No More Heroes

 Wii
User Score
8.5

Generally favorable reviews- based on 349 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 284 out of 349
  2. Mixed: 43 out of 349
  3. Negative: 22 out of 349
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  1. PaulD.
    Jan 26, 2008
    7
    I had some pretty big expectations for this one. I am almost 3 hours into it and I honestly dont care if I become the number 1 assassin. The graphics are decent but far from spectacular: lots of pop-up and simple physics engine. Killing baddies is fun, but repetitive. The loadtimes during the game never let you get immersed in the world of Santa Destroy. However, the world of Santa I had some pretty big expectations for this one. I am almost 3 hours into it and I honestly dont care if I become the number 1 assassin. The graphics are decent but far from spectacular: lots of pop-up and simple physics engine. Killing baddies is fun, but repetitive. The loadtimes during the game never let you get immersed in the world of Santa Destroy. However, the world of Santa Destroy is pretty bland anyway so perhaps thats a good thing. Earning money doing oddjobs is lame. This game, while worth a try, is way, way overhyped.… Expand
  2. ChrisC
    Apr 26, 2008
    5
    The presentation is cool and all, but the gameplay is just boring. That seems to be the case for a lot of newer games. They put so much effort into the graphics, the cutscenes, and how cool the moves look they forget to actually make it enjoyable to play. The levels are extremely repetitive and there isn't really that much strategy you can use. Like a lot of adventure games winning The presentation is cool and all, but the gameplay is just boring. That seems to be the case for a lot of newer games. They put so much effort into the graphics, the cutscenes, and how cool the moves look they forget to actually make it enjoyable to play. The levels are extremely repetitive and there isn't really that much strategy you can use. Like a lot of adventure games winning is basically about memorizing what to do.… Expand
  3. MattD.
    Jun 16, 2008
    6
    Moments of entertainment interspersed through a largely mediocre disappointment. This could have been so much better.
  4. MacDogG
    Dec 4, 2009
    6
    Pretty cool game, but got too repetitive pretty fast.
  5. BillW.
    Jun 8, 2008
    6
    Have you ever gotten a gift in a big, shiny, gift-wrapped box only to find that the box contains a sweater? That's the experience of No More Heroes in a nutshell. It's a fine button-mashing Final Fight style game, but there's really not much to it beyond that. There are collectibles which don't really do too much, the wide-open game world is inhabited by....NO ONE, the Have you ever gotten a gift in a big, shiny, gift-wrapped box only to find that the box contains a sweater? That's the experience of No More Heroes in a nutshell. It's a fine button-mashing Final Fight style game, but there's really not much to it beyond that. There are collectibles which don't really do too much, the wide-open game world is inhabited by....NO ONE, the irony-dripping atmosphere gets tiresome and the minigames -- which really could have saved this game -- lack variety and quickly become tedious. This is another of SUDA-51's games which seem to be something of an inside joke. I get it, it's just not funny.… Expand
  6. FilazaferX
    Jan 23, 2008
    6
    I really wanted to love this game. I reserved it and picked it up the first day. But, I've played it and I found it to be a huge disappointment. It does have merit. Visually it's great. The story is awesome, as are the characters. But, when it comes down to it, the gameplay is just plan boring. There is very little challenge and almost all the enemies look the same. You push the I really wanted to love this game. I reserved it and picked it up the first day. But, I've played it and I found it to be a huge disappointment. It does have merit. Visually it's great. The story is awesome, as are the characters. But, when it comes down to it, the gameplay is just plan boring. There is very little challenge and almost all the enemies look the same. You push the A button to swing and then it goes into a finishing move where you have to swing the remote in the direction of the arrow on the screen. This is all great fun, until you realize it doesn't really matter which way you wave the remote. You just waggle it, like so many other Wii games and you'll get your finishing move pretty much every time. Then for getting to missions it makes you drive around GTA style, but there is nothing interesting to do in the city. You just drive from place to place and it is completely pointless and boring. The game is worth a rental, but I can't see any reason to buy this game. The reviewers got this one wrong, the game is fun to look at, but overall it gets boring quick. A real bummer.… Expand
  7. ChristopherA.
    Jan 29, 2008
    7
    Fun game but still far too many bugs. The open world is atrocious. If you run into a car head on you just stop, no crashing no flipping over your bike you just stop. While if you hit a building you fly off your bike into it. The controls are way too touchy as well. Half the time i'm trying to do a drift turn, I end up making my bike jump ultimately leading to me crashing once again. Fun game but still far too many bugs. The open world is atrocious. If you run into a car head on you just stop, no crashing no flipping over your bike you just stop. While if you hit a building you fly off your bike into it. The controls are way too touchy as well. Half the time i'm trying to do a drift turn, I end up making my bike jump ultimately leading to me crashing once again. On another note the frame rate is bad as well while driving one could notice the slowdown as your trying to turn your bike. The same can be said for the sword play. Constantly while fighting you have to pay attention to how your holding your remote( for the two stances) if you tilt just a little bit you be in low the whole time your think you have the remote held in a high stance. Framrate is also an issue here as the game doesn't seem to be able to handle a ton of enemies at once, although not as bad it's still very noticeable.( luckily there aren't a ton of enemies to fight at once til the later missions) I, like the other reviewer, bought this game the day it was released, and after finishing the story feel that it still needed a lot more work. Yet another promising title that was once again rushed.… Expand
  8. Olisarus
    Feb 17, 2008
    7
    Awesome game, amazing fighting, but the open world lacks. Going around trying to make money so you can pass to the next step is not my style. You go from awesome, non-stop fighting to long collecting money in your, extremely slow for such a game, bike. The collisions are non-existant either. Everything from humor to gameplay is awesome, I'd give it a 9/10 but the open-world really.. Awesome game, amazing fighting, but the open world lacks. Going around trying to make money so you can pass to the next step is not my style. You go from awesome, non-stop fighting to long collecting money in your, extremely slow for such a game, bike. The collisions are non-existant either. Everything from humor to gameplay is awesome, I'd give it a 9/10 but the open-world really.. sucks. Good game but too much cash-collecting. Little technical problems that can be ignored, but gta-esque part is not good.… Expand
  9. Matthew
    Feb 29, 2008
    7
    This was an immensely fun game with the fun sucked out of it by some baffling gameplay choices. "Kill all enemies without getting hit once" missions go from frustrating to utterly unplayable with the lack of a retry option, and navigating the overworld is not fun, period. If the overworld development had been spent polishing the game up in general, this would be 9-10 material.
  10. TheQuietGamer
    Aug 6, 2012
    7
    No More Heroes isn't perfect, as a matter of a fact it's no where near it. But it succeeds in being a fantastic experience despite all it's flaws. The game is an absolute mess, the story is neither well executed or explained, and has just about every bizarre plot twist you can think of, but gets away with it because it's a beautifully crafted parody of anime, other video games, and cheesyNo More Heroes isn't perfect, as a matter of a fact it's no where near it. But it succeeds in being a fantastic experience despite all it's flaws. The game is an absolute mess, the story is neither well executed or explained, and has just about every bizarre plot twist you can think of, but gets away with it because it's a beautifully crafted parody of anime, other video games, and cheesy samurai movies, and never takes itself seriously. The gameplay is insanely fun when you slicing your way through enemies and brutally challenging bosses in spectacularly bloody ways, but gets boring when you have to play the mini-games and assassination missions for what feels like the millionth time in order to get money for the next level. And why when your doing this money collecting does your objective have to be on the other side of the game, when all you want to do is just get your money and get back into the fight? The whole money being needed in order to progress is just irritating especially when they fill the game with a few shops that have stuff (new clothes, dvd's that teach you new techniques, and new weapons) you might want to buy, but don't because you don't want to have to do all the jobs required for you to get enough money for the next level all over again. Oh and just a heads up, be sure to buy all 3 (overly expensive) weapons in order to see the real (or rather whole) ending. The game has a lot of issues but whenever I think back on my time with No More Heroes I think about the games hilarious and sometimes shocking (in a good way) scenes, the awesome and bloody combat, or landing that final blow on that challenging and memorable boss. And I also think about how that no matter how many issues this game has that it was worth putting up with them in order to play through this fantastic game. I had to take off points for the issues if the score makes you unsure of this game ignore it and let me tell you this, if you call yourself a hardcore gamer you need to play this game. It's an amazing experience that manages to rise above its flaws, and is for sure one of the best Wii games ever. This is a must play.… Expand
  11. TheDavyStar
    Aug 11, 2015
    7
    My feelings for this game fluctuate almost on a daily basis. I came into it thinking I was going to get a 3D Scott Pilgrim-esque experience with swordplay, with non-stop action. Instead, I was forced to mow the lawn and mash buttons furiously in order to collect coconuts so I could earn the in-game money required to actually get to the good bits: the actual fighting. Quite frustrating. OnMy feelings for this game fluctuate almost on a daily basis. I came into it thinking I was going to get a 3D Scott Pilgrim-esque experience with swordplay, with non-stop action. Instead, I was forced to mow the lawn and mash buttons furiously in order to collect coconuts so I could earn the in-game money required to actually get to the good bits: the actual fighting. Quite frustrating. On top of that, the game can get quite repetitive as enemies are often beaten in the exact same manner, and scraps are made difficult due to the sheer number enemies as opposed to clever AI. Only the boss fights offer an properly difficult challenge, but their attacks can usually be avoided by simply dodging attacks and landing some of your own in afterwards. Sounds like a mediocre game if there ever was one. This repetitiveness makes it hard to justify engaging in combat for more than half an hour at a time.

    And yet, something brings me back again and again.

    Somehow, the mundanity of those boring side jobs that occur between levels keep you anticipating the meat of the game, the combat. I don't think any other game could get away with boring you for long amounts of time, but No More Heroes does. I couldn't tell you just why this is. Maybe it's because the game is bolstered by its art style and wacky characters. Maybe riding the most camp motorbike ever makes traversing Santa Destroy a bit more enjoyable. Maybe it's because I want to see the game's linear cycle of work/pay/kill be broken. It's a bit like Animal Crossing that way; you keep on playing regardless of whether you'd rather stop.

    No More Heroes imitates our own boring lives and yet injects them with an overdose of cool. It enables the animé nerd protagonist Travis Touchdown to become the coolest person in the world he inhabits, despite falling so pathetically for femme fatale Sylvia Christel and receiving encouragement from his waifus, the protagonists of the faux-animé Bizarre Jelly.

    As a piece of interactive entertainment, NMH shows that videogames can be art. It somehow makes players praise the more boring aspects of the game. However, as an actual videogame, it isn't quite as brilliant, being a slightly boring, slightly repetitive, albeit sporadically fun, trudge to the top of the UAA leaderboards. NMH's aesthetics have managed to keep me interested in future installments. But the truth is, as a videogame enthusiast, I just want to play a good videogame, and don';t care as much for an "interacitve experience".    … Expand
  12. Garra
    Nov 16, 2020
    7
    Sus momentos tan absurdos y fuera de lugar hacen que merezca la pena pasar por alto las carencias técnicas y de diseño. Original apartado artístico, y buen guión. Game play mediocre y apartado técnico por debajo del standar de su época.
  13. Yojimbo2015
    Jan 11, 2023
    6
    Similar but less gory than Madworld, No More Heroes has a mild sandbox element like a proto-GTA III in which you earn money by completing sub-games and side missions in order to access the ten boss fights that constitute the bulk of the game. And also like Madworld, it's rather shallow and repetitive but the stylish presentation and novel controls go a long way to make up for the fact.

Awards & Rankings

10
#10 Best Wii Game of 2008
3
#3 Most Discussed Wii Game of 2008
15
#15 Most Shared Wii Game of 2008

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
83

Generally favorable reviews - based on 64 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 57 out of 64
  2. Mixed: 7 out of 64
  3. Negative: 0 out of 64
  1. Nintendo Gamer
    94
    Like the Wii, none of it should work, but like the Wii, everything does. Brilliantly... No More Heroes is a love letter to videogames that never grows old, tired, or dull. All games deserve to be designed with such lunacy. [JPN Import; Feb 2008, p.56]
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  2. n-Revolution Magazine UK
    90
    This is a rough game, but it's also funny and self-deprecating, inventive and massively rewarding. If more games had personality and style like No More Heroes does, the world of games would be a much more interesting place. [Issue#18, p.76]
  3. Edge Magazine
    90
    It can be a little basic in places, and it isn’t a ‘paradigm shift’ in any sense, but it is proof that games can love their roots and use the quality of being a ‘game’ to give form to their stories – and excel at it. [Feb 2008, p.90]
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