Taken from Mats Blog:

Boz posted his review of Ubisoft’s No More Heroes yesterday, so if you’ve been following the game, I highly recommend reading it. While many IGN readers seem to think the final score of 7.8 was fair, many suggested that our review system is broken or that we are somehow conspiring against adult-targeted software on Wii. Ludicrous assertions, mind you, but they are telling of a disturbing hive mentality that exists on the underbelly of message boards today — one whose collective mindset is made up on videogames well before they ever hit store shelves.

Before I even get to that, let’s dissect the review score, since some readers would prefer to do anything but read all that text above the numbers. Boz gave No More Heroes a 7.8, which is good, but just shy of great. IGN’s own ratings descriptions define games in the high 7s as having “first rate elements,” but also notable flaws. Having sunk hours upon hours into No More Heroes, I can’t think of a better way to describe the experience within. Here you have an action effort that spills with style and features some very bold, gorgeous cinemas. You’ve got some truly witty character dialog, an interesting (although decidedly straightforward) storyline (especially when compared to Killer 7), and some surprisingly adept fighting mechanics. It all works very well, even if the swordplay does become a little redundant 500-plus kills in. The main problem is that there’s a crummy overworld tying everything together. It’s big, ugly, clumsy, buggy, and at times downright pointless. And there’s no escaping it.

The overworld is unfortunately a central component to No More Heroes and I can tell you, had it been as polished as the rest of the game, or removed altogether, I would have happily scored No More Heroes higher. Had I reviewed it, that is.

Which leads me back to the disturbing hive mentality. Some message board posters have all but said that it is our duty to review games like No More Heroes well because these types of games need to sell on Wii. An absurd thought — it is absolutely not our duty to do anything of the sort, and the day we subscribe to this mentality, well, you may as well just stop reading because we’ll be doing nobody any good. I want No More Heroes to sell well. I’d be thrilled if it sold a million copies (although, I live in reality and realize this will never happen). But it’s not our job to sell the game.

I’ve seen some remarkably high scores for No More Heroes and I have to say that I completely agree with Bozon’s review of the game. It’s a title I want to love just because it’s so novel and so effortlessly cool, and yet that doesn’t mean I can gloss over its deficiencies, some rather large. It’s unfortunate that as I browse our own boards, I’ve had to read personal attacks against Boz because of his opinion. To those people, I have two thoughts. One, if you haven’t played the game yet, why don’t you just shut the hell up? Your pre-conceived opinion of the game is meaningless. At least play the damned thing before you start complaining. And two, after No More Heroes’ admittedly stylish and fun concept wears thin, whenever that may be, I’ll be willing to bet that our score stands the test of time.

Good game. A showpiece, as I’ve said before, to all your friends that unfairly think Wii is just for kids. A showpiece for very effective fight mechanics controlled by the Wii remote and nunchuk. And a stylistic showpiece too. For all of these reasons, I would not be without No More Heroes in my collection. But even as I write this, I cannot deny that it is a sometimes flawed game powered by a 3D engine that is unable to fully support Suda 51’s vision.