No More Heroes (Wii) Review
Posted by Damian Sarcuni on 02.18.2008
We once wished for a Suda 51 game with a simple plot we could understand. Be careful what you wish for.
Travis Touchdown, the main character of No More Heroes for the Nintendo Wii, is an interesting guy. He’s got anime posters all over his walls. Oh cool, I have anime posters all over my walls too. He’s a hardcore pro-wrestling fan. Sweet, so am I! Travis struts around in jeans and comfy t-shirts with slogans on them just like me! Travis runs around in a frenzy with a Star Wars-inspired laser sword, disemboweling anyone foolish enough to get in his way.
Oh, crap.
From the very first moment you turn on No More Heroes, it is clear that the game’s creator Suda 51 (Goichi Suda) has a message behind his story, and that message is aimed squarely at gamers and the gamer culture. Unlike Suda’s last outing, the politically themed psychological thriller Killer 7, this title is lighthearted and exchanges vague metaphor for up close, in-your-face comparisons. Though it is by no means easy to understand the morals behind No More Heroes…if indeed there are any…the plot is so simple you’ll start the game wondering what the hell you missed. And that’s just it, you haven’t missed anything.
With respect to Suda’s vision, I will now describe the game’s story, removing the safety net of parodied names and generalizations. You are Travis Touchdown. You bought a lightsabre on eBay. You decide to use that lightsabre to become an assassin. A mysterious woman from a special organization tells you that if you kill certain other assassins, you will become the number one ranked killer in the entire world. So you do it.
That’s the entire opening story, for better or for worse. Travis has no moral implications about his killing, and like the game’s namesake, could care less about anything apart from being number one. The way Travis becomes number one is the interesting part. No More Heroes is primarily a slasher/brawler game, but adds mini-games and open world elements to keep things fresh.
Graphics
One of the staples of Suda 51’s games is his love of cel-shaded graphics, which produce a cartoon effect on everything in No More Heroes. This is both a blessing and a curse. On the one hand, cel-shading is pleasing to the eye, and creates a unique effect you don’t see in any other kind of graphics. Cel-shading also allows for smooth animation and effects, as objects and characters don’t require a terrible amount of detail to look good. This fits well into Suda’s open ended city of Destroy, far better than it did in the one-track movement of Killer 7.
On the other hand, cel-shading has its dark side, literally. In a cel-shaded game there is rarely such a thing as a shadow, and many times objects meant to cast light shade against a light source end up casting a pitch black field of infinite nothingness. This leads to some confusing moments, not to mention the over the top effects players have to deal with just for playing. Kill any opponent in No More Heroes and blood and money start to fly all over the screen, illustrating quite literally Travis’ life as an assassin. Sometimes this isn’t a big deal, but when dealing with large packs of enemies the game gets ridiculously hectic. To make matters worse, a lot of the references in No More Heroes come from classic 8-bit gaming, which means that several objects are purposefully designed as pixilated and difficult to see.
The real visual treat in No More Heroes is the architecture in the cut scenes. Not only does Travis look incredibly detailed, but everything in the game is structured according to real life. High schools look like high schools. Baseball stadiums look like baseball stadiums. Even some of the background animations feel like we are watching them straight out of an anime or movie, and this is a great achievement. The long and short of it is that when there isn’t so much on the screen, No More Heroes looks great. When enemies or other objects mass together even on the map screen, the game is prone to confusion and slowdown.
Gameplay
Hoo boy, how to accurately explain this? Well first off, No More Heroes originally gained a lot of attention from the video game press because it was supposed to be the first Nintendo Wii title to feature 1 to 1 sword movement, meaning Travis would swing his sword as fast as you could. That has since gone out the window, and for most of the game players will simply mash the A and B buttons, and then initiate quick controller movements with the Wiimote and Nunchaku to finish off their opponents. For some reason, this doesn’t get too boring. From stage to stage, Travis must deal with little quirks in each of his battles and this keeps things interesting. If your laser katana gets wet, expect a vicious jolt that prevents Travis from fighting. If an opponent blocks your attacks, you can always stun them and follow up with a vicious wrestling suplex or slam.
Yet the main storyline is broken up by odd legit missions and very bloody assassination missions that Travis uses to earn money. So while at one point Travis must slice and dice his way to the next boss character, other times he is performing odd jobs such as mowing lawns or carrying coconuts. Players must also learn how to manage their money, as spending too much on upgrades or clothes can put a delay on your entry into ranking missions. As for the low level assassinations, Travis often has other goals such as killing a certain character in a certain time period, or beating a squad of enemies using only his pro-wrestling skills. So while the action in No More Heroes rarely strays from the basic hack-and-slash genre, little challenges do keep things interesting.
All of this is glazed over by the open ended city of Destroy, where Travis lives and works. In this open world, No More Heroes turns into a miniature version of Grand Theft Auto. Travis can run over all the people he likes with his super sized motor bike and deal with almost no consequences in return. Training and leveling up Travis takes on a similar form to the training in Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, but is a little bit more functional. Keep in mind that there are so many odd Suda 51 style moments while all of this is going on, that it’s often hard to even focus on the gameplay in the first place.
But that is the beauty of No More Heroes. It crosses lines that haven’t been done before. In the middle of a fight against a squad of assassins, the batteries in Travis’ lightsabre die and to recharge it he must shake the sword in a very, VERY suggestive manner. I guarantee you will not look at video games the same way if you see this.
Sound
The sound in No More Heroes is, if nothing else, memorable. The atmosphere of the game is a constantly changing one. One minute players are listening to the striking guitar chords of the game’s short loading screens, the next minute they are listening to a low key jazz theme that sets the signature of Travis’ trips down the streets of the city on his motor bike. I’m pretty sure that absolutely every genre of music is covered at some point in the game, and very little of it seems to fit with the cold blooded assassin’s motif No More Heroes is supposed to present. Much like the rest of the quirks in the game, the music keeps you guessing, usually by sticking odd 8-bit beeps and tones in the middle of unrelated activities.
The voice acting, while a tad over-dramatic; is amazing. One of the interesting things in the English version of No More Heroes is that a mix of English and Japanese voices are left with most of the characters Travis meets outside the game’s main storyline. As for that storyline itself, the dialogue here is first rate. Right off the bat we get a feel for Travis’ selfish and indifferent personality, and these characters aren’t afraid to curse up a storm of insults and slurs either. It also helps that the script for No More Heroes reads like a quote machine, and you’ll likely be pondering some of the text for some time after you shut the game off.
“Life isn’t about some job. That’s why I’m busy shopping, and you are busy killing people, because that’s all you ever do.”
That line will sound just as out of place when you hear it in the game itself.
Lasting Appeal
There is a decent amount of unlockable content in No More Heroes. From collecting obscure items to buying various fashions that you can mix and match on Travis, you might find yourself playing it for a little while. There is a regular and “complete” ending in the game as well, though viewing it does not require an impossible amount of effort by any means. Moreover there is just so much to do in the city of Destroy and it goes right alongside the main storyline. You can bypass most of this by ignoring Travis’ clothing and simply focusing on the main story, worrying about the extras later, or you can hang out in Destroy for awhile, running odd jobs and turning Travis into a veritable fashion plate. The choice is entirely yours.
Fun Factor
Though bloody, crude, and absolutely perverted, No More Heroes is an adulterated work of art. There are so many things in this game to keep you guessing and so many bells and whistles and oddities, it’s impossible to list them all. Whether saving your game by going to the bathroom, or using the Wiimote as an actual cell phone, Suda 51 uses No More Heroes to keep us guessing while getting a rather deep message across. The game is a bloody, violent mess, but it is clear from the beginning that there is a point to all of the mayhem, and not many video games can make that claim.
Some fans of Killer 7 have called No More Heroes a laugh riot comedy game. Personally, I’m not laughing. While the game does have its humor, it is dark and twisted and hits terribly close to home for any member of the gaming culture. At some point during the gameplay, gamers realize that Travis Touchdown is living in the world we wish we lived in, and participating in a lifestyle we wish we had. Like Hideo Kojima before him, Suda 51 uses his game to breach the fourth wall of fiction and crosses the line between the game’s world and the real world.
Sometimes, No More Heroes will indeed make you smile as you lose yourself in the fast paced action and violence. Other times, players might be shaking their heads and glancing around with caution, wondering where the hidden cameras placed around the room are. We know it’s only a game, but it is a game that very specifically talks to us. No More Heroes has a similarity to Killer 7 in this way, but without the veil of mystery and politics surrounding it. We once wished for a Suda 51 game that allowed us to explore a deeper world, and given a simple plot everyone could understand. You should be careful what you wish for.
The 411
No More Heroes is the game your parents and hardcore censorship groups warned you about. The fact that it hasn’t received more media attention is an absolute miracle. It is impossible to escape the game’s premise: a gamer is living out their fantasy of owning a lightsabre and cutting down anyone who stands against them. Yet behind the controversial material is a story with a message. As for the title itself, it is an enjoyable little oddity that doesn’t depart from the slasher formula, but uses its own bells and whistles to keep things interesting. Play it, if only to experience a violent title that still holds true to its intellectual and artistic vision.
Graphics
7.8
Cel-shaded mayhem, good architecture.
Gameplay
8.4
A veritable circus of the weird and uncanny.
Sound
8.2
Makes no apologies.
Lasting Appeal
8.0
Two endings, three difficulties and quite a few unlockables.
