Review: No More Heroes 2 Desperate Struggle
Monday, February 1st, 2010 at 11:45am by Will
No More Heroes 2: Desperate Struggle is one of those games that comes every once in a while that sets the bar for what games could be. Sadistic hack and slash bloody adventures with sarcastic one liners that would make Sam Raimi proud.
If you played the first game you know that the game is set in a fictional city in California, called Santa Destroy, where you follow the exploits of Travis Touchdown, an anime nerd turned top assassin in the UAA. The UAA, (United Assassins Association), is comprised of deadly killers, slicing, shooting, and detonating their way to higher ranks to determine who the the best assassin is in the world.
However, Desperate Struggle picks up three years after the exploits of the first game, where Travis has become somewhat of legend. It seems that Travis was the only one in the history of the UAA to just make it to the top and walk away like it was nothing. Some call him the “No More Hero”, many consider him the “Crownless King”, and well others want him dead.
February 1st, 2010 at 12:07 pm
Love it, hated one part so far, but quickly fell back in love with it again. There are some jumping mechanics in the game that are half baked at best. That is all. My only complaint.
The game itself seems like a collection of games. I’m talking about the map menu where you select your missions et al.
Basically, at the very top, you have the UAA challenges in yellow. This is story mode. Work through the plot here. You can actually go through the whole game in this menu. Make sure the kids are in bed.
The next four menu items, in blue, are where you spend your money and customize. Its like Otaku Animal Crossing. My 18 month old daughter loves the cat training.
Then there’s the green section of the menu, the jobs menu. Its like virtual console, only with fun games that are totally made up. Your kids can actually play these.
Then, at the very bottom, in red, the revenge missions. I call this ‘bad day at work mode’. You load these up and you F S up. That is all. Tuck ‘em in for this one, parents.
Very good game, flaws exist yes, but they are all forgiven because nothings perfect and they don’t really matter.
February 1st, 2010 at 12:37 pm
What is a 4th wall? Talking straight to the audience?
February 1st, 2010 at 12:42 pm
sounds devilishly fun. i’ll be getting this after i get (insert numerous titles here). it is a great time to be a wii owner!
speaking of which did anyone see the simpsons last night? the funtendo zii hilarity.
February 1st, 2010 at 12:59 pm
“What is a 4th wall? Talking straight to the audience?”
Yup! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fourth_wall
February 1st, 2010 at 1:23 pm
NMH2 is sooo Kick ass. The next-to-nothing effort put into the visuals is slightly annoying, however.
February 1st, 2010 at 3:55 pm
im having alot of fun with the sidejobs. pizza with a vengance the only one i beaten all 4 stages on, the last stage usally crazy hard
February 1st, 2010 at 5:36 pm
Sounds awesome. I really enjoyed the first one so definately picking this up at some point!
February 1st, 2010 at 7:19 pm
I remember the original had unresponsive controls, no choice over the wrestling moves you use (so it was suplex almost every time…), and horrible camera and lock-on control.
Are these still issues?
Game looks great, at least. If those problems are addressed I’ll pick it up.
Got TvC instead, though, so won’t be picking up NMH2 for at least a month.
February 1st, 2010 at 10:43 pm
This is easily the most fun I’ve had with a Wii game since Galaxy. Everyone should buy it. If not for the gameplay, then get it for the prison cut-scenes.
February 3rd, 2010 at 9:46 am
@gojiguy – hey, I wanted to address your questions/concerns.
I’m having a hard time understanding what you meant by unresponsive controls. I’m assuming its that the Nunchuck is far less accurate than the wii-mote. In which case, that will remain unchanged. You’ve gotta do the prompted movements with a strong deliberate snap, at least, the two handed ones anyway.
You can’t choose the wrestling moves, they are still random, but once you learn them all they never seem repetitive, in either game really, but I don’t use them as much as sword finishers anyway. So thats technically another unchanged.
Camera and lock on. Oh boy, you’re probably going to dislike this also. In the original, when not locked onto someone, you could control the camera with the directional pad on the Wii remote. Now you do a roll in the direction you press when ever you have your swords out, which is pretty much all the damn time. It takes some getting used to if you just played the first game. I actually welcome it now because you are able to roll towards enemies, which is very useful for counter attacks.
There seems to be a little bit of funkiness with where you’re going to go when locked onto an enemy also. Straight up on the Control stick walks you straight towards your target, which may or may not be straight into your screen.
So there you have it, your concerns about the first game will probably be worse in this game. I’m thinking of two battles in particular, one with tight quarters and lots of stuff to bump into and another with a lot of jumping, that made my blood boil a bit. Those may make you quit playing from the sounds of it.
Anyway, I still love the game and would recommend it highly, but not to you because of your stated reasons.
February 3rd, 2010 at 12:14 pm
@Joe H.
that’s really too bad…
I’ll still give it a shot, though.