New Name for Heroes
Plus, first gameplay details on the latest from team Killer 7.
by IGN Staff
November 29, 2006 - Say goodbye to Heroes and hello to No More Heroes. Only in a world where something named Wii is the hot toy for Christmas could that sentence actually make sense.
The mysterious game that has been known for most of this year as Heroes now has a new name. The latest issue of Famitsu reveals that the all original Wii adventure game is now known as No More Heroes.
Heroes or No More Heroes, this game has gotten much of its hype due to its development background. Although Spike is set to publish the game in Japan, the title is being developed by Grasshopper Manufacturer and directed by Goichi Suda. You may remember these names from Capcom's stylish Killer 7. Other talent includes Shigeto Koyama, of Eureka Seven and Top wo Nerae 2! fame, who's in charge of weapon and vehicle design, and character designer Yusuke Kozaki, known for his work on Speed Grapher.
Famitsu has first details on the game. In No More Heroes, you play as Travis Touchdown, a geek who wins a Beam Katana (a weapon that resembles a Light Saber) through an online auction and uses the weapon to start a new career as a professional killer. One day, an assassin named Helter Skelter appears before Travis and the two face off in a battle. Travis emerges victorious and finds himself in the presence of Silvia Christel, a French chick who claims to be an agent with the UAA (we're not entirely sure, but this appears to stand for United Assassins Association). Silvia gives Travis official rank of 11 in the organization.
No More Heroes takes place in the city of Santa Destroy, which is designed to look like a big city in the Western United States. You're free to explore the town to your liking, taking on missions large and small to collect money and purchase new weapons, although the game's storyline progresses only when you take on big killing jobs from the UAA. Your day begins in your motel room, where you change your clothes and get ready for a day out on the town. You can walk around town if you like, or you can speed around on your futuristic Schpeltiger motor bike.
Travis's clothing has special signifinace in the game. Travis is a big anime geek, so his shirts tend to sport anime-style witch characters. You'll also find wrestler and fighter designs. Grasshopper drafted Okama, the character designer for the opening of the recent Japanese television hit Densha Otoko, to create over 100 t-shirt designs.
T-shirts aside, No More Heroes is all about using your Beam Katana to defeat enemies. When fighting, you position the Wiimote facing up, centered, or facing down in order to move Travis into one of three fighting positions. To perform standard attacks, you repeatedly press the A button.
The game makes more direct use of the controller in some situations. When performing finishing moves, you're required to swing the controller in accordance with on-screen prompts. You're also required to shake the controller to power up your Beam Katana's energy meter.
In addition to basic foes, you'll also find bigger rivals. Travis wants to be the number one killer, and in order to do that, he'll have to defeat the remaining ten killers that rank above him. Only one rival has been introduced so far. Shinobu wears a short school girl outfit and attends Santa Destroy high school, but one look at her katana will convince you that she's earned her rank of 8 in the UAA.
No More Heroes is listed in Famitsu as being just 35% complete, but with a Japanese release due for Summer 2007. Suda hopes to sell one million copies of the game worldwide, suggesting that an international version is in planning.
