No More Heroes 2: Desperate Struggle box art.
The original No More Heroes on the Nintendo Wii features over-the-top violence and sexual innuendo jokes. The upcoming sequel is no different.
The ESRB listing update revealed that No More Heroes 2: Desperate Struggle will get an expected M (Mature) rating when it comes out early next year. The game got flagged for blood and gore, intense violence, partial nudity, sexual themes and strong language. Here is the full summary of why No More Heroes 2: Desperate Struggle deserves an M rating (beware of possible spoilers):
Players assume the role of Travis, an anime-watching assassin who fights his way through the ranks to become the number-one assassin. Being an assassin means using a retractable katana blade (i.e., a laser sword); it means slicing, chopping, and dismembering human enemies to death in this highly-stylized (somewhat "cartoony"), cell-shaded action game. The depictions of violence in the game are intense, yet somewhat exaggerated: men in black suits are sliced in-half as blood and money flow from their bodies; an assassin with a boombox does not recover after his lower torso has been chopped off—after blood shoots from his empty waist like a geyser; and two women (clad in bikinis) get suspended in mid-air, get caught between the flashing lights, lasers, and frenetic sword swipes of an assassins' duel—the women's heads slide across the floor once the men stop fighting. Cutscenes depict more dismemberment: assassins slicing each other into several pieces in slow-motion, enemies pulling their own heads off, characters displaying trophy-heads on silver platters. These over-the-top depictions of violence account for the Mature rating; they also account for the Intense Violence andBlood and Gore descriptors. The language is strong, too, as characters sometimes use the phrases "f**king a*shole," "f**khead," and "You gotta be sh**tin' me!"
The game contains sexual overtones and partial nudity. Players can watch portions of an anime show called Bizarre Jelly; the opening credits depict a female character whose clothes suddenly disappear, revealing her bare buttocks (one-to-two seconds). Game dialogue contains sexual references, including the phrases "dirty nympho," "the one that's throbbing," and "I feel like that pervy teacher in a porn." Female assassins are depicted in low-cut tops, thongs, short schoolgirl uniforms, and fishnet bondage-style outfits; breasts and buttocks jiggle, and the camera often lingers (there is no equivalent physics applied to male body parts). A couple of cutscenes contain strong sexual innuendo: when characters enter a store, a surprised clerk struggles with his belt buckle and zips up his pants (e.g., "I was just. Uh, doing inventory."); a woman moves a katana blade in front of a man's groin, kneels down, and kisses it (the blade), causing the retractable laser to extend. The battery meter for Travis's sword is always represented by a cartoon-like penis icon in the upper-right corner of the screen: as battery power runs out, the icon starts to shrink—a sad face appears.
No More Heroes 2: Desperate Struggle will be released for the Nintendo Wii on January 27th.
Source: No More Heroes 2: Desperate Struggle Rating Information
Comments
THAT is perhaps the greatest description of a video game I have ever READ. Do they give out Pulitzers for game summaries?
"as battery power runs out, the icon starts to shrink—a sad face appears."
Every woman's complaint, I think. What I like about the description is that it doesn't sound "preachy" or moralizing. Here is the "f*ck", here is the decapitation, and here is the penis battery. Do with it, what you will.
GOTY
My sides are splitting from the matter-of-fact walter cronkite-esque delivery of the summary. It's eerily clinical, which makes it painfully hilarious. David Letterman would have a field day with this description!
it's robot-dry, that's what makes it funny. dead pan perfected.
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