No More Heroes is a franchise that began in 2007 on the Wii and took gamers by surprise.
Its sequel, Desperate Struggle, did the exact same thing in 2010 and its PS3 and Xbox port has done it again.
The port is called 'Heroes' Paradise' and includes new features such as blood, which was previously censored here in the UK, new outfits for the casts women, new customisation options, new and shiny HD graphics, Playstation Move compatability, 5 boss fights from Desperate Struggle and the option to replay boss battles and chapters.
The story and characters are the same as they were in 2007 which means Travis Touchdown is back to do his daily grind - killing people whilst trying to bed a woman called Sylvia.
Travis is an otaku, wrestling loving geek who wins a beam katana, essentially a lightsaber but has to be recharged by shaking between your legs, on an online auction site.
The main story starts off with him killing someone to make money but then realises he's been tricked into participating in an assassination rankings tournament, which is when he decides to carry on killing rather than be killed.
Most of the story focuses around you killing the top 10 assassins to secure your place at the top and to have sex with Sylvia as that was the deal the two of you have - if you manage to reach number 1.
Sylvia Christel is a japanese ukrainian agent for the United Assassins Association (UAA) and sets up the fights for you and those who are ranked above you.
There aren't many characters in the game outside of the bosses but the ones that are try to help you, such as your trainer and teacher Thunder Ryu, Naomi who provides you with new weapons and upgrades for a fee and Lovikov who gives you new wrestling moves if you find and give him his balls (a collectible item!) back.
The only characters that you really get to see enough to comment on are Travis and Sylvia and Sylvia is summed up in 3 words - sexy, manipulating and sly.
Travis has more meat to the bone but he's still pretty simple, yet likable, and he's an otaku and wrestling obsessed, laidback, horny guy who wants nothing more than to be number one and that's why he continues to participate in the rankings tournament.
The assassins, although only having little screentime, all shine in their own way though with my personal favourites being Holly Summers, Bad Girl and Destroy Man.
There are 5 bosses from No More Heroes 2 but they get no background information, no proper introduction apart from a name on a screen and no proper death animation, though they are extremely varied in their fighting as like all the bosses you encounter.
The gameplay is smooth but simple with Travis using his Beam Katana to fight enemies and wrestling moves to finish them off.
Before each boss fight you will learn a new wrestling move, unless you choose to not pick up the mask in plain sight, which you will then use against that boss in battle. Wrestling moves are done by using the analog sticks and moving them in a similar way to how the move is done e.g. up to lift the person up, although the move is already set so you cannot make your own.
The gameplay also includes the tedious money making games though which include mowing grass, collecting coconuts, filling cars, etc, which all get repetitive once you've done them a few times to collect enough money to be able to fight the next assassin.
There is shadier work that includes killing people for money but there's no special boss fights, just normal grunts, and so that also gets dull.
You can run or sprint to these destinations but you'll probably use Travis' motorbike as it's much quicker to get around with, the downfall here is that the steering isn't as smooth as it could be and you'll find yourself getting randomly stuck on lampposts and other items then either having to do a wheelie or running for a bit then calling your friend to deliver the car to you again.
The gameplay also includes the tedious money making games though which include mowing grass, collecting coconuts, filling cars, etc, which all get repetitive once you've done them a few times to collect enough money to be able to fight the next assassin.
There is shadier work that includes killing people for money but there's no special boss fights, just normal grunts, and so that also gets dull.
You can run or sprint to these destinations but you'll probably use Travis' motorbike as it's much quicker to get around with, the downfall here is that the steering isn't as smooth as it could be and you'll find yourself getting randomly stuck on lampposts and other items then either having to do a wheelie or running for a bit then calling your friend to deliver the car to you again.
There are melee attacks which are used solely to stun people but you're much better off using only the Beam Katana when you are fighting several people or other assassins, although it is your only option if you cannot run away and your Beam Katana has low battery. If this is the case you have to recharge it by shaking the controller until the battery is fully charged which is indicated by a sound that is played.
The HD makeover has done a lot for No More Heroes, making it look sleek and shiny.
The character animations are great also but with the highs come the lows in form of screen tearing and frame drops.
I don't remember seeing this much, if at all, in the Wii version and that's probably as there was less happening on screen at any given time with less power going into everything, where as on PS3 there's much more happening and more power being used to make the game look good but struggling to steadily maintain it.
The audio is good but the track that stands out for me the most is Pleather for Breakfast which is the background music for when you fight Bad Girl.
The audio really isn't the strongest aspect of No More Heroes with the game clearly steering more to the boss fights and story rather than anything else.
The voice acting however is spectacular with every character being brought to life by their respective voice actors.
Robin Atkin Downes, who voices Travis, does the most stand out job with portraying both Travis' sexual side as well as his emotional side, especially in later parts of the game.
Paula Tiso, who voices Sylvia, also does a great job by capturing the seductive side of Sylvia in both her accent and her tone.
No More Heroes hasn't got great lasting appeal however as there is no online competitive multiplayer on co-operative.
You can choose to play through the game again on a harder difficulty but collecting all items and getting the real ending should be easily done on your first playthrough, although two or more playthroughs are required to collect all the trading cards.
Apart from trophy hunting, the other main reason to play through again is to see the women in different (and much less to wear) costumes if you feel that warrants another playthrough.
Overall it's a game I really enjoyed but haven't found myself going back to other than to replay the boss battles as they are so well done but I do plan on playing through it all with the Playstation Move on a harder difficulty.
Also, for those trophy and achievement lovers out there, this is a pretty difficult Platinum/1000 GS as completing it on Bitter mode will be hard as normal is a challenge enough!
Also, for those trophy and achievement lovers out there, this is a pretty difficult Platinum/1000 GS as completing it on Bitter mode will be hard as normal is a challenge enough!
Story: 9
Characters: 9
Gameplay: 8
Graphics: 8
Audio: 7
Lasting appeal: 7
Overall: 8.5
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