No More Heroes 2 has been released about 2 years after the original made a scene back in 2008, the first entry in the series had gotten a lot of attention due to it’s mature content on the family friendly Nintendo console. No More Heroes barely had any limits as it had tons of blood, crude humor, and sexual scenes. Although the game had a lot of style it had some technical issues which kept it from reaching it’s potential but the game still received plenty of awards and sparked a following. Now No More Heroes 2 looks to continue with it’s original style and fix it’s technical issues.
One of the first things that needs to be said about No More Heroes 2 is that it’s very unique, the art style is a near perfect blend of anime, and western films. The game has a very “Sin City” feel to it as the game has ridicules amounts of blood and completely over the top violence. One of the main differences gamers will notice if they played the original is that the free roaming world is now gone, replaced now with a menu where you can select where to go. Many will think the series took a step back with this decision but once you play the game you realize that it was the right choice. The selection screen now allows you to jump right into the action and because their is a lot to do you’ll hardly miss the free roaming map.
The main parts of game have you fighting through a level of enemies until you reach the boss of the level, these are called ranked battles and they get progressively more difficult, in fact many battles later on tend to get a little too crazy to the point where you can hardly tell what’s going on in the fight. However for most players the frantic battles won’t be too much of a problem, at it’s core No More Heroes is a beat-em-up game and anyone with experience in the genre should feel comfortable controlling Travis.
Other than the main story battles there is a lot to do in the city and even in the character’s apartment. No More Heroes 2 is littered with old school style mini games complete with pixelated graphics and 8-bit soundtracks, older gamers will definitely appreciate the classic charm of the games. Even in these mini games No More Heroes 2 manages to retain it’s unique personality, almost everything in the game has some violent or sexual theme to it however subtle it may be and the developer deserves to be recognized when it brings these themes so well together. The game hardly ever feels like it’s being edgy just to make heads turn, it does it because that’s the way the story is best told.
Graphics try to impress not with detail but with quantity and animation. The Wii’s power is no more near that of the other consoles so No More Heroes 2 might look a little bland from technical stand point but this forgiven considering the console and the fact that it makes up for it from an artistic stand point. As a game with so much going on often times this is easily one of the best looking games on the Wii.
The sound is also top notch, voice overs are done with as much personality as the game itself although in fights the enemies might repeat a line or two too many times giving them a slightly repetitive feel to them. Music is also all about have a unique and often strange style to it, like the visuals there’s a mixture of anime and western films and it comes together nicely considering how different the two styles are.
Overall No More Heroes 2: Desperate Struggle is better than the first in almost every way, the technical issues have been fixed for the most part and series has taken it’s unique personality to a new level. The Wii doesn’t have many titles like No More Heroes 2, in fact even the other consoles don’t have a quite like No More Heroes 2. If you have a Wii No More Heroes 2 is a strong recommendation, there’s a lot to see and do in the game so you’ll definitely be getting a bang for your buck, and if you haven’t played the first it’s still recommended you check this game out simply because it deserves your attention as a Wii owner.
Overall 8.8
Stay tuned for the video review coming soon
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