Reviews are all over the place for this game now so there's very little to explain, but for the uninitiated, No More Heroes is a so far Wii-exclusive series by Suda 51. At its very core it's a slasher game with plenty of blood and gore, a funky graphical style trademark to Suda (if you played/saw Killer 7), and some crazy characters and humor.
The first of the series, I found entertaining. The problem, however, was it got repetitive very quickly. Job > Minor Assassination > Boss Fight. I found their attempts at emulating GTA by having an entire city to move around it annoying since it seemed totally unnecessary. I may have tired out of playing the game because of its repetitiveness, but the title did leave a good taste in my mouth.
I just picked up the sequel a few days ago and I absolutely love it. If you haven't played the first NMH, don't worry, it doesn't matter. Desperate Struggle very purposely follows a story where those who didn't play the first game can still understand the flow of the second. Honestly there wasn't much story either way anyway so just start straight at 2 and you'll be fine.
What's great about the sequel is it's fixed virtually all of the problems of the first; no more moving around the city because all important locations can be accessed in a menu now. No more minor assassination jobs, from what I've played either. You can jump right into the boss whenever you want because there's no longer that contract fee you have to earn money for so there's never a lull in the action for anyone looking to just hack and slash away at everything.
That's not to say that making money's been taken out of the picture completely though. Travis still earns money, which he can use to either buy new weapons, stat powerups, or just a change of clothes. Contrary to the very droning jobs of the first however, the second takes the side jobs and turns them into more amusing retro 8-bit games. For the fans of the 8-bit era, you'll probably find yourselves more engaged with these sidejobs than the actual assassinations. So far I've unlocked four side jobs with at least four levels for each of them and I'm so hooked it's insane. I'm no 8-bit fan myself, actually finding the Megaman series' return to 8 bit a cop-out, but I did find myself entertained with what NMH2 had to offer. The games were challenging and the graphical and musical presentation for them were very charming, and very nostalgic.
The new sidejobs aside, NMH2 provides better varieties at boss fights as well. Unlike the previous title, mechanics for each boss change. The first two bosses offered up a very traditional NMH2. The third one I encountered even less so, however. Because the boss called on a giant robot, Travis followed suit and the entire boss fight went on as something that I can only describe as two megazords duking it out Street Fighter II style. Coupled with Travis Touchdown's very nerd-oriented humor the whole thing just put a smile on my face the entire time.
It's a solid entertaining title so far, something very few games on the Wii can claim. If I had more time on my hands I'd be playing it to death right now, but alas. If you have a Wii, there is no excuse for not having this title. Buy it now.
The first of the series, I found entertaining. The problem, however, was it got repetitive very quickly. Job > Minor Assassination > Boss Fight. I found their attempts at emulating GTA by having an entire city to move around it annoying since it seemed totally unnecessary. I may have tired out of playing the game because of its repetitiveness, but the title did leave a good taste in my mouth.
I just picked up the sequel a few days ago and I absolutely love it. If you haven't played the first NMH, don't worry, it doesn't matter. Desperate Struggle very purposely follows a story where those who didn't play the first game can still understand the flow of the second. Honestly there wasn't much story either way anyway so just start straight at 2 and you'll be fine.
What's great about the sequel is it's fixed virtually all of the problems of the first; no more moving around the city because all important locations can be accessed in a menu now. No more minor assassination jobs, from what I've played either. You can jump right into the boss whenever you want because there's no longer that contract fee you have to earn money for so there's never a lull in the action for anyone looking to just hack and slash away at everything.
That's not to say that making money's been taken out of the picture completely though. Travis still earns money, which he can use to either buy new weapons, stat powerups, or just a change of clothes. Contrary to the very droning jobs of the first however, the second takes the side jobs and turns them into more amusing retro 8-bit games. For the fans of the 8-bit era, you'll probably find yourselves more engaged with these sidejobs than the actual assassinations. So far I've unlocked four side jobs with at least four levels for each of them and I'm so hooked it's insane. I'm no 8-bit fan myself, actually finding the Megaman series' return to 8 bit a cop-out, but I did find myself entertained with what NMH2 had to offer. The games were challenging and the graphical and musical presentation for them were very charming, and very nostalgic.
The new sidejobs aside, NMH2 provides better varieties at boss fights as well. Unlike the previous title, mechanics for each boss change. The first two bosses offered up a very traditional NMH2. The third one I encountered even less so, however. Because the boss called on a giant robot, Travis followed suit and the entire boss fight went on as something that I can only describe as two megazords duking it out Street Fighter II style. Coupled with Travis Touchdown's very nerd-oriented humor the whole thing just put a smile on my face the entire time.
It's a solid entertaining title so far, something very few games on the Wii can claim. If I had more time on my hands I'd be playing it to death right now, but alas. If you have a Wii, there is no excuse for not having this title. Buy it now.