No More Heroes | GameOnYou UK

Apr 19 2008

could it be…? (Review: No More Heroes)

Having only just seen the Escapist review of No More Heroes, it has put me at a slight disadvantage. I had told myself to write the review and THEN view what Yahtzee had to say. Oops. Still, nevermind eh? Congratulations must first go to me for actually finishing the game, and in the second instance, to the game, for providing me with some welcome and much needed entertainment. I was looking forward to playing this game after enjoying the unpidgeon-holeable killer 7 - seems you can’t mention one without the other - which I loved even though I didn’t quite understand the ending. I guess it means I’ll have to play it again. Boo hoo.

The intro to this game has you killing assassin number eleven. This sets the story of your character then killing the top ten assassins in a bid to become the number one assassin. Boy, that’s a lot of ass. Whilst initial feelings of GTA copycatness will explode in your ‘I thought this was going to be original’ part of your brain, you should accept that certain aspects to the game will be familiar because if they weren’t, I don’t think game would be as playable as it is. Because it isn’t trying to be GTA or killer 7 or Cooking Mama or whatever, it excels in its own right. This is essentially a linear game with side quests to help you earn money to finish the main story which progresses the game which explains the story. You should note that this is not me criticising the game, just clarifying that I know what it’s doing and am happy with the way in which it is doing it. So far, so vague.

What I found so compelling about No More Heroes was the combat and the way that the remote was used for combat. Instead of using it like a lightsabre and swishing ’til your arm falls off, it strikes a very comfortable middle ground of when to thrash around like a mad man and when not to. This conservation of energy for the player is a smart move as it means the player can dictate to themselves how energetic they want to be. Just for the record, I beat the hell out those accursed shirt and tie men because they deserved to die in an explosion of black dust and coins. Its nice to see a game being a bit surreal. That is to say, not using blood, which is seen in the American version. And its only towards the end of the game that I started to see how fluid and diverse the combat can get. Some minor things wrong about the game needn’t be mentioned here because that is what they are to me, minor. If you don’t like the look of the game, it is more than likely that you will not enjoy the game. I’m glad that I’m not one of those people.