By Billy O'Keefe
McClatchy-Tribune

For: Nintendo Wii

From: Grasshopper Manufacture Studio/Ubisoft

ESRB Rating: Mature (blood and gore, crude humor, intense violence, sexual themes, strong language)

MCT/Courtesy

"Somewhat" is, in this case, the operative word. "Heroes" is the spiritual successor (though in no way sequel) to "Killer 7," and if you remember how bizarre that game was on the Gamecube, you have a vague understanding of what lies ahead here: a ton of weird ideas thrown at you, with some sticking and some falling completely flat.

Overwhelmingly, that flatness comes in the form of one of the worst examples of open-world game design in recent memory.

"Heroes" stars you as a beam katana-wielding average Joe who decides to take out the world's top assassins to impress a girl. Between assassinations, though, you're free to go about your normal life _ doing odd jobs and taking your motorcycle out for a ride around town.

Problem is, Santa Destroy is so unbelievably barren that it's hard to imagine why the developers gave you this freedom at all. The bike is fun to ride for a while, but beyond advancing to the next assassination, there's little reason to do so. The ambition is admirable, but "Heroes" would have been better off scrapping this interruption, throwing pretense to the wind and just letting us jump from one fight right into the next.

This, after all, is where "Heroes" absolutely cooks, lobbing wave after wave of swordfights and street brawls that are at once incredibly gory and bombastically cartoony. The Wiimote is used perfectly _ regular buttons for regular attacks, hard swipes and other gestures for finishing moves and special attacks _ and there's a satisfying sensation that comes with wiping out an army of faceless thugs before meticulously picking apart the top dog. "Heroes" is challenging but not unfairly so, breakneck without ever being overwhelming.

It's also so narratively over the top as to smack of intentional self-parody. Grasshopper throws up a mess of original storytelling, graphical and interface design ideas, and your mileage will certainly vary as to what hits and misses.

Frankly, it's just nice to see someone taking those kind of chances at all on the Wii. Even when it utterly fails, "Heroes" almost always leaves you with something to talk about, and that's an ingredient precious few games in this library can claim to have.