No More Heroes is what happens when the Japanese try to
interpret American action films and end up subtly spoofing our entire
violent history. Lead designer Goichi Suda has a history of creating
hyper-stylized games (like the GameCube’s Killer7), and with
No More Heroes, he continues his streak.
No More Heroes has lofty, bizarre aspirations: It attempts to
combine the violent hipness of a Tarantino film, the vaguely homoerotic
pugilism of professional wrestling, and the open-world freedom of the
Grand Theft Auto series. On a few counts, it succeeds—but
sadly, this stylish muffin could have used six more months in the
oven.
You play as Travis Touchdown (was “Rambo Cocksplosion” taken?), who
roams the streets of Santa Destroy, California, and constantly runs
into bizarrely placed invisible walls, witnesses odd graphical issues,
and struggles with a confusing control scheme. No More
Heroes‘ basic gameplay isn’t incredibly complex, so it’s
depressing to see the title fall short in such crucial areas.
Inevitably, a lot of reviewers are going to get hung up on these
technical issues and just write the whole game off—but in this
case, it’s actually fair to look at style over substance. Sure,
developers should be held accountable for their failings, but I just
can’t stay mad at a game that kept me giggling for three hours simply
because of how unique and intense it was. Nothing on the Wii even
remotely resembles the inherent fun in body-slamming an enemy, then
slicing him in half with a glowing laser sword.
For many gamers, No More Heroes will only work as a rental,
thanks to its technical issues and short story mode. I beg you, though:
Please play through to the end. The secret twist ending is simply so
perverse and incredible that I’d be fired and probably branded with a
scarlet letter for including it in this review.