Starting the game up and playing the opening moments is very similar to the original: you still start out in Travis's hotel room and end up in the tutorial first level in short time after some motorcycle theatrics. However, the graphics themselves have been scrubbed up significantly. The colours seem to have an added vibrancy about them and there are far less instances of jagged edges and screen tearing. The graphical stylings of the original were pleasing in their own right, but they're definitely improved in this version, while still retaining the cell-shaded feel. In particular, the cutscenes really deserve special mention for their clarity and smoothness.
One thing that hasn't changed from the original is the basic controller set-up. Heroes' Paradise comes with the full support of the PlayStation Move controller system, rather than taking to the usual control pad set-up. Moving Travis around is assigned to the analog stick on the Navigation controller, while the physical attacks and beam katana strikes are mapped to the trigger and Move buttons respectively. Finishing off enemies also involves the swinging of the Move controller according to the prompts onscreen, and recharging your beam katana is still assigned to the same suggestive motion as before. However, there is one area in which the original and Heroes' Paradise vary when it comes to controls - the implementation of Travis' special slot machine moves. Rather than being an automatic process, Heroes' Paradise allows players to store a number of special attacks to be used at a later point. In a lot of ways this is a welcome change, as you can pick the time to unleash it rather than having been forced to use it and waste it, when there could be as little as a single enemy in the room.
Much harder than it looks...
Other tweaks are smaller and to do with presentation, but they are nonetheless appreciated. Whenever you pull off one of Travis' wresting moves against an opponent, the actual name of the move will flash up on the screen. Now, many of us here at PALGN are familiar with the names of wrestling moves given past experiences in the world of sport-entertainment video games, but it's good to see that those who are unaware will be able to learn just exactly what brainbusters, fisherman suplexes and powerbombs are when they see them being performed.
Another tweak that was not present in the Wii PAL version of No More Heroes is blood. In this game, there is blood. Lots of it. Big, streaming torrents of blood. Pooling blood. Explosive blood. So much blood that it's a wonder that Dracula from the Castlevania series doesn't follow you around to take advantage of the situation. The manner in which it's displayed is so over the top that it comes across more as being played for laughs rather than an act of extremely brutal violence. However, it should be noted that the people at Mindscape told us that it may have to be changed to a different colour to comply with classification standards, so it remains to be seen whether or not copious amounts of the red stuff shall make it into the final game.
Poor redhead, never stood a chance...
The final new touch that we could spot in our playthrough was to be found at Travis' place. As usual, you're able to view collected masks, switch between swords and save while using the men's room, but there is now also an new feature. When sitting in the lounge room, you are able to play back the cutscenes that you have already previously viewed. Even though it's something of a standard feature for a lot of games, it's a welcome addition to Heroes' Paradise as the cutscenes are worth watching again for their impressive artistry and excellent scripting and direction.
No More Heroes: Heroes' Paradise doesn't turn the original on its head and plays very similar, but that's not a bad thing. For the PS3 user who is yet to experience the thrills and spills of Travis Touchdown's quest to become the number one assassin in Santa Destroy, this is so far shaping up to be a wise purchase.
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