Killer7

Killer 7 is the first of Suda 51's games that I had the pleasure of playing. At the time, I just wanted to see it, because I heard it was a very violent game on a Nintendo console, and I just wanted to see how much they could actually get away with. Little did I know, sitting there on my couch with the title screen creepily screaming itself into place, that the game would be so much more then that.

First, let's just talk about the graphics. The graphics were extremely innovative at the time, taking the cel-shaded aesthetic and flipping it on it's head. Lots of dark, heavy shadows and basic geometric shapes populate the game world, and it creates a not-quite-minimalistic appearance. By that I mean, there's lots of flat shading and solid colors, yet it always manages to look complex. The game's graphics hold up incredibly well nowadays, and the visual style is as sharp as ever, despite it not being in HD. The game also doesn't pull any punches when it comes to it's graphic violence, and it got a reputation at the time for being an extremely violent game. However, it's not just violence for the sake of violence, and it's really smart about not only doing all of the violence in a really stylized and artistically satisfying way, but also working it into the story somehow.

The story has many different sides to it, ranging between cool action moments, to creepy horror scenes, to absolutely absurd and wacky comedy bits. While this might sound like the game has a lack of focus, it actually manages to stay pretty concise throughout, and doesn't get confusing or convoluted, despite the frequent changes in tone. Each of those tones have the same amount of care applied to it, so what you end up with is a smooth story that isn't confusing and has enough variation to keep anybody interested. The 7 main playable characters are all written very well, and their personalities all come across almost immediately as you're introduced to them. The world around you may not be as well fleshed out as it could have been, but there's enough there that it remains interesting, and perhaps leaving the world as somewhat of a mystery helps keep the story focused on these characters and these scenarios that you're going through.

The gameplay is a point of contention for many people, but I really enjoyed it. The game puts you on a set path, allowing you to move forward by holding down the A button or to turn around and run back down the path you've already traversed. There are also branching paths within the level, letting you explore your environment and find any optional side items. You can also aim and shoot in a first-person perspective, which feels good enough to be passable. Sometimes you'll have to uncover your targets by scanning first, adding a slight element of strategy into the mix.

I feel like this kind of control scheme is actually pretty ingenious in that it takes the focus away from the cumbersome nature of controlling a character in a 3D space. Normally in an over-the-shoulder third-person action game, you'd have to fiddle around with multiple sticks, make sure the camera is positioned properly, all while aiming and shooting. This control scheme lets you focus on what's important, running, aiming, shooting, and exploring, and it lets you do all of it a lot faster & less clumsily than your standard third-person action game. The best part about the gameplay is exploring the levels, finding different areas, and defeating enemies to collect hidden items, or to find an optional text log. It's a somewhat serene experience to explore the levels, and it makes your encounter with the boss of each level have that much more impact, as well.

Overall, I feel like Killer 7 is a game worth anybody's time. It's got something for just about anybody, and it's not only innovative, but also succeeds on many of their innovations. It's the game that made me fall in love with Suda 51's style of video game, and I consider it his magnum opus, that has yet to be topped. It's an absolute masterpiece of a game, and is certainly one of my favorites.