My Top 10 Games of '08 - #5

I don't think Suda 51 is physically capable of doing traditional game design. Every time that man gets behind the wheel of the game, he totally makes it super-weird. This isn't a bad habit at all, though; innovation at every step is a philosophy that I can get behind. His works don't always shine as brightly as he may want, but damned if he doesn't try. No More Heroes is a diamond in the rust, in a very direct sense of the word.

Not only did the game not sell well, but its greatest joy is hidden behind flaws. The biggest flaw by far is the overworld. It's an unncecessary addition to the game, that was a much too boasted feature in the game that ultimately never amounted to more than a hub to go from place to place; you could find secrets there, sure, but aside from that the feature could've been done away with. Also, the game could've used some polish graphics-wise, even on the Wii.

Those being my biggest gripes with the game, the rest of it was pure awesome in game form. The combat is just repetitive so you know what you're doing all the time and always feeling like a badass, but not too much that you feel like it's boring. NMH's combat is just and amazing way to do fighting on the Wii, between switching stances, slashing, kicking, throwing, and a slash of the remote to finish the enemy off, it's satisfying as all hell, and you get to do it. A lot.

But the addicting gameplay pales in comparison the so-far-out-there story. Travis Touchdown has to kill the top 10 assassins in the country, simply because he wants to (at first, then Sylvia gets in involved). Now, it does get (a lot) more complicated, but in the Metal Gear way; It's just so plain over the top confusing that it's easy to realize that it's satire, and not taking itself too seriously.

Then there are the assassins themselves. Each and every one of these characters is one of the best characters in gaming this year, hands down. From Dr. Peace to Bad Girl to Harvey Moiseiwitsch Volodarskii (mouthful, ain't it?) these characters are not only fun to fight, but they all have fairly interesting scenes to watch, and even without much exposition, they manage to be engraved in your mind long after you play the game. No More Heroes is definitely not perfect, but it makes up in spades with style.