European No More Heroes removes bloody gameplay

by Griffin McElroy { Dec 8th 2007 at 1:00PM }

Director Suda 51 established one cold hard fact with his 2005 sleeper hit, Killer 7: every living person is composed of chunks of blood that explode jubilantly, like a blood piñata, when that person is killed. Though it contradicts the professional opinions of most anatomists, we are stringent supporters of the bloodsplosion ideology -- which is why we were so disturbed by recent gameplay footage for the European version of Suda's No More Heroes.

Click the jump and watch as the game discards the stylish, bloody effects of Killer 7, replacing them with ... what are those? Coins? Vanilla Wafers? Whatever they are, they definitely aren't blood. We know blood when we see it -- because when we see it, we shout "yeah" and give each other high-fives.

Tags: Capcom, Killer-7, Killer7, No More Heroes, No-More-Heroes, NoMoreHeroes, Suda51

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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)

toLkKi @ Dec 8th 2007 1:03PM

*facepalm*

Jonathan @ Dec 8th 2007 1:05PM

I don't mind it. Blood doesn't make gameplay.

They just better have a way of explaining why everyone is made of potato chips in the story.

losttoys @ Dec 8th 2007 3:35PM

Well, you should mind. The whole art direction Suda 51 was going off of was Kill Bill. Now they have to remove the driving force behind the entire game.

Takashii Ruku @ Dec 8th 2007 8:33PM

Blood is Suda51's gameplay element. Look at the art for all of the games, it's blood red, a continual vision and look. Probably moreso for killer 7 than No more Heroes, but if you play Michigan, the same is there. I think what makes it infuriating, is that in England, anything that is distinctively English (i.e. Hot Fuzz) will get away with gratuitous violence, because we consider it delightful. And the thing is where will they stop? If you ban or mark two games in one year because of the use of blood, it really will be gone altogether in games, and there's really no need. What also made me cry myself to sleep again is that neither Manhunt 2 or No More Heroes are photorealistic and are already purposely exxagerated to emphasize it's lack of reality.

BPM - The Revenge @ Dec 9th 2007 11:55AM

Takashii:

Hot Fuzz is a movie. Thus, it's okay for everyone.

No More Heroes and Manhunt 2 are video games. Which are bad for everyone. Which is why the have to be censored.

That's just how society is... right now. Video games are just the media's current scapegoat for all of society's woes. Just like rock and roll before it.

theCardinal @ Dec 8th 2007 1:07PM

BAAAAWWWWWW

But I love blood.

Kassu @ Dec 8th 2007 1:09PM

I couldnt care less about the actual lack of blood.
But what does bring my piss to a boil is the fact that Europe will get a buttfucked version of a game again.

Jonathan @ Dec 8th 2007 1:16PM

if blood is so insignificant that you couldn't care less, then why do you see the European version is inferrior?

I'm sure some kids in Europe will be happy now that their parents will buy them a game they wouldn't have been allowed to own before because of the "Blood" label on the back.

Kassu @ Dec 8th 2007 1:23PM

My point was - Why the F**K is it nessecary to, in any way, change the PAL verision of a game. It's just like thinking that the Wii is for casuals and therefore just must dumb a game down to make it better suit the market.

Is it really so hard to just give us a game, the same damn game that everyone else is getting.

I'm so sick of PAL'lies getting screwed over and over again. And I still don't have a damn copy of Corruption, because i live in the middle of nowhere, at the far eastern side of Europe.

vidGuy @ Dec 8th 2007 1:38PM

Um, order online?

Kassu @ Dec 8th 2007 1:40PM

No credit card and i can't make one and no store will freaking order it because they "their supplier isn't offering that particular game".

Jerk Face @ Dec 8th 2007 1:41PM

Move?

(That was a joke.)

Joshua @ Dec 8th 2007 1:43PM

Dumbasses. Editing f***ing pisses me off, ESPECIALLY when it's only for one region. Like, WTF makes something appropriate somewhere else but not here?

They want this game to sell in Europe? If they don't put the blood back in, I hope it fails in the market.

mr nimblewick (SegaDF - Jogurt Ring) @ Dec 8th 2007 1:52PM

Maybe it's a reaction to the bans on manhunt 2?

Joshua @ Dec 8th 2007 1:59PM

Of course it is, but that doesn't excuse BS like this.

F***ing censorship.

Mr Khan @ Dec 8th 2007 2:30PM

@ PAL Commenters

It isn't just you, the Japanese get the coin-blood version too, only North America gets the Ninja Gaiden 2-esque spray

BPM - The Revenge @ Dec 8th 2007 2:35PM

As I stated below, this is identical to how the Japanese version is. No blood, just coins.

Dracard @ Dec 8th 2007 3:46PM

It isn't always the most censored version in the PAL regions; Fahrenheit/Indigo Prophecy comes to mind when I say this. It's just unfortunate that this is the only example I can think of.

America thinks sex is icky and Japan and Europe think violence is icky. That's how they roll :\

Oliver @ Dec 8th 2007 4:10PM

maybe you people should stop letting retarded people run your nations
not that america is any better off

TomCo @ Dec 9th 2007 8:47AM

You first.

ssuk @ Dec 9th 2007 9:12AM

I wouldn't be surprised if the US version gets this same censorship as well. ESRB are right pushy fuckers and they've been trying to control blood and gore in video games FAR more than PEGI and independent rating bodies such as the British Board of Film Classification (BBFC). Those most the BBFC have tried to do that was banning Manhunt 2.
Usually, PAL regions just get what the US version is but translated, and tweaked to be 50Hz friendly. So, expect the US No More Heroes to be JUST like that video. So I wouldn't be celebrating your 1UP-ery of the PAL market yet, America. =)

BPM - The Revenge @ Dec 9th 2007 11:59AM

ssuk:
Even after Manhunt 2 was censored, it was still banned by the BBFC, but not by ESRB.

Gambit @ Dec 8th 2007 1:13PM

Imagine that, Europe's getting the shaft again. :/

pleonexia @ Dec 11th 2007 10:24AM

This makes me sad.
I really wanted this game, now I'm not so sure.

Negativecool @ Dec 8th 2007 1:22PM

Boo! I want to see spilling hemoglobin.

reppy @ Dec 8th 2007 1:23PM

It wouldn't be a problem if this was how the game was INTENDED to be.

vidGuy @ Dec 8th 2007 1:24PM

Judging by the sound effects, those are coins. If Goombas and turtles can be made of coins, why can't Henchmen?

Myke @ Dec 8th 2007 1:26PM

I don't know if I care about the blood factor but what the hell is with them baby-stepping you through every f*cking motion gesture, I hope there's an option to freeball it because that would annoy the piss out of me.

Edgey @ Dec 8th 2007 1:29PM

http://www.petitiononline.com/nmh3r03s/petition.html

Tristan @ Dec 8th 2007 1:30PM

The last sentence of this post is golden!

ALH @ Dec 8th 2007 1:30PM

to everyone complaining- its pretty obvious the reason they did this is because of the manhunt2 debacle. Using the wiimote to graphically kill someone with blood= bad. using it to kill people who explode into coins= harmless.

So long as we dont have to wait forever to get this i dont mind the loss of blood, though has anyone stopped to think mabes this is a specific level quirk? like 'kill the coin men' or something?

gonk @ Dec 8th 2007 1:33PM

damn, people are filled with coins now? i'm gonna roam the streets of london chopping people's heads off with a chainsaw and i'll be rich! RICH I TELL YOU! MUWAHAHAHAHA

Etheo @ Dec 8th 2007 2:05PM

Harmless eh? Just wait for the headline "Kid brutally murders 30 in school, claiming that he was looking for coins explosion."

Greg2k @ Dec 8th 2007 2:39PM

gonk: "damn, people are filled with coins now?"

Eric Cartman

BPM - The Revenge @ Dec 8th 2007 1:41PM

It's coins, just like the Japanese version.

Looks like only the American version will have blood now.

Personally? I kinda like the coins. It's pretty unique for a game of this type. Plus, it seems kind appropriate to go along with the retro, 8-bit looking interface.

Joshua @ Dec 8th 2007 1:51PM

As far as I can tell, all versions have coins, but only the American (the Japanese version is edited??) has blood, in addition to coins..

BPM - The Revenge @ Dec 8th 2007 2:02PM

Yes, the Japanese version has no blood, either.

samfish @ Dec 9th 2007 12:38AM

I like it better with the coins, kinda. I hope the American version has the option to enable that instead.

With blood, I always feel like it's hard to use it as anything other than as a sort of cheap shock value...but it's hard not to make it feel cheap or old by the time you finish the game.

SeasideBaz @ Dec 8th 2007 1:44PM

reminds me of turok in germany, where the government said that you can't kill humans in a game and so they were all replaced with robots. this is probably the same thing happening again, and i don't see whats wrong with just censoring the german version. why should the rest of europe suffer? it's like the whole ff7 jp-us censorship thing. "oooh we can't show a polygonal person and insinuate that they are having a wee IN PUBLIC!!!!1111!"

Shmil @ Dec 8th 2007 1:44PM

no blood for Europe? what a pain

h2c @ Dec 8th 2007 1:46PM

Super Nintendo.

Mortal Kombat.

Sweat.

Bad idea then, bad idea now.

AirIntake @ Dec 8th 2007 1:52PM

No shit. Anybody defending this move should shake their head. I thought we got past this in 1993.

WiNG @ Dec 8th 2007 4:49PM

I'll always remember the Genesis MK2 blood code

A-B-A-C-A-B-B

Haha screw SNES

ThePassenger @ Dec 8th 2007 1:49PM

So, I am actually the only one who prefers it this way? Not because I am disturbed or offended by the sight of blood, but simply because it's a bit more original and in a way it contributes to the OTT style of the game.

Also, the aim the game is to kill people to get enough money to buy a video game. So that people should bleed pixels is in a way appropriate.