No More Heroes

No More Heroes is a video game that consists of 4 releases


An action-adventure hack-n-slash title for the Nintendo Wii, players take the role of Travis Touchdown, a man who challenges an organization of assassins to become the most feared hitman in the world.

Overview

 No More Heroes is a cel-shaded hack-and-slash action adventure title for the Nintendo Wii, created and directed by Goichi Suda (killer7, Clock Tower and Fire Pro Wrestling) and Grasshopper Manufacture. Published by Ubisoft in the United States, No More Heroes is also one of the most violent games released in 2007 and easily the most violent title released on the Wii to date.  No More Heroes, beyond being a well received video game, also provides an astute commentary on aspects of both Japanese and American game design (particularly the American obsession with open world games).

Plot

In No More Heroes, players take control of Travis Touchdown, a wanna-be assassin/ former wrestler/ otaku. After winning a beam katana (read: Light Saber) from an online auction, Travis is pulled into a mysterious Assassin's league by the sensual Sylvia Christel. Sylvia challenges Travis to become the number one Assassin in the world and to do that, Travis will have to battle an army of minions while killing the 10 powerful assassins in his way. Travis will also take on small odd jobs such as mowing lawns, picking up trash, and washing graffiti to earn the cash needed to vie for the top spot in the guild...and a night in bed with Sylvia!

Gameplay


Players use the A button to make Travis swing his sword, but deliver the final blow with a motion sensing quick time event.
No More Heroes is primarily a standard hack and slash action game. Players will wield the beam katana and take the blade to hundreds of minions, using anything they can get their hands on (from baseball bats to stop signs) to try and fend of Travis and his relentless assaults. Unlike other actions games on the Wii, No More Heroes doesn't make the player waggle and shake the remote to attack. Instead (and wisely) No More Heroes maps the katana slash to the A button and a kick attack to the B trigger. Using the A button attack will whittle away an opponent’s health, but, to deliver the final strike, the player must swing the Wii remote in a certain direction (indicated onscreen). Nailing this final swing (not a difficult task, as the game provides players with a good bit of time to nail the attack) will cause Travis to decimate his opponent, usually resulting in decapitation, dismemberment, or worse. Killing enemies earns the player money(as well as the joy of seeing opponents shoot gallons of blood, only to then explode in a final cloud of blood). Presses of the A button will create combo attacks that almost always lead to the motion-controlled finishing blows.

Players can also use the B button to mix up combos and send a kick at opponents. If the kick button is held and charged, Travis' attack will stun the opponent. Once stunned, Travis can execute a deadly wrestling move to finish off his enemies. To nail the wrestling move, players must swing both the Wii remote and the nunchuk in the direction indicated onscreen. Wrestling moves usually kill opponents but those that survive the attack will remain stunned on the ground. With  a quick tap of the a button, Travis can finish off the downed soldier with a quick stab to the chest.

Travis can kick opponents to stun them, leaving them open to powerful wrestling moves.

By only using the Wii's motion capabilities in these very specific quick time event sections, No More Heroes ultimately does a better job in making players feel like they are wielding a sword or lifting an opponent into the air than any other game on the Wii.

Combat has a few other twists to add a little more depth to the game. In combat, Travis can switch between a high and low stance, depending on where the Wii remote is being held (higher or lower for their respective styles). If Travis is in the same stance as his opponent, than all attacks the player uses  will be blocked. However, if Travis is in the opposing style, his attacks will land on the enemy. Conversely, if Travis uses his kick attack in the same stance as his opponent, they will automatically become stunned (without having to charge up the kick attack) leaving Travis free to use a wrestling move or land a quick barrage of sword attacks.

Players can also use different special sword attacks(activated by holding the A button) depending on what style Travis is in. If Travis is in the high stance, his charged up sword attack will deal damage to enemies directly in front of him. If Travis is in a low stance, his charged sword attack will damage all enemies to his left and right.

In combat, Travis can quickly dive in a certain direction by pressing the desired direction on the D-pad at the top of the controller and lock onto targets by holding the Z button on the nunchuk. If the player presses left or right on the analog stick just before a locked on enemy lands a strike, Travis will quickly dodge around the enemy(in the direction the analog stick was pressed). During this moment, time slows down, and Travis can land a number of sword blows or even execute a wrestling move before the opponent recovers. This technique is key in defeating the game's difficult and weird bosses.

While locked on to a target, Travis will automatically block all incoming attacks, provided he isn't moving or using one of his own attacks.

The Beam Katana, while a powerful weapon, has a short battery life(which can be seen on the bottom right of the game HUD. Blocking attacks and using beam katana attacks will slowly decrease the remaining battery charge on the sword. If the battery meter ever completely runs out, the Beam Katana will shut down.

Recharging the beam katana

To recharge the battery life on the Beam Katana, the player must hit the number 2 button on the Wii remote. Hitting the button will change the perspective onscreen, and the game will tell the player to shake the Wii Remote quickly to recharge the power. While this doesn't sound particularly interesting on its own(as few players are fans of weapon degradation in any capacity). Shaking the Wii Remote, however, will cause Travis to violently jerk his katana up and down, grunting softly under the sound of the rapidly recharging meter(which actually dings once the battery is again completely filled). The entire situation, from the way its seen to the sounds made, make the character Travis seem like he's masturbating. The subtle, hysterical touch ties together violence and sexuality together in a more clever way than any other game to date.


Open World

Between the actual assassination missions in the game, No More Heroes lets players take Travis around the "open world" of Santa  Destroy. Travis can call his motorcycle and drive around Santa Destroy. To obtain the money necessary to set up an assassination match, Travis will have to complete a series of missions.

First, Travis can access a "3rd-Rater" job doing menial, often hysterical labor. Travis will pick up coconuts, mow the lawn, wash cars, and collect scorpions. All of these job missions try and use the Wii remote in a clever way, When mowing lawns, players steer by twisting the Wii remote in their wrists to turn in a different direction. To put a scorpion  in a container strapped to Travis's back, the player much lift the Wii Remote, as if they were tossing the Scorpion over their shoulder.

Exploring the open world


After completing the initial job, Travis unlocks a series of two assassination missions. These missions have Travis going to a location (usually one the player has already visited) and killing everyone. Certain parameters change one battle from the next (kill a specific character, kill everyone in Travis's Dark Side mode, go through an upside down version of the level with reversed controls) adds some variety to these missions, but it's more or less the same fighting that takes places in the game's main missions(the unspoken irony of this setup is that players might enjoy the chore mini games more than the combat fights, as the chores offer a welcome dose of variety after the assassination levels.

Between the jobs and the combat missions, Travis can purchase a few things around town. Going to the gym will allow Travis to upgrade his strength, health, and combo length(provided the player successfully completes the motion sensitive quick time event), while going to Dr. Naomi's store will let plays buy new parts for the beam katana, as well as whole new weapons. Travis can by a selection of jackets, shirts, pants and sunglasses from Area 51(although they only change the appearance of Travis, not the gameplay). Travis can also visit Beef Head videos to buy video tapes (teaching him new, more powerful wrestling moves).

However, between buying clothes and upgrades and completing jobs, there is nothing else to do in the open world. Players won't find the same kind of vehicular thrills seen the Grand Theft Auto franchise: pedestrians hit by Travis' motorcycle grunt and disappear. Light poles struck will fall down in a very wooden animation. Travis will only pull out his sword in the specific battle sequences, so no pedestrian slaughter will take place in the game.

General Information Edit
Game Name No More Heroes
Platform(s)

Wii
Publisher(s)
Developer(s)
Genres
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Themes
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Original US Release Jan. 22, 2008
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Aliases
OFLC
OFLC: M
CERO
CERO: D
ESRB
ESRB: M
PEGI
PEGI: 16+
Trivia
Which of these assassins does Travis Touchdown spare?
  • Destroyman
  • Shinobu
  • Holly Summers
  • Helter Skelter
  • Death Metal

User Reviews
Platform User Reviews Avg. Score
All Reviews 33 reviews
Wii 33 reviews
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Related Pages Edit
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Randall Lovikov
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Harvey Moseiwitsch Volodarskii
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Henry Touchdown
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Silvia Christel
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Bad Girl
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Travis Touchdown
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