Travis Touchdown is living the dream.
That said, No More Heroes is another assassin related title from director Suda 51 (that's go-ichi, not fifty-one). At its core, it's a hack and slash with some unique Wii controls. But it really is so much more. It's a pile of pop culture references, a pseudo-sandbox game, a comedy, and a collect'em all.
Travis Touchdown is the quintessential anime fan who actually becomes an assassin after winning a beam katana (it's not a light saber) in an internet auction. He meets Sylvia Christel in a bar one night, and agrees to kill "the drifter". After completing this task, he's told he is now rank eleven in a list of the top killers-for-hire. Naturally, he decides to start working his to the top. Why? to earn money for video games, to face a challenge, and to have a chance at bedding Miss Christel. The game is not short on laughs, straight through to the end, with numerous references to Killer7 and Star Wars as well as other things only the Otaku in you will recognize. There are crazy plot twists, and of course, the game is not too proud to poke fun at itself. That's not to mention the completely off-the-wall cast of characters Travis will meet and face off with on his quest for the number one spot.
During the mission segments of the game, high or low stances can be taken depending on how the Wii Remote is held, and the attacks Travis performs differ between the two. After beating down on an enemy enough, the screen will prompt you to slash in a certain direction to execute a death blow. For some reason, I found these death blows to be as satisfying as a three course meal. There's just something great about being able to split a thug in two, the long way. Every time you pull off one of these deathblows, slots will run at the bottom of the screen, if three like images line up, Travis enters "Darkside Mode" and yells out the name an attack from his favorite anime, usually resulting in temporary invincibility and lots of dead enemies. Top all this off with pro-wrestling moves, and the combat is one of the best parts of the game.
When you're not adding to body count, you're given the freedom to search Santa Destroy, where you'll find money and t-shirts in dumpsters, along with some side missions, odd-jobs, and places to build your strength. These include Thunder Ryu's gym, Beef Head videos, Dr. Naomi's garage, as well as the clothing store, Area 51.
The graphics in No More Heroes are decent at best, and really not the game's strong point. There is a visual noise effect present most of the time when running around in Santa Destroy, as well during some missions. The music is very catchy though, and there's a very entertaining song just before Travis takes on number nine.
In the end, it's hard to say whether or not I can really recommend No More Heroes. I can tell you how awesome I think it is, but it needs to be experienced to be understood. I would say this game is a definite buy for the anime junkies out there. If you were looking for a GTA clone on the Wii, you should probably rent this first, because you won't get a GTA experience out of it. If you ever thought it would be cool to take on the life of your favorite anime character and slice dudes up in what is one of the most off-the-wall situations imagined, get this game, you won't be disappointed.