"I feel as if I'm looking at my future self. Mega bucks, big-ass house, fast cars, dining in style with a world class chef and a trusted nutritionist counting every calorie!" Travis Touchdown's manic inner monologue races through his head as he battles rival assassin Death Metal.
The plot to No More Heroes is intentionally simple. Travis Touchdown is a broke otaku who manages to purchase a beam katana (with a very unorthodox recharge mechanic) on some internet auction site. Naturally he decides to become an assassin and enters a series of ranked matches for depraved killers, sponsored by the United Assassins Association. Starting at number 11, Travis wants to kill his way to number 1. Oh--also if he succeeds to make it to first place, Sylvia Christel, a representative of the UAA, promises to sleep with him...probably...maybe--you know there's a crude name for the kind of person Sylvia is.
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| And I only have to kill 10 people for her? Worth it! |
In his battle with assassin #10, Travis sees the man he wants to be. The tattooed Death Metal has got the mansion, the women, the money--he even has a bigger beam sword than Travis's.
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Sometimes a beam sword is just a beam sword...but not in Travis's case.
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The moment Travis approaches Death Metal in his sweet villa, the seasoned killer gives him a warning. While the younger one looks about his surroundings and believes this beach side home must be paradise, Death Metal corrects him, "This is no paradise," it's actually, "a place to die."
After a well fought duel, Travis manages to lop off Heavy Metal's arms and just before decapitating him shouts "Here's your ticket to paradise old man!"
#9 on this hit list is a gun tottin' corrupt detective (who has a striking resemblance to Charles Bronson) named Dr. Peace.
Peace starts an unexpected conversation with Travis about a meal he had last night at a fancy
restaurant--you know one of those kinds that are really hard to get into. Dr. Peace explains,
"What's important is not the fact the reservations are hard to get, in fact no one gets reservations. The words reservations only apply only to those outside the circle--it's getting into that circle that matters."
And there's the important line to remember for later "it's getting into that circle that matters." After a bloody battle in a baseball stadium of blade vs. bullets, Travis manages to finish off Dr. Peace by slashing open his abdomen. Taunting his dying opponent he says "It's open mic night in hell old man, sing all you want down there." For the record that's one assassin he sends to paradise, and another he's sending to hell. Little does our hero know, the path he's on will lead him to a place that is neither Heaven nor Hell.
Through his matches we learn a little bit about Travis. Though he may be callow and stupid, he does have his own honor code. He has a tendency to spare his female combatants--a problem considering 5 out of 10 of his opponents are women. He spares the young girl Shinobu (#8) claiming it's due to her inexperience--though later we'll learn better.
#7 is a hilarious (and pathetic) deconstruction of the superhero concept named Destroyman. His dual identity, mild mannered mailman one moment--psychotic superhero the next, appears to be a mockery of what video gamers themselves experience. As gamers we're always taking on personas of heroes and badassess who live lives we can only dream of.
During the fight Destroyman's tough guy persona is soon seen to be a facade, he's just as wimpy as he was in his mail carrier uniform as he begs for mercy. It's all too appropriate symbolism when Travis bisects the coward with his beam katana.
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| Just look at that uniform--he got what he deserved |
During his match with #6, Holly Summers an interesting line of dialogue occurs between the lead and the female assassin he's fighting.
Holly Summers: Death is the only truth. You are still a mere bud.
Travis Touchdown: That's not a good thing you know, seeking meaning in everything, especially killing. That's a bad habit among smart little girls these days.
Feels like a direct challenge to the player's sensibilities doesn't it? Is the game's creator, Suda 51, questioning our values when it comes to media consumption?
For the most part Travis makes his way through the ranked assassins without a hitch until he gets to #5, Letz Shake and his giant robot which resembles a large...well you can figure it out I'm sure. Before the otaku can even take a swing at the robot and its master, a man comes flying down from the sky with his own beam sword and slices Letz Shake and his phallic machine in half.
The intruder goes by Henry and he is every gamer's worst nightmare. By slicing Travis's target in half he has castrated him. Worse yet, before Touchdown gets to counter with an attack, Henry has vanished--but don't worry he'll be back.
to be continued...
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