Review - No More Heroes
posted 5 February 2008, Tuesday
No More Heroes
$50
1 Player
10+ hours
Variable Difficulty
Wow, I just finished No More Heroes and it's been a thrill ride. I haven't been this captivated or entertained by a game's story or characters in a long, long time. I had my doubts about this game coming in, and about half way through my opinion went south a few times, but now that it's all over I have to say that No More Heroes is one hell of an awesome game.
Alright, let me calm down here and start with a little warning. The U.S. version of NMH is ultra violent and explicit. Yes, the game has fountains of blood gushing out of people and bodies being cut up all sorts of ways, but it goes deeper than that. The game's story is about killing and it touches on a lot of things that can make you cringe so be forewarned. If dealing with dark issues isn't your thing then this game probably isn't for you. The story isn't all dark however, and in fact contains lots of humor and parody. The biggest parody in the game is obviously Star Wars and I got a real kick out of all the references.
Basically NMH is a linear action game presented in an open-ended city. It's made up of boss fights that are broken up by cash earning jobs, store visits, etc. That's the heart of the game, and apart from earning cash and fighting bosses there is little else to do, but that's okay since this game is not GTA and doesn't try to be. The world map is huge and for the most part empty. There are pedestrians and cars, but you can't interact with them in any meaningful way. They are just there for appearances, and they do the job. When you're not doing jobs to earn cash or in a boss fight you can run around trying to find T-shirts and other items hidden around the city. You can also find stores to personalize Travis, upgrade your weapons and other necessary things. Again, there isn't a whole lot to do, but this game isn't about wandering around doing random stuff.
All of the jobs in NMH are timed mini-games which are broken down into fighting and non-fighting varieties. You have to complete the non-fighting jobs in order to get the fighting ones that earn you the most cash. There are also free fights which are basically a variation of the other jobs, but with these you don't have to go to the job office to enter them. The difficulty of these jobs ranges from very easy to incredibly hard, and all of the free fights are in the hard category. Earning money is at the center of this game so you will be doing lots of jobs.
No More Heroes is the first 3rd party game that achieves a perfect balance between buttons and motion control. Lots of Wii games struggle to figure out when to implement a button press or a motion, but with NMH I never once felt like a move could be better mapped to another button or motion. It was all silky smooth and natural. The only control issue I had the entire game was the bike jump. It's more bad implementation than control issue though. See the bike in this game is based on a real life bike that is supposed to be clunky. The problem is the lag when you motion for the bike to jump which causes all sorts of timing problems and headaches when you have to retry missions.
Speaking of controls and Star Wars I have to say that this is the best lightsaber fighting game ever made. Of course this game doesn't feature lightsabers, which are copyrighted by George Lucas, but it's the best laser sword fighting game to date. The moves, the controls, the lightsabers beam katanas all come together to form the ultimate Jedi fighting game that isn't about Jedi's, lightsabers or a galaxy far, far away. Any Official Star Wars Jedi game for the Wii that doesn't borrow, copy or rip off the fighting and controls for this game is automatically a loser. The bar has been set.
NMH isn't a technical marvel, and it's not supposed to be. Instead of awesome graphics the developer chose awesome style. Because of that you get things like slight lag during crowded fights and pedestrians who disappear if they get too close to you in first person view. It's minor stuff though. The big issues that affect the game are the repetition, the lack of variety and another horrible battery warning screen. Simply put there aren't that many jobs to do and a lot of them are basically the same with harder enemies. Since you have to earn lots of cash you have to do the same jobs over and over. It's can be a pain, especially if you decide to buy lots of clothes, and more effort should have gone into diversification. The low battery warning that pops up and completely takes you out of the game for like 10 seconds is unforgivable. It's horribly intrusive and doesn't need to be there. Thankfully it's a rare issue.
No More Heroes isn't for everybody. While an excellent game it is definitely an acquired taste. It's dark, disturbing, violent, sexy, weird and funny all in one super stylized roller coaster ride that is only slowed down by the job grinding. It's not a technical wonder and it doesn't really take advantage of the open-endedness it portrays, but it more than makes up for all of its shortcomings with unmatched style, character and the best lightsaber beam katana action in a videogame yet.
I GIVE NO MORE HEROES A 9/10 [EXCELLENT]
Star Wars bias +
PROS:
- Great story
- Great humor
- Lots of style and character
- Amazing controls
- Great humor
- Lots of style and character
- Amazing controls
- Tons of clothes to customize Travis with
- The bestlightsaber beam katana fighting in a videogame ever
- The best
CONS:
- All cash earning jobs are timed
- Little variety among the fighting jobs
- Need to earn cash forces grinding
- Even on the easiest difficulty some of the jobs are really hard
- Open-ended aspect of the game isn't utilized well
- Intrusive battery warning screen
VALUE:
- No problem paying full price here.
