ìNo More Heroes 2″ will have some odd expectations to fill, both good and bad, now that it is finally on the shelves. It should suffice to say that its predecessor in the series got mixed reviews. The original No More Heroes was praised by magazines like ìHyper Magazine” for its ìclever writing and great combat mechanics,” while others like ìGame Informer” criticized it for its ìrepetition and lack of substance.”
So before I begin, let me say one thing that should explain the mixed reviews a bit: ìNo More Heroes,” much like its recently released sequel, is a† video game satire. Most people that take these games at face value will inevitably hate them. But as an exceptionally self-aware gamer, this game cracked me up.
Much of the humor derives from cultural references, especially to other video games. Youíll see a lot jokes at the expense of Anime and its crazed fans ó case in point, the hero Travis Touchdown is a crazed nerd that bought a beam sword katana on the internet before the first game and uses it to become an assassin. As according to his otaku background, he has two motivations in this game: the clichÈd revenge of his best friend and the desperate hope that being a high ranked assassin will get him laid.
Which brings us to the premise of the game: to be the best assassin. The game takes place in sunny Santa Destroy, home of the United Assassins Association that ranks the worldís most insane and gimmicky assassins. Typically, to achieve or defend a given rank, a scheduled fight pits two ranking assassins against each other, giving the survivor the higher ranked spot of the two. After disappearing for three years since the events of the first game, Travis resumes his work from the 51st spot and starts fighting as soon as the game opens.
This means killing, killing and more killing. Comically over the top blood baths will pave the way to each boss fight, so stay away if thatís too much for you. Though, to be fair, itís not very realistic; squeamish people shouldnít be terribly phased. Despite the violence, the game has a strong vengeance begets vengeance tone, to a point that even makes Travis sick of the UAA at times.
To be number one, you have to kill everyone in your way ó except for more than half of them that die from other assassins in the league. In all actuality, you fight maybe 14 bosses to reach the first spot, some of which are people forcing Travis to defend his own rank rather than take someone elseís. The real mechanics of the UAA can be inconsistent and frustrating to understand, admittedly. Most of it is only explained by the UAAís representative Silvia Cristelís claim that the UAA changes its rules frequently to keep things interesting, which to some will be annoying.
Game play has stepped up from the previous installment, taking almost too seriously the criticisms of the joke controls from the previous game (very clunky and limited). Mini-games even more addicting than the ones in the first game serve as your source of income towards flashier weapons and higher stats, all of which are 2-D throwbacks to simpler times.
The game moves much faster for those that want it to. Ignoring all collectible and customizing items, I beat the game in my first go in under eight hours. Taking into consideration my new-game ineptitude, thatís ridiculously short for todayís standards. But for more completionist gamers, the creators gave plenty of ways to fill time with harder difficulty levels and customizable gear to make Travis look ready to kill or hilariously nerdy.
Sometimes the parodying can be a bit much even if you do know itís there, though. Stay far away from this game if you canít stand over the top innuendoes, and as mentioned before thereís a lot of blood. Many elements from the first game remain unexplained, such as Travisí inexplicably Irish twin brother. This makes much of the confusion come from insidejokes of the first game that veterans have more or less gotten over by this point, which I imagine would drive new gamers crazy at times. In the first game, it was far more apparent that plot holes were intentional as well, which makes it even easier to question how much of this game is self-aware humor and how much is a blatant oversight.
But overall, I would call this a great game, and definitely worth my money. However, this is mainly because it pushes further the commentary and humor from the first game and improves on its shortcomings in gameplay and† basic mechanics. Fans of the original ìNo More Heroes ” will definitely want† to add this game to their collection, but newcomers may want to rent it first. Itís a great game for fans, but admittedly itís a bit of an acquired taste.