Ultra violent cool shooter action
I have tried to start this game couple of times but always been put off by the bland/uninviting first level. Few weeks ago I decided to give this a new shot and just work my way through the first level to see what the hype was about. And I am glad I did. Killer7 is a crazy adventure shooter for Playstation 2 & Gamecube. Game has been developed by Grasshopper Manufacture notable known for Mr. Suda51. What separates Killer7 from other PS2/GC games is the fact that Killer7 has not aged at all. I can imagine in 10 years time it will be the same. That is if one can appreciate the art-style. Killer7 uses cel-shaded graphics and most of the story and cut-scenes is done by showing cool anime movies. Game mechanism is known for, or is notorious for being a on-rails shooter type. Think of any light gun game but with small addition where you get to decide the direction you are heading to and you get to control walking. Also you got the ability to interact with some items/objects.
As mentioned the graphics are presented by cel-shaded style and this suits the general look of the game. Everything is presented with pale and clear colors. This gives a game really modern and stylish look. As mentioned even in year 2010 this game looks good. The cut-scenes are well done and there are no sterotype anime characters despite the cut-scene being all anime. The style is bit in vein of Afro Samurai. Modern violent mature westernized look.
Story of Killer7 follows the uninviting stylish feel and you are not really given too much. Basically you need to discover what is the deal with the Heaven Smile's (the monsters in game) and destroy them. Plot gets occasionally bit politics heavy and despite one decisive scene you are just following a linear plot. The supporting characters and your resurrected victims will give you interesting discussions and advice. Another unique touch is the fact that you got seven assassins to choose from hence the name Killer7. Each assassin have their own weapon and style. These will also be used on the occasional puzzle. Game is in times very violent but this suits the stylish look of the game.
On the game-play part. One of the more cooler parts of the game is the actual shooting which what the game is mostly about. The Heaven Smile's are really out there to get you and you need to blast them before they get you. The shooting part feels gratifying because of the proper sound effect and recoil. The smiles can be one-shot killed by shooting one particular limb or part of their body. Or by giving them more serial led poisoning. Each character also have set of special attacks which need to be used on some of the more special enemies. One problem with the shooting is that the aiming is terrible slow.
The slow aiming combined with the occasional awkward level design the game can get frustrating on few cases. The biggest issues here is that the monsters are not visible normally. When a monster is near-by they will make a manic laughter and trigger button needs to be pushed to scan them. Monsters are charging at you with different speeds. So when going around the corners and/or re-entering a room you will have to be fast with the aiming which doesn't really work too well.
The other visual aspect, named the audiovisual presentation is done on the similar stylish fashion. All the characters are full voiced, well except for the Heaven Smiles that have just this eery laughter. The soundtrack is done really well. It is mostly electronic based but with it's a own twist. I guess the soundtrack can be even at parts be categorised as trip-hop. You can really see that Grasshopper has but a lot of work to the game from the number of different tracks there are (61 to be precise).
Killer7 is definitively not for everyone. If you like a crazy Japanese shooter/anime action this is one for you.
