Some new details on “No More Heroes 2” have emerged from the latest issue of Edge magazine and like all the other reports on NMH2 have been this one is filled with more goodness.
Since the report in June that NMH2 would feature 50 boss battles, 5 times the amount in the original, there have been some worries that this would perhaps be overkill and may dilute the overall game. Thankfully creator Suda 51 assures everyone that we have nothing to worry as the original NMH1 development team has been working with the NMH2 dev team to ensure that the bosses are unique and don’t repeat what we saw in the first game. The addition of Shinobu and Sir Henry as playable characters is another way the dev team is trying to keep things fresh. Suda also mentions that we will indeed have scenarios where we’ll face two bosses at once or fight one after another. I personally can’t wait to see this in action as I have a feeling it could really elevate the game and help it gain some much needed attention.
Suda goes on to say that reaching the bosses themselves won’t be that difficult or time consuming in terms of collecting the required amount of money needed to face the boss. If you’re unfamiliar with the first game it was required for the player to do various jobs to get the entry fee needed to fight the boss. Hearing that it won’t take long to get the entrance fee money is good since it could’ve dragged the game down having to do boring tasks for all those bosses you’ll face in the game.
The side jobs that Travis can do to get entrance fee money are of course returning and there’s a new side job being added: plumbing. Yup, Travis will be able to channel his inner Mario as he can now get money by plumbing along the standard coconut collecting that was in the first game. Amongst some fans the side jobs were a bit lame but Suda tells Edge that he wants the player to work to play the game so they can truly feel like the punk Travis is.
One thing that greatly annoyed fans of NMH1 was the design of the city Santa Destroy. At times it was almost a chore to navigate the barren city due to the controls of Travis’ motorcycle. But in NMH2 players will only traverse around half of the original Santa Destroy while the rest of the city will be brand new. The city will also be given some life as cars will now occupy the streets and will move out of the way when you’re blazing down the road in your fast bike. Some of the new locales we can expect to battle on include a construction yard, a new school and a graveyard. The last location is quite fitting since Suda confirmed that Destroyman, who was a boss in the last game, is back and is now a cyborg that is looking for revenge against Travis. I wonder if we can expect to see any other presumed dead bosses make a return in the game.
One the story side of things Suda said that it’s been three years since the events of No More Heroes 2 and as we knew already the city of Santa Destroy has prospered due to Corporations. But in that time of growth for Santa Destroy Travis Touchdown actually left the city and Suda refuses to divulge where he went. For some reason I have a feeling we’ll find out what Travis was up to in a possible side story.
The main theme of No More Heroes 2 seems to be revenge with assassins wanting revenge against Travis and most importantly Travis is looking for revenge against what was done to his friend Bishop. Now in the last trailer for the game things weren’t looking good for Bishop as he was surrounded by several men pointing guns at him but Suda revealed that Bishop may not actually die and will instead have a bigger role in the story. Suda also told Edge that Travis is fighting for himself in the game so perhaps he’s fighting for a more personal reason that we expected.
Rounding things out Suda revealed that the name of the schoolgirl who wields a Darth Maul style beam katana is Kimmy. According to Suda, Kimmy wishes to keep Travis all to herself so perhaps she’s a stalker of some sort or maybe an enemy in disguise. During development there was also some talk of perhaps having Travis use projectile weapons but ultimately this was dropped in favor of only having Travis wield beam katanas as Suda describes Travis as a modern day samurai. I guess Travis is modern day samurai, albeit one that likes to watch porn and anime when he isn’t playing with his kitten.
So far No More Heroes 2 hasn’t failed to impress and is easily on pace to eclipse the original. It’s just a shame we’ll have to wait till early 2010 to play this amazing goodness that No More Heroes 2 has in store for us. And in case you haven't seen it already here's the trailer for No More Heroes 2.
