Review: No More Heroes

Publisher: Rising Star Games    Developer: Grasshopper Manufacture Inc    Platforms: Wii
Posted on April 18th, 2008 at 9:17pm by Lime_Spider

The Wii is not the most powered up console out there, but the graphics here are definitely some of the finest the console has had to offer.  The action is crazy and outlandish, and although when a lot is going on the game keeps on ticking with minimal slowdown.  The game takes on a cell shaded cartoony look adhering to the action movie/comic book style.  However one overlooked aspect of the game is the sound, which I think is something yet to be harnessed on the Wii.  The soundtrack to the game, and the sounds from fighting are flawless and incredible, as is the voice work.  It’s rare for a game to have a perfect set of audio, but everything in No More Heroes fits perfectly.

The game does have a few flaws, some of which are deliberate and some are not.  One glaring omission in the game is the police, who never make an appearance throughout the proceedings.  You can run people over in the street in 80’s style one change in graphic ala Outrun, then whiz by a Police car, yet they do nothing.  Considering Travis kills for a living you would think they should show some interest.  Also the town sections break the action up in my mind a little TOO effectively.  It’s fun to explore and do the odd jobs, but where the action is so well executed it’s all you want to do. Having to do something that seems mundane quickly leads to small frustration as you want to get back into the action.  The handling on the motorbike seems too ingrained to the 80’s arcade as well so racing around seems to hold no consequence, you can hit cars and come to a complete halt, yet hit a wall and he falls off.

Saving the best to last though is the debate of blood.  Early videos showed something akin to Zatoichi and other classic samurai flicks, where the blood flows in a stylized gore fest of epic proportions.  It was never grotesque but certainly was bloody, where enemies were split in half and decapitated in a quite disturbingly beautiful way.  Suda51 decided that this version could only be released in the US (can we say irony?!) with us sensitive Europeans and Japanese punters getting the “clean” version.  It’s rather ironic that by dodging the blood issue the game sidesteps a BBFC certificate yet it is all the other content which means it really is an adult game.  There are gay references, copious amounts of violence, sex and innuendo but most of all the swearing.  Oh my the swearing… in the first five mins of playing Travis shouts “Die fuck-heads”, with the profanities continuing throughout the entire game.  Without the blood the game is still incredible, but the gameplay still shows where this extra content would have been placed, and certain times the game seems stilted with the “ashen” kills that replace the blood.  However the positive side to this is that the action ends up being quicker.  As such there is no definitive version…

These niggles really are minor though and at the end of this review I will say again, if you are a games fan you owe it to yourself to play this game.  It’s refreshing, deep and doesn’t talk down you the gamer.  It really is testament as to how imagination and creativity can create something truly unique.  It’s the game adult Wii gamers have been waiting for… Now if only Nintendo can get a horror game on the console.

9/10