Grasshopper Manufacture

Equal parts inspired genius and wretched inadequacy, the product of writer and director Suda 51 is a confused, clumsy attempt grasping for the next level in the evolution of videogames. Not just a simple "product," No More Heroes is a statement.

According to ESRB, this game contains: Blood and Gore, Crude Humor, Intense Violence, Sexual Themes, and Strong Language

Game Description: You are Travis Touchdown, a normal guy (with an otaku geek streak) who wins a Beam Katana 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 mysterious French woman who claims to be an agent with the UAA. Silvia gives Travis official rank of 11 in the organization. Now, it's up to you to become #1. No More Heroes takes place in the city of Santa Destroy, and you are free to explore the town to your liking, taking on missions large and small to collect money and purchase new weapons as you work up towards the 10 main killing contracts. Gameplay is all about using your Beam Katana (via Wii remote) to defeat enemies.

The cel-shaded look and trance-like audio form a strikingly edgy and elegant whole. Jason's description perfectly captures the bold minimalism that permeates the game, from the chapter start screens that require the player to guide a laser sight over a black silhouette of the level's antagonist and blast it into a spatter of red dots, to the "game over" screens that consist of stark renderings of the characters' agonized faces that would look right at home in a contemporary art gallery.

There is one thing that all would likely agree on: Capcom has produced a game that may seem like a throwback to halcyon days of yore, when adventurers pointed and clicked their way to the end of a game, but it drips modern style and gun action along with rivers of blood.

According to ESRB, this game contains: Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Sexual Themes, Strong Language