No More Heroes (2008)

For my first game entry, I thought I would post for a just cause in giving an ignored game a bit of recognition. Not only that, but I love this game so much it hasn't been ejected from my Wii since I bought it last Friday. In NMH you play as a foul-mouthed, beam sword wielding, pro-wrestling, anime junkie named Travis Touchdown who takes up the challenge of becoming the number one ranked assassin in the United States. As you ascend the ladder of eleven killers, you can take on side jobs with heavy implementation of the Wii Remote, as well as taking on battles where specific conditions must be met, such as defeating enemies within a time limit or doing so without taking any damage.

Roaming around from place to place operates a lot like Grand Theft Auto, in a city with bystanders walking around and map markers signifying your next destination. By completing option missions you rake in cash to pay entry fees to the obligatory ranked battles that await you. The other ranked assassins are basically like boss battles, where you fight waves of oddly designed enemies to reach them.

What stood out to me was the amount of references to other games that show up in NMH. Everything from Duke Nukem to The Legend of Zelda is made a mockery of, which adds to how funny the dialog already is. But the biggest reference made in the game by far, is to Star Wars. Though I think I'll save going into that for another entry, after I've completed Bitter mode.


The other assassins definitely deserve mentioning, as most of them have a psychotic drive to their personalities in a rather Twisted Metal kind of way. I've never played a game before that gave so much depth in such a brief amount of time to bosses, which are typically expendable. A few of my favorites are Destroyman and Bad Girl.

If you own a Wii and don't mind steering away from the casual games like Wii Sports and Mario Party, I suggest you pick this one up. But stay away if you don't like blood, because this shit is gory as hell!