Video games: Killer games go beyond gore

LOU KESTEN, Associated Press

★★★ 1/2 out of four stars

Developer: Ubisoft. • System: Wii. •

Price: $50. • Rating: Mature; blood and gore, crude humor, intense violence, sexual themes, strong language.

The previous console game written by Goichi Suda -- aka Suda 51 -- was 2005's "Killer 7," the spectacularly weird tale of an assassin with multiple personality disorder. "No More Heroes" isn't quite as bizarre.

The antihero, Travis Touchdown, is a young hit man with an itch to make a name for himself. The only way to advance is by killing everyone ranked above him.

You wield Travis' "beam katana" by pressing the Wii Remote's A button; finishing blows are accomplished by swinging the remote and nunchaku to match on-screen prompts. The mix of button-mashing and physical exertion creates an unusually visceral experience.

Developer: Capcom. • Systems: Xbox 360, PS3. • Price: $60. • Rating: Mature; blood, language, sexual themes, violence.

You wouldn't expect much originality out of a game with a "4" in its title, but this one does throw a few curve balls at fans.

New leading man Nero flashes some familiar weapons -- a big gun and a bigger sword -- but he also sports a glowing right arm that he can use to rip apart monsters or zip across the landscape. As the game progresses, the weapons become more powerful and his moves become more varied.

None of this is particularly fresh, and the level designs are obvious and repetitious. But the game looks spectacular, and working Nero into a demon-slaughtering frenzy can be highly entertaining.

★★ out of four stars

If you enjoyed the free-roaming acrobatics of last year's "Assassin's Creed," you might be skeptical about the ability to pull off something similar in a DS game. And you'd be right.

The hero of the prequel "Altair's Chronicles" is a slug compared with the grown-up Altair of the original. "Chronicles" is a much less ambitious hack-and-slash affair. For the most part you travel on a linear path, slicing up anyone who gets in your way, as you search for a legendary artifact. There are occasional interludes where Altair might need to pick a pocket or interrogate a villain, but there's little need to be stealthy.