A few weeks ago, spurred by news of an online sale and against good common sense, I picked up Killer is Dead, the latest foray from Suda 51 into the world of modern console gaming. I have been a huge fan of Suda 51 for a long time, although I've had the creeping feeling that since the release of the second No More Heroes, he's been a bit lost. I enjoyed a lot of the bombast of Shadows of the Damned, and it and Lollipop Chainsaw were easily the two most bug-free games to ever come out of Grasshopper Manufacture, but at the same time, they felt (and this is not the word I want to use, but the only word that can articulate what I'm trying to say) surprisingly mainstream.

Now look, I'm not here to talk shit about mainstream games. I quite like a lot of mainstream games, but given Suda's past output, one can be forgiven for thinking SotD and LC were a little lacking in that particular brand of bizarre postmodern flavor that made No More Heroes and Killer 7 so special. So when I saw the flat, cel-shaded look of early Killer is Dead screenshots, and saw the utterly incomprehensible trailers, you can understand that I might have gotten a bit hot under the collar. That shit be my jam, and a return to what I've come to think of as Suda's unique art style was obviously going to capture my interest. Then, of course, it released while I was just moving into a new place and settling into a new job which got quite busy, and with one thing and another I missed it completely. I was familiar with some of the negative press surrounding it, and I got the sense that critically it was not the most well-received thing in the world, but when I finally thought of it again (thanks partially to this entry over here), I went ahead and bought it.

It was...okay? I haven't beaten it, and I don't know if I will bother; although it feels like it recaptured some of the old magic (i.e. the batshit insanity) of the older Suda games, it just doesn't quite have what I was looking for. In fact, it just made me desperate to play Killer 7 again. Sometimes the old ways are best, and if I was so eager to play that I was willing to pay to next-day ship a memory card (my memory card having been left in New York by accident) so that I could play another round of Killer 7, then so be it. Sometimes the old magics are best, and oh, Killer 7, you are absolutely the fucking best.

Let's be clear here: I'm talking about the Gamecube version when I talk about Killer 7 being the best. The PS2 version has long-ass load times, muddy controls, and looks like dog shit. All the edges are aliased all to hell, and it's just a depressing thing to play through if you've seen the beauty available on the Gamecube. Meanwhile the Gamecube version loads fast and looks phenomenal, and the controls (having been designed specifically for Nintendo's funky-ass button layout) are perfect. Killer 7's controls are deeply weird, but once you get past the oddness of what the game is asking you to do, they make complete sense (hint: the big green button and the big analog stick do basically everything).

It's no surprise that's the case, of course, as Killer 7 was the last of the infamous Capcom Five, those five games that were going to be exclusive to the Nintendo Gamecube, at least until Capcom realized that nobody fucking bought the Gamecube and they were going to lose their goddamn shirts if they didn't bang out some quick-ass PS2 ports (the Gamecube remains one of the most underrated consoles of the last decade, just so you know, even though I basically declare it to be underrated based solely on the strength of this particular version of Killer 7).

Anyway, Killer 7 offers an experience not unlike what you get in modern Call of Duty games--you're on rails, you're lead from point A to point B, there are people to shoot in between those points, and you shoot them in order to score upgrades to your shit. The difference is that while CoD pretends you can go off the rails and explore, Killer 7 doesn't bother. Your character knows where to go, even if you don't. I'm being a little facetious here, but come on, think about it. You know I'm right.

The strength of Killer 7 is in its enjoyable gunplay--yes, I said enjoyable--and the strong characterization of its protagonist(s). Each personality has a style all their own, and through the few bits of dialog you get in the selection screen, and in the few times they appear in cutscenes. Of all the personalities that aren't Garcian, Dan gets the most actual narrative, as you get to fight and kill the man who killed him...the first time(?). I would have liked to see personality-specific missions for the other five, but we can't have it all. Mask gets a fair amount of characterization as well, comparatively speaking, but the game is really about Garcian and his attempts to not just get to the bottom of this whole Heaven Smiles thing, but to also figure out who he is and how he relates to Harman (and what all these goddamned courier pigeons have to do with anything).

Everything, surprisingly, makes sense at the end, or at least is less confusing, although given the number of times I've gone through this game I might be a little more familiar with what's going on than most (once upon a time, fresh back from obtaining a Master's degree in Postmodern Fictions that I have failed utterly to use in a career, I went deep into what I saw as one of the larger themes of Killer 7. It is fun to go back and read, if only to remember that once upon a time I knew how to write in something approaching an academic register). I remember sitting back after beating the game the first time and feeling satisfied, like I'd just seen something incredible without necessarily understanding what, but the more I thought about it the more things fit together. It is also possible that beating the game drove me insane, but I'm not quite willing to admit to that yet.

Visually, Killer 7 is gorgeous, its array of simple geometric shapes contrasting sharply with one another in color, giving everything the tone of a noir film, complete with areas that brood in shadows set next to areas with paler, almost pastel looks.

It is safe to say that I cannot get enough of the look of Killer 7, because there's so little like it--even subsequent Suda 51 games like No More Heroes rely almost as much on texture as they do color. With Killer 7, it's almost completely shapes and colors (barring some of Coyote's more flamboyant shirts, and some of KAEDE's dresses), partially because I'm sure it allowed the game to run better on the Gamecube's hardware, but partially because I think that was the look Suda 51 envisioned. In a largely textureless world, it is the Heaven Smiles who possess the most texture to them, immediately signalling an inherent wrongness--they do not look like anything else in the game's world.

Oh, and also there's the sound design (I'll include the soundtrack under this too, although arguably that deserves a post all of its own. Suffice it to say that I could listen to Blackburn on repeat for days and probably come out of it with my sanity intact. Also, if you do not make your avatar dance down the stairs to the beat of Rave On whilst passing through the Viniculum Gate, you are playing Killer 7 wrong and there is no hope for you, I'm sorry). The way your footsteps sound, and the way that KAEDE's bare feet sound different from everyone else's, for example, or the way each personality's gun has its own unique sound, the menacing-as-hell laughter of the Heaven Smiles, and the triumphant cry they give should they get within hugging range that still makes me cringe even now. There's

At its heart, Killer 7's shooting gallery gameplay, Myst-except-with-more-flushing-toilets puzzle solving elements, and occasionally frustrating-as-hell boss battles might have failed to produce a good game on their own, but everything works together to create what remains my absolute favorite game of all time, full stop. The characters are bizarre, and everyone has their own personal bit of history with the Smith syndicate, which becomes apparent the longer you play. I have an unabashed love of Susie, the disembodied head that seems to collect power rings (and I really fucking love that the rings are never explained or addressed, they just Are). If I were to lose all my games in a disaster such as the one that befell Dan Ryckart, the first thing I would do is find a Wii, a Gamecube controller, a memory card, and a copy of this game. If, for some reason, you haven't played Killer 7 before and happen to have a Wii and a Gamecube controller laying around, I suggest hunting down a copy. I hear they're on Amazon, but you might have more luck finding them at a reasonable price on eBay. Totally worth it.

Having just gone back to Killer 7, it's heavy on my mind, so don't be surprised if I talk about this some more next week.

@ford_dent: Great blog, could never really get into the game when it came out in my teens but I've always respected how singular it is. I seem to remember reading no more heroes 2 was the last game he was deeply involved in, taking an executive producer roles in later game's probably accounts for them being more playable but less distinct.

Man was Killer 7 a good time.

I actually appreciated that the game was basically on rails, since the Wacked out story was the draw. The rails helped keep the story chuckin along at a nice clip, it never really hung or got stale. In a way it was similar to what Final Fantasy Xiii tried to do, but I think K7 may have been onto something by completely removing exploration. If you are going to linear, go all the way man.

What a weird game, I'm glad it exists. Honestly I don't see how Suda51 could ever top it.

I still can't believe that they put Rave On as the track for this tiny hallway with stairs that you technically have no reason to be in for longer than about 8 seconds. They might've just cut some area that the music was really meant for, but the end product is totally hilarious.

But yeah, that game just has a crazy vision to it that most later Grasshopper games lack. Suda definitely seems like he fetishizes Western stuff (while only about 70% "getting it") which is why the story premises in Lollipop Chainsaw and Shadows of the Damned are familiar yet just different enough that you know they're foreign. But content-wise, those later games are really bubblegum and kinda safe. Still really offensive at times with the violence or whatever, but it feels pretty tame compared to Killer 7. I guess because the later games are always doing it for a laugh, in a "look how outrageous this is!" sort of way, while Killer 7 is more trying to convey something like "Curtis Blackburn is a complete monster." I do think No More Heroes 1 is more inspired than his later stuff, but even by then, he's kinda just doing everything for shock value and the whole thing is just this weird crossover of Western scenery with Japanese brawler gameplay and a parody of shounen anime plotline. A far cry from the weirdly multifaceted story of Killer 7.

It's also really interesting to play a game that is largely just a series of vignettes, with really no main plot thread tying most of it together. Most of the missions in the middle of the game have nothing to do with Garcian's past, Harman Smith, or Kun Lan. But they're some of the best missions, and I still really like how bizarre the Ulmeyda mission is, and what it might be saying about religion/cults of personality?

God, what an interesting game.

@wampa1: I'll totally believe that, although I also remember him having a lot of involvement in Killer is Dead (which might explain why I hoped it would be a return to form). I don't know if I've given KiD a fair enough shake yet, but the whole time I played it I couldn't stop thinking how much I'd rather be playing Killer 7, and, well, here we are.

@slag: Being on rails definitely works for this game better than an open exploration mode probably would have. Some of the levels get mazelike enough without giving you the ability to wander off the path. Generally rail shooters aren't my cup of tea, but this particular one does enough to get me playing.

@bisonhero: Rave On is fantastic and frankly I like the thought that they just had that track specifically made to help give the "dance club" feel you get from the whole Viniculum Gate bits. It is the hottest of tracks. And yeah, I agree that K7 is operating on multiple levels (and is willing to convey more than simple wackiness or shock value stuff). No More Heroes gets close to it, and it can actually be taken as a super nihilistic game in and of itself, but the sequel and subsequent Suda 51 offerings haven't been operating on that sort of level (I actually never finished NMH 2, which is something I need to do so I can get a better feel for it).

I didn't go too far into the finer points of the missions, because they aren't as fresh in my mind (I've only done the first couple in my most recent playthrough), but I kind of like that you take a break of sorts from the main storyline to explore some other ideas (Ulmeyda especially is a fucking treat). There's some elements of the main story in there too, if I'm remembering right, but I don't 100% recall. I actually just got to that mission, so I'll find out soon enough I suppose.

I've played Killer 7 twice, unfortunately PS2 and retro chip PS3. I understand totally your remarks for the tonality of this game in it's frames, colors, contrast and graphics. This is part of what sold me on Suda, and he hasn't done a game quite like it. Sometime I will play his No more Heroes paradise(is that right...something like that) I did really enjoy Shadow of the Dammed, think I got more out of it then you did. But Killer 7 is a true gaming classic, and reflects true genius. The only disconnect I had with it was using Greensleeves for that one section, it didn't match though I understood. Just didn't work for me.

I hope Suda 51 will do a HD version of this game for current gen. Of course it will not be as such given the style and so on. But high graphics for an old game is not the point.

Availability for present gamers to experience Killer 7 is.

@bybeach: I would love to see an HD version, but the game (despite being critically acclaimed) was so polarizing that it was a financial flop. I doubt Capcom would be willing to put it out again. I haven't played the HD editions of No More Heroes, but every so often I think about it--I've got them on the Wii though, so I'll probably just stick to that.

Shadows of the Damned is enjoyable, and has some interesting ideas to explore, but still feels too much like playing it safe to me. The combat's great and it has a good look, but it's missing the anarchic spirit of No More Heroes and the risk-taking sensibilities of Killer 7. Apples and oranges, to some extent, but it doesn't feel like a Suda 51 game to me.

Fucking...yes. I am all for this. Killer7 is a game that needs to be known. By far one of my favourite games on the systems two generations ago, and nothing has really even come close to its unique vibe since, except for maybe Suda51's own work. It's also perhaps the only game I would be willing to call 'art', whatever the hell that even means.

Edit: Also managed to snag myself a copy of the OST for $50, that was pretty rad. I own the PS2 version, and have played it to completion on the PS2. It looks like a dream emulated. Bums me out that Capcom does not seem to want to remember that this game existed.

Killer 7 was like my favorite Gamecube game. I played that game so many times, and even played Killer 8 mode a few times. The days I spent discussing the plot of that game on forums...good times. And man did I love the music in that game. Killer 7 is great.

Whenever people ask me what my favourite game of all time is... Honestly, I often say it's Killer7.

I don't know if I could go back. I don't know if I want to go back. If they did a HD remake, I would run back, though.

@donchipotle: Killer 8 is so much fun, and by "so much fun" I mean brutally and unforgivingly difficult. Young Harman is a pretty good character, in that he is like a tank and also has a lot of bullets, but man not being able to see weak spots is a bummer. You can eventually upgrade the personalities to auto-lock on weak points, but getting to that point is...tough. I don't think I ever beat the game on Killer 8 mode.

I found the OST as well, and it is one of my favorite things.

Always upgrade Con, he is the best. Also Dan and Kevin are awesome, you dont need anyone else.

@ford_dent: Killer 8 is pretty insane. Young Harman is good early on when the rest of your "party" is weak, because at least he can take some hits with his huge HP. But I stopped using him once I had leveled up Dan a bunch. Finding the weak points is a huge pain and makes it kinda harder to get thick blood for upgrades.

Also the part in Blackburn where you fight the weird anime girl miniboss in a parking lot is THE WORST. She runs around strafing you constantly and shooting, and man, you cannot take that many hits, so you have to just get incredibly good at not taking hits. The back half of the game in general is just hard with the trickier enemies and the amount of damage you take.

@summexican75: I really only use Con for the first two boss fights (the Angel and Julie), and then I basically only pull him when I have to. He fires fast, but the kick on his guns make me not want to us him much. Most of the time I'm either rolling with Dan or Kaede, because her scope is super-useful.

@bisonhero: Yeah the parking lot fight is brutal. I also used to really hate fighting the two old men because it always was a long fight for me, but this time through I'd upgraded Kaede's waver a lot more so it was way easier to scope in and shoot the bastards. Took me like five minutes, tops, and I felt pretty great about it.

@ford_dent: Oh yeah, forgot about that fight with the old men. Yeah, on either difficulty it's definitely a fight where you can be safe and avoid taking damage, but the fight can take forever.

Killer7 is an incredible game. There's a boldness to it that isn't really present in SUDAs other work. No more heroes et al feel like wonky knock offs of other genres, where as Killer7 feels like it fell fully-formed out of some alternate dimension. I'm never really sure whats happening in that game and I love it.
(don't get me wrong, I still like his other stuff, just not as much as killer7)

I always wanted to play this game when I was young, but my buddy told me to save my money when I went to buy it years ago. Damn him.

I'm playing it now, and wow is it special. I'm already a committed Suda51 fan after playing No More Heroes (which is a brilliant game), and although I've enjoyed all his games since (get to the end of Killer is Dead bruh, it's very fun!), Killer7 is really unique and genuinely exciting, standing out as something different even now in 2015 when a ton on artsy indie games could have potentially eclipsed it.

To be honest, the biggest vibe I get from the game so far (forgive me for skimming your blog, I'm only on the 1st chapter so i wanted to avoid spoilers) is classic survival-horror. I see this as Suda's answer to Resident Evil in particular. The way you move through the environment is a logical offshoot of RE's tank controls; instead of running against walls in a goofy manner, you just move through hallways in a straight line by holding A. This also has the added benefit of allowing the camera to be at any angle since you don't have analog control and are locked onto that X-axis. The Heaven Smile enemies are also scary as fuck, and the way the game forces you to stand and scan them in 1st person adds so much tension since they run at you with that horrifying cackle and then THEY EXPLODE. So far, puzzle-solving is a lot like those old RE games too, as I've had to put a crest in a crest-shaped hole.

Capcom would never do it, but I'd love to see a remaster of this game for the new consoles and PC, it'd fit right in with the indie thing everyone is doing right now.

@asko25: Better late than never, dude. You are in for a fucking treat. I'll eventually get to the end of Killer is Dead (I picked up the PC version not too long ago on sale, but I've yet to start it up again), but the problem for me with that game is I can't help but compare it to Killer7, and Killer7 stands alone. I agree it has some real survival-horror elements--there are few things worse than hearing the cackle of a Heaven Smile that you can't locate yet (usually because it's lurking around a corner or something), particularly if you are low on health.

Oh, and this isn't a spoiler but I literally had no idea it was possible (because the game doesn't ever bother to tell you)--you can heal yourself with blood vials in the menu. It took me an embarrassingly long amount of time to figure that out. The puzzles are very basic, and when in doubt just find an object and swap out rings to see if one of them has an effect. Or pay the one dead guy with the lucha mask to tell you what's going on (he'll mock you for it, but sometimes you just need a little guidance).

this game is so bad

this game is so good