Last updated: 10/23/2006 by Karl Castaneda

Game Informer Online's Billy Berghammer recently sat down with Grasshopper Manufacture's Goichi Suda (known to fans as SUDA 51) for an interview about the studio's upcoming Wii game, Heroes. While it may look like Killer7 2.0, Suda wants us all to know that he's shooting for a very different experience.

Apparently the game's been in development conceptually since before the controller was even revealed back in September of 2005. Suda and his team were in talks with Marvelous about publishing the title, and the CEO of that company, with early knowledge of the remote, insisted that the game be developed on Wii. Once that information became public, the folks at Grasshopper Manufacture understood why, and quickly went to work.

Those who fell in love with Killer7's mature story will probably be disappointed to know that plot will likely take a backseat with Heroes. Suda described it as having "a small storyline." What we know so far is that Travis Touchdown, ranked as the 10th best assassin the world, is trying to become the top dog, and to do that, he'll need to take out every hitman ranked higher than him. At his disposal will be a sole weapon: the Beam Katana.

Considering its appearance, it's not difficult to see why Marvelous's CEO was so adamant about getting Heroes on Wii - its sword-centric combat is perfect for the remote, and Suda plans on taking advantage of that. Similarly to Red Steel, remote gestures will be used to act out sword moves (exactly how was not elaborated upon), while the nunchuck's analog stick will control movement.

Another big change from Killer7 (which offered on-rails travel and levels) is that a hub, a city aptly named Santa Destroy, will always be open to the player between boss fights with other assassins and smaller enemies. Full-on exploration was completely eschewed in Suda's last effort, so it should be a nice change of pace.

While Heroes may look visually similar to its predecessor, it's important to note that the team is striving for something different. Suda describes it as "More of an illustration instead of like a photograph. This will be a new art style."

Unfortunately, Grasshopper hasn't found a US publisher yet, but insists that the game should be playable at GDC or E3. Grasshopper aims to ship Heroes before the end of 2007. Until then, we'll just have to keep our fingers crossed that someone picks it up for localization.