Colors Of Life

No More Heroes is the highly anticipated Wii game from developer Grasshopper that's been turning heads since the quirky trailers for it first started hitting. Part of that attention has been due to interest in what developer Goichi Suda, aka Suda 51, has been working on next after the very cool Killer 7. However, the other part of the attention is due to the fact that the game looks incredibly cool. After months of seeing trailers and semiregular asset updates, we finally got the chance to try out the quirky new game, which is shaping up to be a fun, goofy, and inventive Wii action game.

The game demo, specially created for TGS, kicks off with the game's "hero" Travis Touchdown getting up off a toilet and setting out to kick some butt. Although this may sound heroic, it's actually not. Rather than heading out to stomp folks for altruistic reasons, Travis is just looking out for himself. The budding pugilist is basically killing his way to the top in order to become the top-rated assassin in the world.

What name could be more heroic than Travis Touchdown?

The playable TGS demo offered a glimpse of Travis' journey to the top. In this demo, he fights his way to the 10th-ranked assassin, Destroyman, and takes him out. The level was basically broken up into two chunks: the run through the movie lot where Destroyman spends his time, and then the final battle with him. The jaunt through the lot threw a lot of grunts at Travis and helped to familiarize us with the game's controls and fighting mechanics. During the run, there were crates to be broken and items to be collected-- mostly health-restorative items in the shape of pixelated pizzas. Once we moved Travis far enough into the level, he got a cell-phone call, which piped in through the Wii Remote's speaker surprisingly clearly. The woman on the other end of the line sounded like she was calling from Crazytown, given that she didn't make a ton of sense, but she was certainly good-natured about letting Travis know he was going to die. Once the call was over, Travis ran in to chat with Destroyman, who was in his "alter ego" as an ordinary mailman. Travis' exchange with him leading up to the fight was goofy and also pretty funny. Once Destroyman changed into his costume, the fight and the lunacy began. To the best of our knowledge, this was likely the first boss fight we've ever had that featured an enemy who shot lasers from his crotch, which walks that fine line between awesome and disturbing.

Control in the game is a highlight of the experience, thanks to a very smart use of the Wii controller as well as a combo system tailor-made to show it off. You'll move Travis with the Nunchuk and use the C button to reset the camera behind you. When held down, the Z button locks on to your enemy, and it also automatically blocks if you're not attacking. You'll use the remote to attack by pressing the A and B buttons to punch and kick. You'll be able to perform powerful charge attacks by holding down either button for a bit. The remote's D pad will let you dodge attacks by pressing up, down, left, or right if you're locked on to an enemy, which works well. The B button will also let you initiate powerful multipart wrestling moves that will require you to follow onscreen prompts to wave the remote and Nunchuk in specific directions. The interesting wrinkle to your attack is that Travis' attack level is determined by the height at which you hold the Nunchuk and remote. Holding the controllers rather high causes all your attacks to land from around the chest up, whereas holding them a bit lower directs your attacks to the chest and below. This becomes an important element during battle when enemies start to block your attacks, and was also useful, in the case of the demo, during the boss fight. From what we figured out, if you can match the height of an incoming projectile from Destroyman and time your attack properly, you can actually bat it back at him.

Sweep the Wii Remote!

Finally, due to the somewhat budget nature of Travis' lightsaber-like energy katana, you'll find yourself holding down the 1 button on the controller and shaking it left and right to build up its charge. The whole scheme works incredibly well and is very satisfying. There's a very nice, visceral feel during the moments when you're prompted to wave the remote and Nunchuk. Although our first inclination was to wave the remote like a fool to attack (thanks to the plethora of Wii games that have required such things), what we dig the most is that saving that sort of action for finishers and wrestling moves keeps the action from feeling too repetitive--for the demo, at least. We'll see how this holds up in the final game, but we're hopeful because it's all so fun.

The visuals in the game are an eye-catching blend of cool art direction and solid tech that gives the game a funky look that suits the lunacy to a tee. The game's look is a variation on the art style seen in Killer 7, but with far more detail and some very cool flourishes. The level we saw was basically a soundstage and its surrounding area, so there wasn't a ton of room for incredible amounts of artistic flair. That said, there was a lot of funkiness folded in to liven things up. Enemies ranged from standard thugs to guys with bags over their heads. Destroyman was as goofy-looking as you'd expect, which matched his persona. Travis looked pretty cool and featured a good amount of detail on his clothing. Animation was a bit sketchy, but the game is still in development. One minor element we were taken with was the dot matrix-y look of Travis' health (in the form of a heart) and of the icons that pop up around the world to direct you. Along the same lines, enemies explode in a flurry of chunky pixels when you administer the finishing blow (a bit like the way vampires are "dusted" in Buffy the Vampire Slayer).

The audio in No More Heroes is an inspired and slightly loony mix of elements that fit together very nicely. The game's music is solid and helps lend some urgency and energy to the action. The voice work, which is actually in English, is very over the top and a bit cheesy, but given the game's look and premise, it works. The other effects, such as collisions from punches and the like, are very satisfying and have a nice kick to them.

Based on what we played, No More Heroes is shaping up to be a tight Wii action game. The game is fun and manages to effectively combine its eccentricity and goofiness with a solid play system. We're very pleased with how the game is blending those two elements together. If you're a fan of Suda 51 or are just looking for something cool and new for your Wii, you should keep an eye out for No More Heroes when it ships this winter in the US.

-GameSpot

요전날의 「KONAMI MEDIA CONFERENCE 2007 」에서 발표된 닌텐도DS 의 어드벤쳐 게임 「TIME HOLLOW 빼앗긴 과거를 요구해 」(이)가 조속히KONAMI 부스에서 체험할 수 있었습니다.지금까지 없었던 신시스템으로 주목받습니다만, 꽤 힘인가 들어가 있는 것 같고, 열중한 만들기의 부스에서 체험할 수 있었습니다.

「TIME HOLLOW 빼앗긴 과거를 요구해 」(은)는 부모님을 지워져 버린 소년·시미보랑이, 과거를 바꾸는 힘을 가지는 호로우펜을 손에 넣어 여러가지 수수께끼를 밝혀내 가는 어드벤쳐 게임입니다.신변에 일어나는 불행을 호로우펜을 사용하고, 과거를 바꾸는 것으로 수정해 갈 것입니다.그러나 수정하는 것에 의해서 새롭게 태어나는 불행···.이승 오는 사람을 알아, 정보를 찾아, 과거를 바꾸어 가는 신감각 어드벤쳐입니다.

KONAMI 부스에서는20 분 정도 게임의 감촉을 체험할 수 있었습니다.

어드벤쳐로서는 일반적인 어드벤쳐를 답습하는 것으로, 게임의 초반으로는 주인공이 다니는 학교나 늘 가는 찻집을 왕래하면서 정보를 수집해 갈 것입니다.체험판에서는 「싸움해 사라져 버린 여자 아이」와「자전거로 찻집의 점원가 사고를 만난다」라고 한다2 개의 과거를 바꾼다고 하는 부분을 즐길 수 있었습니다.

호로우펜은 시공에 구멍을 뚫어 일정한 범위에 과거에 통하는 구멍을 뚫습니다.열리는 장면에서는 주인공이 반응합니다.구멍을 뚫어도 과거에 날 수 있는 것은 아니고, 그 구멍의 범위에서, 과거에 손볼 수 있을 뿐입니다.터치 펜으로 둘러싸 엽니다만 회수를 거듭하면 힘이 다해 버립니다.정보를 열심히 조사해 필요한 개소에 도전하는 것이 필요합니다.

구체적으로는 구멍을 뚫고, 싸움의 요인이 된 「잃어 버린 어느 것을 둔다」라고인가, 「자전거의 열쇠를 빌리고 있어 둔다」라고 한 행동을 취하는 것에 의해서, 현재를 바꾸어 갑니다.

스토리로서는 호로우펜을 가져 과거를 바꿀 수 있는 자신과 누군가는 불명하지만, 과거를 바꿀 수 있는 다른 인물이 존재해, 과거를 바꿀 수 있었을 때, 주인공에게는 플래시백으로서 떠오릅니다.과거를 바꾸는 자신과 누군가에 의해서 바꿀 수 있는 자신들이라고 한다2 개의 축과 닌텐도DS (을)를 살린 신시스템으로 새로운 어드벤쳐 게임으로서 기대할 수 있는 내용이 되어 있다고 느꼈습니다.