Which do
I choose? My brain can’t make up its mind. Garcian is cool and confident, but
Kaede is an excellent sniper. Con, Coyote, and Kevin – each of them have their
advantages, though I’m not sure I want to be one of them either. I could be
myself, but that’d be crazy. But wait … Isn’t that what I am? Or is that
thought purely insane? Ha-ha-ha!
Remember the
song, "Things That Make You Go ‘Hmmm’"? Killer 7 could’ve been the star of the
video. It’s an entirely original concept from the mind of the man who brought
us Resident Evil. Style has become an important factor to game developers ever
since Devil May Cry was released, and Killer 7 delivers it in a big way. I was
excited, I was intrigued, and at times I was turned off. Hence the "Hmmm"
part, and the difficulty that comes with scoring a game that achieves so much
yet does so little.
In a turn of
events that will surprise almost everyone, Killer 7 is not a third-person
action game. It’s not a first-person shooter either, or much of a shooter at
all. Players guide, but do not control, seven different personalities through
a corrupt world of evil demon-like creatures. By guiding I mean that you have
the power to influence the direction your character takes, but you do not
actually get to take him or her there.
The controls
are vastly different from what the screenshots indicate. GameCube’s highly
sensitive analog stick is used, though half its function could’ve been
assigned to a 20-year-old directional pad. Player movement is restricted to
the A button. Get this – you hold the A button to make the character move
forward. To turn around, press the B button. Pressing the analog stick won’t
help until direction icons pop up. It’s at this time that you use the
thumbstick to decide (point to) the area you’d like to explore. Example: the
north stairway. There are many stairways, hallways, elevators, etc.
All battles
are in the first person and are played from a stationary position. Looking
back this makes perfect sense. That’s how Resident Evil started. It had a
weird control scheme and we loved it.
But Killer 7
is a very different kind of game. My killer instinct is to avoid
contact with enemies by strafing, shooting them while on the move. This isn’t
possible. Yet, to make things really interesting (and really difficult),
Killer7’s demonic enemies are built with explosives. Or maybe they grow the
explosives from within, that wasn’t clarified. They explode on contact, and as
I’m sure you can imagine, the results can be very deadly. Certain
personalities die after one big explosion.
The
personalities I speak of are individual, fully playable characters that live
within the mind of an insane assassin. Seven personalities are available, each
of which has a special weapon, special abilities, and different attributes
(health, reload speed, etc.). Their mission: to destroy the world’s demons,
known as the Heaven Smile, before they take over the world. Killing them
triggers a stylish dematerialization effect where their bodies turn into
droplets of blood. The blood scatters and is quickly sucked up by whichever
personality you are controlling. In Killer 7, blood is currency. Trade it for
stat upgrades.
Personalities are awakened via TV sets, which is the same place you upgrade
your states. If Samantha (a mysterious maid) is nearby, the TV set doubles as
a save spot. Harman Smith is the star assassin (it’s his personalities you’re
controlling), which is why these TV rooms are labeled with his name.
The best
part of the game is somewhat ruined by one of the worst parts. Killer 7’s
graphic style is unlike anything gamers have ever seen before. Its graphic
novel appearance brings images of Sin City to mind, though this game started
development long before that movie was announced and is in no way trying to
mimic its style. It just so happens that game developers and filmmakers have
finally realized that there’s more to special effects than high-tech realism.
The
developer’s decision to create something artistically rewarding was well worth
the effort. The movie sequences are a treat for the eyes and the ears (Killer
7 has a great soundtrack), as is the demon dematerialize effect. Bright
colors, strong contrasts, vibrant imagery — these are things that a true
artist thinks of.
Killer7’s
graphics are not diminished but they are at times overlooked when story
details are presented, and whenever puzzle hints are given. This game has a
few good voice actors, but none of them were used outside of the movie
sequences. The sleazy, ghostly,
I’ll-give-you-a-hint-if-you-listen-to-me-ramble characters do not speak
English, or any other language for that matter. They speak gibberish, which
means the only way to understand what they’re seeing is to read the
translation of their gibberish.
I wanted to
make progress, and be treated to more entertaining movie sequences. Instead I
spent the majority of the game holding the A button, stopping when necessary
to search for and to shoot enemies. The boredom of reading repetitive text
(each character has a list of introductory and ending lines that are recited
every time he/she speaks) took its toll.
It’s
unfortunate that great concepts don’t always translate into perfect games. Our
feelings toward them sends the wrong message. It says that we’d rather have
what we already know, because that’s what we praise the most and that’s what
sells. Killer 7 may not be the killer game it could’ve been, but I’d rather
play five games that took a stab at doing something different than play 20
games that attempted to one-up Grand Theft Auto. What Dodge tried to tell us
in the late 90s was true – different is good.
|
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Gameplay: 7.5
Killer7 is a step
up from a point-and-click adventure, but lacks the amount of gameplay that is
necessary to create a killer game. It’s not that I spent the whole game with
the controller in my lap (there weren’t that many text messages), but I
never stopped longing for something more. Hold the A button to move? What gave
them the idea that that would be more fun than being able to move with the
analog stick?
Graphics: 9.0
Killer7 has the
power to launch a new Game of the Year Awards category: Best New Visual Style.
Killer 7 takes cel-shading to places you’ve only dreamed of. If a graphic
novel could spring to life, jump into your TV screen and start moving, it
would look something like this.
Sound: 8.0
Great music, odd
sound effects. Great music, professional (though not perfect) voice acting.
Great music, but not enough of it. Great music, that’s what really stood out.
Killer 7’s soundtrack is a lot like Parasite Eve: a techno/orchestral style
with a dark and eerie theme.
Difficulty: Easy/Medium
Concept: 9.0
Almost every
aspect is worth noting. The graphics, the story (convoluted and offensive at
times, but also intriguing), the way in which demons die, et cetera. Even the
gameplay mechanics – good or bad, there aren’t any other games quite like it.
Overall: 7.9
Killer 7 dares
you to step into the mind of an assassin, which makes me wonder: if assassins
were this disoriented in real life, would they ever get anything done? In a
nutshell, Killer 7 is an adventure with point-and-click gameplay. Real
first-person shooting occurs, though you’re stationary the whole time. It’s a
strange collection of weird imagery, gorgeous graphics, impressive music, and
a crazy story that’ll hold your curiosity. Note that in that list I didn’t say
anything about the gameplay.
