes just could not be better. Voice acting is great especially the bosses that have really flesh out the characters. Some of these guys are ruthless killers others are reluctant fighters but whatever the case maybe, the voice feels just right. Just listening to Travis is fun to do for not only his dialogue, but also his small, incredibly strange, comments that he'll say in a booming voice when he goes into one of his special modes such as "creamy dog taco" or something of that sort. I'm also a fan of the sound effects with a version of the Star Wars lightsaber sound anytime Travis wields his beam katana. There's also a great electric crashing sound that will play whenever Travis unleashes a deathblow. Finally, the music has a wide range of tracks which are enjoyable but not ones that would make you buy the soundtrack.

To put it simply, No More Heroes is just so damn good. While there's not much of a replay value, the game time is a good 10-15 if not longer if you try to do everything. What the game does so well is that once you feel boredom coming over you, it changes on you giving you something to enjoy. The game really caters to the average "gamer", not the casual shmucks out there, which is a nice breath of fresh air.

- O.G.

article id: 268 | poster: OG