“No More Heroes” delivers guts and glory to the Wii

“No More Heroes” is very different from every other game that I’ve played on the Wii or any other system, for that matter. Most of this difference is due to an untraditional sense of humor. You save the game on a variety of different toilets, you have random missions like collecting coconuts and driving your motorcycle into the ocean, and even though you’re trying to become the top-ranked killer in the world, you go home to your cat, Jeane, each day.

In a sense, it’s a sword-fighting game (much like “Twilight Princess”, “Dragon Blade - Wrath of Fire”, or “I’m Corvec”), but rather than swinging the Wiimote to swing the sword, you press ‘A.’ This has the advantage of both wearing you out less and causing you to look less like an idiot. On the other hand, your final attack for a particular enemy is triggered by directed motion with the Wiimote; i.e., the screen indicates that you should swing in a particular direction, and after doing so, you do something awesome (albeit predictable).

In regard to combat, there are a few other points worthy of note. First of all, you aren’t using a sword, you’re using a “beam katana,” which is very similar to a light-saber. Secondly, the variety of enemies that you’ll face is very limited. Standard enemies wield swords, knives, guns, and baseball bats. You would think that combat would get repetitive and boring quickly; however, I didn’t find that to be particularly relevant considering how fun the game is. As you play, you can get a few weapon upgrades (there are a total of four different “beam katanas”) and “techniques” that spice up combat quite a bit. Combat is also more interesting if you do more than just stand around and press ‘A’. For example, you can roll around your enemies with the D-Pad on the Wiimote, or you can punch or kick them in the face and then use a variety of professional wrestling moves to throw them to the ground.

One of the best parts about “No More Heroes” was definitely the boss fights. Each was original, challenging, and fun. The bosses were developed, unique characters. For the most part, the battles were just challenging enough to make me replay them a second or third time. I still haven’t beaten the Rank 1 battle, though; it’s quite a bit more challenging than the others. On the other hand, the boss battles are very long. I consider this to be a good thing, though, given that they were my favorite part of the game. If you aren’t interested in fighting a boss for ten minutes, though, this might be a turn-off.

Outside of combat, you have mini-games (like collecting coconuts or filling cars up with gasoline) and a “Grand Theft Auto: Vice City”-like world (though you can’t steal other people’s cars). The world is not quite as big or as full as that of “GTA”, but it’s big enough and full enough for the purposes of “No More Heroes”. You can do a few tricks with your bike, like jumping in the air (by shaking the Wiimote), activating nitrous (Z), or spinning through turns at a hundred miles an hour (by tilting the Wiimote to the side, braking, and then releasing the brake).

All in all, “No More Heroes” was a refreshing experience. Combat could have easily been repetitive and the plot wasn’t as developed as it could have been (though it kept me interested), but “No More Heroes” provided a novel experience. Even driving around the city on my bike was fun (though not quite as awesome as in “Excite Truck”). Another very nice point about the game was figuring out where to go, everything is marked on your mini-map. If you want a decent sword-fighting game yourself and are willing to look past the repetitive sword-fights, lengthy boss fights and crazy plot, I’d definitely recommend picking this up.

Reviewer's rating: 5 elephants