No More Heroes 2: Desperate Struggle (Wii)
common sense media says
Extreme violence, profanity, and sex make this not for kids.
parents & educators say
- 60% say violence is an issue
- 60% say sexual content is an issue
What parents need to know
Parents need to know that No More Heroes 2: Desperate Struggle is extraordinarily violent and chock full of crass sexual innuendo, making it a game unsuitable for anyone under the age of 18. The sword-based battle sequences are filled with flying heads, lopped off limbs, and buckets of spurting blood. Meanwhile, most narrative scenes are loaded with lewd sexual metaphors and women who have unrealistically large breasts and impractically tiny skirts. The game also glamorizes and sexualizes the act of smoking by displaying tarted-up women inhaling and savoring cigarette smoke in several scenes. Note as well that the spoken dialogue is packed with profanity, including multiple variations of the F-word.
Educational value:
Not applicable.
Positive role models:
Our protagonist is not a nice man. His reason for going into battle has to do with the death of a friend, but he clearly takes pleasure in killing people and often makes jokes while engaged in combat. He also kills innocents. One scene features an enemy who picks up and throws two women at our character, who proceeds to chop them to bits before finally attacking his real enemy.
Ease of play:
Players have the option of playing with either a Wii remote and nunchuk or a Wii classic controller. The former method offers simplistic but intuitive motion sensitive controls while the latter delivers a smart, traditional control set that works well in the fighting sequences and is a great fit for the old-school, 8-bit-style minigames.
Violence:
Extremely graphic swordplay sees limbs severed and gallons of blood spraying across the screen. There seems to be a particular fixation on beheadings, with scenes showing both men’s and women’s heads flying through the air, rolling around on the floor, and, in one case, landing back on a victim’s shoulders, allowing him to speak for a few more seconds before collapsing. The extreme violence is not constant -- there are plenty of little mini-games thrown in to provide breaks from the blood and gore -- but even a few of these feature some level of aggression, such as an angry restaurant patron throwing a fork across the room and hitting a chef in the eye.
Sex:
Though none of the characters actually have sex on screen and players never see anything more than a bare bottom for a couple of seconds, the game is rife with sexual comments, skimpily clad women, and strong innuendo. Expect to see plenty of crotch and chest shots, novelty-sized breasts complete with “boob physics,” mini-games with double entendre names (e.g. “lay the pipe”), and lots of sexual talk filled with words like “porn,” “perv,” and “throbbing.” Even the onscreen icon that shows the power level of our hero’s retractable katana is vaguely penis shaped. Oh, and to recharge the katana players must shake the Wii remote, evoking the movement of masturbation.
Language:
If it's an English word and it can offend, it’s probably here. Examples: “s--t,” “f--k,” “ass,” “mother--ker,” and “f--head.”
Consumerism:
Not applicable.
Drinking, drugs, & smoking:
Several scenes show lit cigarettes and characters sucking in, savoring, and exhaling cigarette smoke.
More on No More Heroes 2: Desperate Struggle
Screenshots
Review It
Based on 5 parent & educator reviews:
- 60% say violence is an issue
- 60% say sexual content is an issue
- 60% say language is an issue
- 60% say there's too much drinking, drugs, or smoking
Most useful reviews by all members
Goodmom7575
parent of and 3 , 6 , 10 , 16 , 17 year old
parent of and 3 , 6 , 10 , 16 , 17 year old
Good game for family game night!
I let my kids see everything in this game. This is a fun game for your kid!!!
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LilSheep78
educator and parent
educator and parent
Awe Inspiring Game
Travis Touchdown is a role model all children should follow. His path for revenge is showered in blood shed, but it could be compared to the travel of Jesus to the holy land. It is obvious that Travis wears red, which is a symbol for blood, and in turn is a symbol of the blood of Christ. He also has a tiger icon and a tiger patterned jacket, which symbolizes the strength of God. All in all, 10 out of 10 for this family friendly masterpiece!!!
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Chris01
parent of 8 year old
parent of 8 year old
e.g. Perfect for those who enjoy perv and dirty humor. Charging a sword resembles masturbation (ha-ha? that's "humor")
I am surprised by the comments that are actually expressed about this game. I am also surprised by Synchronicity's comments. Besides, no one here ever said anything about taking anything serious. People were just commenting on how terrible this game really is. It is more than OBVIOUS that the violence here is not to be taken serious- in this game or ANY piece of media that contains violence. Practically all movies, videogames, shows that appeal the masses are violent. But the violence is besides the point. I do not agree with these young kids' view of "cool".
This game is downright terrible. I purchased it based on popular ( and professional) web sites that review games- such as ign, gamespot- all of which practically praised this game. I went on and purchased it yesterday( March 27, 2010), and at first, yes I thought it was actually OK. But, several hours into the game, I turned it off today and really cannot believe how terrible this game turned out to be( Wow! what a waist of my precious money.) The game's story is practically silly: a plot similar to a movie that came out: millionaires fund an assasins tornament. The (supposed) hero Travis returns to the scene after being the previous champion in the last tornament. But this time, he's in it for revenge.
Anyway, I was up to some boss called: Matt Helms, a spychotic weirdo with a flame-throwing axe. At this point is where I practically pulled the plug.
Let me add that I have 22 games for the wii and I can almost say this is one of my worst purchases. And no I am not saying this because the "immorality" "FREAKED " me out.
Hey, if there is going to be such, at least the game should have enough weight to justify and and make such eperience worthwhile. My wife (27) also played it, and backed out after the first hour and a half. Does not even want to look at it.
The graphics are rather cheap. The game, in an effort to be "funny" takes on some ridiculous scenes. Like your're gonna fight some football player, and he all of a sudden gets into a robot in outer space along with the cheerleaders (literally). He comes back down, Travis gets on his motorcycle, and the motorcycle then gets into a robot that he had custom made from some chick Naomi. Just before this battle, you're fighting against a blackman (ghetto type, complete with boombox and gangsta' clothing), funny that he had to be black. Typical stereotype. Anyway, I am Colombian and my opinion of this game is not based on racial issues. Its the fact that all this boss could do was a cheesy and lame missile throwing from his boombox. ( ha- ha? that's supposed to be funny???) It took me a while to beat this boss, who after sometime in the game activates some motion sensing lasers who will activate machine guns if you cross their paths( and believe me, you will). then sometime later he will do some STUPID thing which will make the floor move all over so you can more easily get lured into the lasers or his heat seeking missiles launched from his boombox. Not to mention the falling chandalier in the center of the room made to fall on you if you pass under it.
This is funny? Some french-accent chick keeps being shown and all you see is her boobs just fittting in her breast and her butt or crotch area. Beating each boss was not satisfying, nor gratifying. It just left a bad after taste in my mouth. A taste of cheap story, cheap graphics and on top of that the CONSTANT cursing, constant hiding from enemies to recharge your stupid blade. You cannot even begin to imagine how ANNOYING that gets. On top of that, the game has you in a CONSTANT WAGGLING of the wii remote that (with no exaggeration) left my arm soar. Because if you do not do it hard enough, the boss ( or enemy) will over power you. To what ever adult is considering buying this game for their console, I highly recommend you RENT it first.
I don't know if you people will believe me, but I will most likely be trashing this ( in the garbage!!) Just as I have with stupid games like this one.
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Synchronicity
teen, 18 years old
teen, 18 years old
Really fun, and none of the offensive content (and there's plenty) is meant to be taken seriously
Yes, the sequel to one of the best Wii games ever made is violent. Yes, there's a lot of pretty suggestive imagery. Yes, there's a lot of bad language. But, none of this should be taken so seriously. My goodness! No More Heroes 2 (and the original game) is a satire of how over the top a gamer's point of view can be. This game picks up right where the first game left off. And here, it's almost all about the action. The worst parts of the first game (the rather restricted open world of Santa Destroy) are mostly gone. And what's left in is awesome. You don't have to do odd jobs to get money to go to your next "mission" (read: killing spree). But if you do do them, they're fun 8-bit games that would be at home in an NES collection. And No More Heroes: Desperate Struggle is one of the Wii titles every hardcore gamer should get (that is, if they're 15 or over). Common Sense's review was rather biased. Yes, this game is gory (and extremely so), but like MadWorld, as well as the first NMH, the violence is so stylized and over-the-top that it's actually funny at times. Think what would happen if Tarantino directed a Bugs Bunny cartoon, and you're not far off. The sexual content isn't meant to be taken seriously, either. Goichi Suda (the creator of NMH) is just trying to satirize the suggestive aspects of anime and other video games. There are clips from an anime show called "Bizarre Jelly" that has a magical girl-type character's clothes suddenly disappearing (all you see is a bare butt, but if you've seen most anime you've seen far worse). The innuendo is strong, and there are some lingering closeups of skimpily dressed women. But it's not as serious as Common Sense says. It's about as bad as most PG-13 rated films and TV-14 rated TV shows/anime. The language, however, is definitely R-rated; F-bombs pop up A LOT. Overall, although No More Heroes 2 has a lot of offensive content, it's a fun and funny satire of the excesses of video games and anime, as well as the fans who watch and play them. As such, it's not for the Wii Fit crowd. If you're a hardcore gamer that's over 15, this is a must-buy.
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mom2josh
parent of 9 year old
parent of 9 year old
Might be ok if you turn the volumn off.
My son played this game and the first game. He played this game with the volume turned off.
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Crimsongamer
teen, 17 years old
teen, 17 years old
Downright illegal, both in content and fun..
Ugh.. I'm close to burning this game and laughing at it burn. Alright, let's be honest. The first one was decent. I didn't love it, and the humor wasn't really high. It had some boring gameplay moments and lackluster story.
This isn't the game that you'd want to get your kids. Come to think of it, it's not the game for you or your kids. It's downright
crappy and easily profane.
Violence is everywhere. When you kill enemies, what doesn't
happen? Loss of lungs, an extraordinary amount of blood, loss
of body parts, decapitations, screams of pain, the list can go on. It's very graphic and not fun at all. Role models are just
terrible. Travis Touchdown should of been kept as he was in
the first game. He was actually a funny character and was
very likable. Now, he's just crappy. He makes Dora the Explorer look like an endearing character. Dead serious..
Language offends, and it comes with an overwhelming amount
of mature sexual content. Whenever a character talks, they're
either talking about something idiotic and something sexual,
that can offend. Jokes about sex, crotches, breasts, rape,
sexual intercourse, testicles, butts, and strippers.
Intercourse jokes? Why? Anyways.. if you thought that was
bad, it doesn't end. There's an incredible amount of adult themes, period. The story, jokes, and violence all relate to
the same thing. Rape, Murder, Beatings, Sex, Gore, etc.
The list will go on for months.
It's terrible to play. Oh, and there's one more thing I haven't
mentioned yet. Language. If you've played this game, you'll
know what I'm talking about. It almost can offend as much
as Conker's Bad Fur Day did.
Examples include "F**k", "S**t", "A**", "D*mn", "B**ch", "Motherf**ker", "D**kf**ker", "Vaginaf**ker", the list
can go on.
This game can only take so much of a beating. I can't suggest
you buying this game for you or your kids if you like action
games. Come to think of it, It's not for you even if you don't.
Instead, bolt bullets through your Nintendo Wii's core system,
throw it out the window, give it a hardcore beating (slam it
on the wall, stomp on it, etc.), pour gasoline on it, and then
get out a butane lighter, and you know the rest.
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adblaka
teen, 14 years old
teen, 14 years old
A VERY WIERD GAME
This game is fricken insane
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Mannamedbob
parent of 11 year old
parent of 11 year old
Bad game for tweens and teens.
In 2008 the Wii was voted the most family friendly gameing system. Not with games like this.
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majema007
teen, 15 years old
teen, 15 years old
Oh my, a good, exclusive, rated M third party game for the Wii?
To any parent who thinks "this game is just awful since its too violent!" Grow up and enjoy this great sequel, yes its not meant for kids but isn't it obivious that its rated M for Mature 17? Most third party games for the wii are either boring, shallow, or broken mini game collections you parents seem to buy for your kids. Either way No More Heroes Desperate Struggle is the sequel to No More Heroes which was also a great game. The game still has the violent gameplay where you slash your enemies with a beam katana until the game it prompts you to finish them off and it is still just as satisfying. The story is you set out to kill JR.Batt who killed your best friend yet you need to be #2 assassin to fight him. The game still lets you purchase new clothes, do side missions which are now played in a 8 bit style like NES games, buy new beam katanas, and you even get to help your cat lose weight which is cute. The controls are solid though the camera can be annoying at times especially at small areas. Overall, plenty of content to enjoy here folks and as long as you're not easily offended, its a strange but great game.
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