When No More Heroes was first announced for the Wii, many Wii owners let out a sigh of relief because they were finally getting a bloody, mature game to whet their appetites. Still, they wanted more, and when No More Heroes: Desperate Struggle was revealed at last year's Tokyo Game Show, there was yet another sigh of relief. That second one was probably more so because the game was getting a sequel, even though it had not sold as well as expected.
Still, it wasn't until PAX that No More Heroes: Desperate Struggle was made playable in demo form, tucked away in a corner of Ubisoft's booth while the Splinter Cell: Conviction live demo got top billing. What I played of Desperate Struggle at PAX — a demo on the floor consisting of a few rooms and what is presumably the game's first boss — leads me to believe it will fare much better when it comes to game sales.
One of the first things I notice is that Desperate Struggle retains much of what made the first game such a delight to play. Combat is again button-based with the Wii remote being used to both charge up your sword (and yes, once again, Travis uses that up and down motion that makes him look like he's doing something else) and to execute the game's brutal executions by swinging the Wii Remote in the right direction when prompted. The biggest game play difference, though, is the inclusion of new sets of swords for Travis in addition to his beam katana: two separate beam swords that offer a slight difference in what moves and executions he pulls off. I'm sure there is a lot more to those two new swords than that, but only being able to play through one level kept me from finding out. The swords are interchangeable using the 1 button, which leads me to believe there will be game play requiring you to change them in the middle of levels or boss battles. On top of that, two other swords were shown in a new trailer at PAX, including a huge beam katana that's almost Final Fantasy-like.
Suda 51 had promised an improved A.I. set as well, and it was certainly visible in Desperate Struggle. Both fighting the normal enemies and the boss at the end of the demo level were much harder than in the first title. They knew what angles to take to get to my blind sides and an enemy with a gun knew to stay out of range and fire away. Well, at least until I finally sliced him in half.
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