Gameplay
Throughout the game, the player controls the character Travis Touchdown. The game has a free roaming world, allowing Travis to move around on foot or on his motorcycle, the "Schpel Tiger".[5] Game play is open-ended, with the concession that the player must kill the top ten assassins in order to make the storyline progress. There are numerous part time job side quests to earn money which can be spent on weapons, training sessions, and clothes.
Control is handled through the Wii Remote and Nunchuk attachment, with the Remote controlling his weapon, the beam katana and the Nunchuk moving Travis. Most attacks are performed using the "A" button, with certain other moves, including finishing strikes and sword lock breaks, executed by following on-screen instructions. Further, since the sword runs on batteries, the player has to charge the remote from time to time by shaking it. The beam katana can also be upgraded and replaced throughout the game by visiting Dr. Namoi. While the katana does not follow the exact position of the remote, it is able to distinguish between a "high" and "low" position which varies the character stance and the attacks done. In addition to attacks with the beam katana Travis can kick and punch, and when enemies are stunned he can throw them with a number of professional wrestling maneuvers, done by manipulating both the Wii Remote and Nunchuk.
Travis has a secondary "mode", "Darkside Travis", that is accessed when three icons line up in a slot machine after a successful katana kill.
Plot
The story follows Travis Touchdown, who is a stereotypical otaku—his motel room decorated with professional wrestling and anime collectibles—living in near poverty in the No More Heroes motel of Santa Destroy, California.[7] After winning a beam katana in an internet auction, he becomes a hitman. When he runs out of money to buy video games, he accepts a job to kill the 'Drifter' aka Helter Skelter, which earns him rank 11 by the UAA, a governing body of assassins. Realizing that he has now made himself a target for aspiring assassins, he sets out to secure himself as the number one hitman in the UAA.
[edit] Characters
Above Travis in the UAA are ten other assassins, such as Destroyman, Death Metal and Dr. Peace. The person that provides ranks and sets up matches for the assassins is Sylvia Christel, a "mysterious" and "cold" woman.[8][9] Travis is aided by a weapons maker named Doctor Naomi, Thunder Ryu, and the drunken old Randall Lovikov. [8] Naomi sells beam katanas and upgrades for them, Ryu operates a gym, and trains Travis for a fee—allowing him to increase his speed, combos and health, and Lovikov is a drunken old man who teaches new maneuvers and techniques.
Two enemies of Travis are a young-looking man named Henry who wears a full grey outfit and wields a beam katana, and Travis's half-sister, Jeane, who is a professional assassin that hates Travis and his side of the family for causing her mother to commit suicide.
Development
Suda 51 has cited the film El Topo among the inspirations for No More Heroes,[5] and saying the game is violent. In one interview he went so far as to say he would try to make it "as violent, or even more violent than Manhunt 2,"[4] a game that received an AO rating from the ESRB in its original form. A trailer shown at the March 2007 Game Developers Conference featured Travis Touchdown using the beam katana to decapitate or cut enemies in half, with copious amounts of blood being spilled.[10] Later videos featured clouds of black pixels and objects resembling coins spurting from enemies instead of blood.[11] it was later explained that the "black clouds" version would be released in Japan, while the United States and Europe would receive the game with the previously seen blood.[12] Later, however, Suda 51 decided to release the bloodless version in Europe as well.[13]
Yūsuke Kozaki, who has previously designed characters for Speed Grapher, designed the characters for No More Heroes.[14] Others on the team include costume designer Okama, who designed the OP for Densha Otoko, and weapons and mechanics designer Shigeto Koyama, who worked on Eureka Seven as an illustrator.
Reviews
Publication Score
Edge 9/10
Famitsu 34/40 [15]
Game Informer 6/10 [16]
GamePro 4.5/5
GameSpot 9.0/10 [17]
GameTrailers 8.2/10
IGN 7.8/10
X-Play 5/5
Compilations of multiple reviews
Compiler Score
Metacritic 85% [18]
Game Rankings 86.0% [19]
Overall, No More Heroes has received positive reviews. The game received a 34/40 from Famitsu. GameSpot gave it an Editors Choice Award, praising the very unique story, gameplay, and sense of humor.[17] X-play gave the game 5 out of 5, citing "exceptional writing, sharp satire, satisfying game progression, unique visual style, intuitive controls, and a catchy and distinctive soundtrack."[20] Cheat Code Central called the game "a must-buy blast that out-shines all other third-party Wii titles to date."[21] Gamepro Magazine also praised No More Heroes, saying the game "easily ranks among the Wii's finest titles."[22] Gametrailers.com, although reviewing the game positively, found its open world to be somewhat limited,[23] an idea shared by IGN, who went even further, claiming it ground an otherwise exciting game to a dead halt.[24] Game Informer Magazine was one of the only US critics to give the game an outright negative review, calling the game frustrating and repetitive, and its fascination with sex and violence offensive.[16]
For the Japanese release, a poorly attended launch event for the game was held on December 6, 2007 at Akihabara's Sofmap Amusement featuring both Suda 51 and Wada Yasuhiro signing copies of the games and giving away premiums. After 20 minutes passed without any purchases, a Famitsu reporter had a copy signed while others took photos.[25] No More Heroes sold approximately 10,000 copies on its first day of release in Japan.[26]
Suda 51 expressed disappointment in the Japanese sales of the game, saying that only Nintendo is doing well in regard to the Wii's success because of its adoption by casual gamers.[27] He later stated his comment was being misinterpreted, saying his "point was that No More Heroes, unlike a lot of Nintendo Wii titles currently available is the kind of product which will attract a different kind of consumer to the hardware, i.e. gamers who are looking for a different genre to the products which have been successful on this platform thus far." [28]
[edit] Staff
[edit] Production staff
* Director: Suda 51
* Character designer: Yūsuke Kozaki
* Costume designer: Okama
* Weapons and mechanics designer: Shigeto Koyama
* Writer: Suda 51
* Voice-over director: Kris Zimmerman
* Music Composers: Masafumi Takada and Jun Fukuda
[edit] Voice actors
* Robin Atkin Downes – Travis Touchdown
* Vanessa Marshall – Doctor Naomi
* Paul Nakauchi – Thunder Ryu
* Fred Tatasciore – Randall Lovikov
* Quinton Flynn – Henry
* Kari Wahlgren – Jeane
* Paula Tiso – Sylvia Christel
* Steve Blum – Dark Star
* Kathryn Fiore – Bad Girl
* Mitzi McCall – Speed Buster
* James Horan – Harvey Moiseiwitsch Volodarskii
* Dee Bradley Baker – Letz Shake/Helter Skelter
* Kim Mai Guest – Holly Summers
* Josh Keaton – Destroyman
* Kimberly Brooks – Shinobu
* Richard McGonagle – Dr. Peace
* J. Grant Albrecht – Death Metal
Three voice actors from Suda 51's previous production, killer7, returned for the voice casting of No More Heroes: Robin Atkin Downes (who voiced Hiro Kasai, Hasegawa and the maître d' in killer7, and Travis Touchdown in No More Heroes), Steve Blum (who voiced Kenjiro Matsuoka, Benjamin Keane and Trevor Pearlharbor in killer7, and Dark Star in No More Heroes), and James Horan (who voiced Jean DePaul in killer7, and Harvey Moiseiwitsch Volodarskii in No More Heroes). Kris Zimmerman, the voice director for Killer7, returned to direct the voice recording for No More Heroes. Zimmerman and many of the voice actors in No More Heroes have also worked together on the Metal Gear Solid series.
