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“Wii” ones beware! – this exclusive title offers great action and an excellent 18-year-old plus alternative. Players need a little patience if they want to get deep into this gradually rewarding fighting/action experience.
The plot gives players some nice surprises, creative scenarios, and great character development (notice the cat’s name) while the voice talent and music provide great enhancements. After choosing your difficulty level and a quick summary describing main character Travis Touchdown, the United Assassins Association, Thunder Ryu, and Sylvia Christel, the plot weaves throughout several scenarios hitting players from every possible angle… kind of like your awesome katana weapon.
The smooth control setup works well as players can incorporate several moves/combos to quickly and brutally dispatch any antagonists. Slashing becomes the finishing move; though your initial instinct might be to slash all the time and not incorporate the buttons at all, the system does work well and doesn’t take much time to learn. Players can also dodge attacks and also behead opponents for an extra touch of savagery.
You ride a chopper (the controls take some adjustment) through “Santa Destroy” to complete your assassination missions and other fun, miscellaneous actions like dumpster diving for bonus items. The chopper physics are a bit unrealistic at times, but you can still maneuver pretty well. The free roaming environment, full of casino bars, motels, job centers, ATMs, clothes shops, and other entertainment venues, is a familiar game engine for most players. As with other violent third person actioners, killing rivals not only eliminates your competition but boosts your rating as well. Your formative skills can also grow when you give certain items to certain characters. The equal gender opportunity boss fights are very entertaining. Players aren’t really penalized for failing (just try, try again), so feel free to do some trial and error, while exploring lots of optional movements and scenarios.
Collecting cash and coin progresses you further into the game. You can buy new mission contracts from Sylvia’s agency, but some of the side missions/mini-games pay well and might surprise some players, too. The “real life” touch puts the player further into Touchdown’s shoes and, ultimately the game, but others might be confused about these tasks. Other lifestyle elements in Touchdown’s life (his closet, phone, fridge, TV, etc.) inject some originality into a title that might seem like a Grand Theft Auto III clone (it’s definitely not).
The overall length of the game is medium and some graphics need a bit of work, but you still finish the game wanting more (sequel, please). This game offers enough replay value for increasing your bonus/unlockable cache and replaying certain missions without leaving players yearning for multiplayer modes or online options. A great Wii title for more mature gamers looking for gritty, yet satirical action, an original plot/characters, and constant excitement.
No More Heroes is rated M (Mature) by the ESRB for blood, gore, crude humor, intense violence, sexual themes and profanity.
