Set Up:
An awkward, late-twenties otaku named Travis Touchdown, wins a beam katana at a net auction and becomes an assassin. After killing an assassin ranked #11 he inadvertently places himself in a situation where must kill 10 ranked-order assassins. He agrees to do so, not only for the claim of being #1 but to knock boots with the mysterious lady named Sylvia Christel.
Your main man, Travis Touchdown
No More Heroes has an unusual and unapologetic premise in terms of its overall story and style (Translation: This game is crazy and bizarre!) but it’s a hell of a lot of fun and one of my most enjoyable experiences with the Wii. It’s a third-person, open-world action game, though most of the excitement takes place in the main story levels. You play as avid wrestling-fan and anime aficionado, Travis Touchdown- tactless, nerdy, perverted, desensitized to violence are just some words to describe him. While those terms don't sound appealing for a character, I found Travis to be enjoyable and funny. He’s unlike modern day protagonists who are all either muscular, armored, military-trained, skilled fighters and out to save the world. He’s just a nerd who won a beam katana and now has to kill 10 assassins. You can already tell the game doesn’t take itself too seriously, which is refreshing.
Presentation:
Though the Wii isn’t in the same league as the Playstation 3 or Xbox 360, graphics wise, this game is very good looking for the system. Everything has a distinctive look and style. For some players these designs may remind them of Killer 7 (like this game, was created by SUDA 51). Character designs are impressive, each character has a particular and personalized fashion. The cast is filled with colorful characters. The only fault I found with the graphics is due to the heavy shading, certain areas are too dark. While it could because of my television, I never had a problem with other games. I’ve mostly noticed this during the open-world segment of the game going in alleys to open up trash cans (which are sometimes place behind the wall and under certain in-game lightning, hard to see).
When it comes to the sound, the only grip I have is the lack of dialogue outside of the main story missions. When you meet other characters in Santa Destroy they just have text dialogue. Despite being archaic, there’s nothing really wrong with that, but because the rest of the game is so crazy, you would like to see the characters more realized with voice acting. But I guess that’s alright, since their dialogue is just as far out. The voice actors for Travis, Sylvia and the assassins play their parts with conviction and help bring the outlandish story to life. All the voice actors/actresses did a superb job.
The music is great, especially the track played when Travis is in the motel. Sound effects are all in place, nothing really stands out besides beam swing and splatter of blood. Not saying it’s bad, but off the top of my head, I cannot think of anything to really write home about. But there is a nifty use of the Wii remote speaker, as you will see before the boss battles.
The action is exaggerated but high on fun
Gameplay:
Being a Wii game, it has to have unique control scheme right? It does, and it’s simple, fun and effective. You need the Wii remote and nunchuk to play it. You move Travis with the control stick, C button realigns the camera to the back of him, Z button is used for lock-on targeting during missions, A is context sensitive, and B is used to run (you have to acquire this ability) but during missions, block. The game is at its best during the story missions where you have to keep fighting till you reach the next assassin. During these mission, you have to attack the enemies until an on-screen prompt appears displaying an arrow to indicate which direction you must gesture the remote towards enabling Travis to swing his beam katana in that same area. This is my favorite part of the game, because had it been on a regular controller it would have been just tolerable but the Wii’s control scheme allows it to be very satisfying and engaging, especially when there are multiple enemies in the environment.
Attacking enemies is only limited to how much energy you have left in your beam katana gauge. When you run out of energy you have to replenish it by holding 1 and swinging the Wii remote back and forth (yes, I’ve tried up and down, works the same way…don’t judge me). Travis’ animation during the sequence is amusing the first couple of times. You’ll also notice three slots at the bottom of the screen, when the same icons line up they activate Travis’ dark side which is a powered up mode giving Travis different abilities for a limited time. Throughout the game you can upgrade Travis’ strength and health as well as buy new weapons. And to mix things up during combat, Travis also sports wrestling moves. By hitting B during combat, Travis will stun his enemies and a prompt will show up indicating which direction you have to motion the controller and nunchuk. Travis can also learn new wrestling moves by watching video tapes or picking up lucha masks before the boss battles.
And speaking of bosses, as I said before the fights with the assassins are enjoyable because each own has their own style, equipped with larger-than-life personalities. Thanks to the smart writing and off the wall set up, you’ll be dying to know the next one you have to face. The battles themselves aren’t such a departure from what you usually do during normal gameplay but bosses do have pattern-specific attacks that sometimes take a few loses before you can understand how to defeat them.
And this brings me to the part I dislike; the open-world. While there are plenty of story missions and side missions filled with action, you have to navigate through the city of Santa Destroy. While the idea is not bad, the execution leaves you with a city and citizens devoid of any life and whole lot of traveling to get to places of interest. You have to travel around the open-world in order to go to these different locations. The city of Santa Destroy isn’t as big as let’s say, Grand Theft Auto IV, but because everything is so lifeless, it’s a drag travelling around. I would have preferred a map where you could select your location and be transported there. Even though you’re not always walking, thanks to your modified bike, (and you’re only mode of transportation) the city is so boring and bland it doesn’t even make a difference. In order for Travis to enter the next story mission, he has to earn enough money to pay an entry fee. As you progress through the game the entry fees become more expensive.
The city makes even riding a modified scootor called "Shpeltiger" boring!
You can earn money by not only killing enemies but also doing side jobs in the form of mini-games and side missions. In the beginning you’ll only start with one mini-game and as you progress you unlock more. Mini-games are usually timed-base and involve conditions such as collecting the most amounts of coconuts, cutting as many acres of grass as possible, picking up the most amount of garbage, and filling cars with gas to a certain point. After completing the mini-games it gives you access to an action side-mission where most of the time you have to kill the enemies without letting them attack you as they have one-hit kills. There are also side-missions in the vein of the main mode where you’re fighting enemies. Each mission has certain requirements as well. While there is nothing wrong with these modes, you’ll soon realize they are nothing more but padding to lengthen the game time.
The only thing that was satisfying about the open world was running around to kick open garbage cans which reveal money and new shirts for your character to wear. Speaking of your character is lightly customizable as you can change his jacket, glasses, belt, jeans and purchase shirts. It’s nothing more than additional skins, but it’s nice to have that option.
Lasting Appeal
The game can take you about 15-20 hours to complete. If you played on mild (which I am assuming is medium), you’ll unlock a harder difficulty but still keep all the upgrades from the last play through. It would have been nice if the mini-games had a co-op mode so that you can at least go back and play a couple of rounds with friends. There’s not much to do after it’s all over, but the action is still rewarding enough to go back once more.
Final Verdict
This is a must buy. The wacky story and the unpredictable ending will definitely keep you interested and you’ll appreciate this game as one of the top reasons to own a Wii. Even though it game out in 2008, it still holds up. So if you’re tired of playing in Wuhu Island, come take a trip down to Santa Destroy.
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