I beat No More Heroes a couple days ago and here are the impressions I gathered about it.

A quick premise: I played the european blood-less/slightly different version of the game. Also, possible *spoilers* ahead.

No More Heroes is a good game, it features a great character design, imaginative levels, generally smooth controls, solid combat system, impressive bosses, great cutscenes, quality voice acting, a lot of black humor and a good deal of extras. It is not free from its good share of flaws though, even major ones.

The plot is as simple as these things can get: otaku killer Travis Touchdown (yeah...) lives in the city of Santa Destroy (...yeah...), where he starts an escalade of the assassins ranking, aiming to become the number one killer in america. On his way he'll have to fight the other killers forming the top-ten. The duels are set up by a mysterious girl, who irresistibly attracts our dumb 'hero' Travis.

The game is divided in three main sections: driving, working (right, you have to work in games too...) and fighting. In the driving section you basically ride your ginormous motorbike around to reach the next battle or mission. This section was compared by many to Grand Theft Auto, but I can't see many similarities apart from the fact that you drive a vehicle, run the the rare pedestrians over and trample streetlamps and trees (yes, you can break trees, I think it's the first time I see this in a 'sandbox' game). The whole driving thing can be fun, you can call your bike wherever you are and it'll be brought to you, you can speed boost and jump by waving the Wiimote and there are several cameras available, but the collision detection just plain stinks: the vehicle will often irreparably get stuck in corners, cars and benches, meaning you won't be able to unstuck it and will have to walk away on foot and call it, which is annoying. Furthermore, the collision box around objects is way too big and this will result in awkward situations.

The working section consists in a series of minigames, ranging from collecting coconuts to killing scorpions, retrieving lost cats and so on. The minigames are sometimes pretty fun, but most of the time they're just tedious chores needed to unlock fighting missions essential to earn money. This brings us to the fighting section, where the game gives its best: dozens of enemies will attack you in groups of one to six at the time. You hold the Wiimote high or low to change stance and tap the A button to swing your weapon -a weird lightsaber (the game is filled with Star Wars references)- chain combos and then wave the Wiimote to perform finishing moves. It all works fine and it's really enjoyable to play. My only complaint is that stronger enemies tend to block too much, but that's no big deal.

The enemies are weird: funny guys with paperbags on their heads, baseball players, bus drivers... each level has his set of lunatics, but the bosses are the strangest, I leave it to you to find out who they are, because discovering the next boss is the best part of the game. Sometimes they are too hard and take too long to beat, having way too much life, but it just takes some perseverance. The settings you'll fight in are also imaginative, again, I'll leave it up to you to find out.

The graphics give me mixed feelings: the characters look grand, but the generic environments (city, most levels...) are bland beyond belief, with blocky buildings and objects (the cars are horrible) and blurry textures. The characters are cel-shaded (a render mode I personally like), but the environments are not, and this can leave you wondering why. I heard some people saying the game stutters when there are many enemies around, but I never noticed any slowdown at all.

The sound is competent, but what really shines is the voice acting; Travis sounds great and so do all the bosses, while the mystery girl's french accent is annoying (listening to her telephone rants fom the Wiimote speaker turns the great idea of using the controller as a mobile phone into a nuisance). The shop ownwers also sound ridiculous, I think they made it on purpose.

My complaint about the game is that you need money to proceed: you need it (a lot of it) to unlock the next boss fight, you need it to buy new (essential) weapon upgrades, you need it to go to the gym and boost your stats, you need it for everything! You can also buy (expensive) clothes to change Travis'outfit. To earn cash you can play the tedious minigames or play the fighting missions over and over again, which grows old pretty fast. Thankfully you'll later on unlock some easy ones that are also very rewarding.

In conclusion, No More Heroes is an entertaining game that allows you to engage in furios and visceral battles and have a good laugh with the black humor and absurd situations. It can be a bit of a grind when going fo money and the driving feels like an afterthought, but it's a solid game and a good addition to the Wii software library.

"Nothing dries more quickly than a tear."

- Latin proverb

Yes, I went the third time. Looks like all my friends want to see the movie with me :lol:

Well, at least the first two times I had free tickets.

Since the Wii games I'm waiting for are likely never coming out, I got No More Heroes yesterday. I'll post my impressions soon enough.

SSBB and Okami PAL version have been delayed again..................

Release dates are now: June 27 for Brawl and June 13 for Okami. This is getting surreal.

I have no more words to waste on Nintendo Europe.

I went to see the movie again, this time I tried to see it as a separated film, without any comparison to the others. The result was pretty good, taken that way the movie is plain fun and even the aliens thing finds a reason in life. The lousy acting by Karen Allen still remains though, I don't know, I think she didn't feel Marion's character anymore after 26 years and couldn't deliver the same intensity, or her script was reallly really bad.

All in all this is an enjoyable movie that suffers the same fate of the Young Indiana Jones TV series: it's fun by itself, but can't be placed on the same shelf as the original material.

"Arguments are to be avoided; they are always vulgar and often convincing."

- Oscar Wilde

*spoilers warning!*

Indiana Jones IV is... is almost MEH. My heart breaks into many crystal pieces, but I have to say I'm disappointed. Don't get me wrong, it's a good movie, but it can't be remotely compared to any Indiana Jones prequel.

To sum up the plot without spoiling too much:

An old and consumed Indiana Jones is forced into a treasure hunt involving both the CIA and the russian army, in search of the lost city of Eldorado, where it is said that a powerful mind-controlling power is held. Little does Indy know that this caper will lead him to face unprecedented dangers and even the aliens of Roswell.

Yes, you read correctly: Indiana Jones and the aliens from the X-Files, Area 51 and Independence Day in the same movie. How lame of a premise is that? Lame enough. Fortunately, a strong cast and good narrative flow manage to get something good out of this otherwise abysmal idea.

I don't want to spoil anything more, so I'll say this: go watch the movie, because it deserves it, but be advised, don't expect anything like the Indiana Jones original trilogy, because you would be sourly disappointed in that case. If, on the other hand, you consider this movie as what it is, a tribute and a conclusion to the adventures of Indiana Jones, you'll have some good fun with it.

As I said before, my heart is broken, but fear not: I'm sticking the pieces together and, like I did with Star Wars Episode II, I'll get to like Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. Yes, even with aliens in it.

I'm going to see Indiana Jones IV tonight. The sun is shining on me! :D

I'm not from London, I'm not even british, but I was really hoping Chelsea could beat Manchester UTD and win their first Champions League tonight. They went so close to it (guess posts and crossbars don't like blue...), especially after losing the Premier League to the same ManUTD.

Better luck next time Blues. All Inter Milan supporters were standing on your side.