No More Heroes 2: Desperate Struggle

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.

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.

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.”

Several scenes show lit cigarettes and characters sucking in, savoring, and exhaling cigarette smoke.

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.