Killer7

I wasn't necessary going to buy this game. I was more in the mood for to kill a couple of zombies but my bro told me to get it. I did. I was amazed. This is one cool hip game. Controls are easy. The look is great. What sets this apart from the other games out there is the wicked story line. The premise is that you are actually some old man in a wheelchair that has seven different personalities. That means seven characters, each with a different type of gun. Your mission, to kill the Heaven Smile. Some freaks that rush you and blow up, that is before you can kill them. And then you collect their blood. I am actually surprised that no one has bought the rights to make this into a movie, because if done right, would be a hip, scary as hell, mind trip of a flick. Is this game for everyone? If you like shooting some freaks, the heaven smile, who happen to be scary as hell, with either: a Mexican wrestler, a chick with a scope, a blind man, or the guy that throws knives, plus three others, then this is a buy. I think only the lame won't dig it.

Killer7 is an unconventional action-adventure game developed by Grasshopper manufacture and capcom, directed by Suda51 (Later known in the west for No More Heroes) and Shinji Mikami (known for Resident Evil). Killer7 was first released in 2005 for the GameCube and PS2, it later received a HD remaster released for PC in 2018 that was perfectly handled by Engine Software.

In Killer7 you will take the role of one of Harman Smith and his assassins, the ''Smith Syndicate'' the titular Killer 7. You can switch between the assassins during the game as you see fit, as long as they are awaken and ready to go. Each assassin brings a different weapon, weaknesses, strengths and personality to the table, some are more fit to certain jobs than others. You will move through the level, fighting a terrorist group known as ''Heven Smile'', overcome challenges and do everything in your power to reach and assassinate your target.

So how is the gameplay exaclty?

In terms of controls, they are rather simple but a bit stiff, getting the hang of it in the PC version can be rather challenging to those used to more modern games. You move the character in a third person mode, however you are locked to pre-determined paths (on rails), it seems limiting at first and it does turn off a lot of people, but once you get used to it, it keep the pacing of the game in a good speed and it does saves you time when it comes to making sure you didn't miss anything while exploring. You will be controlling one of the 7 available assassins, however at the start of a mission not all of them will be availabe right of the bat, as you score kills you will be able to awaken the remaining assassins in a safe room. During the game you will explore a level, fight enemies, complete puzzles, find information about the game's universe, its individuals, its society and politics, and most importantly collect soul shells that allow you to go trought the vinculum gate and slay your target. The soul shells work as a way to progress in a mission, think of them like collecting keys to open the door where your target is.

At first sight the concept is simple enough, be an assassin, kill some bad guys. But the world of Killer7 is a nightmarish, hostile and confusing world, everything seems normal on the surface, but a constant feeling of unease is in the air. The deeper you go the more confusing things will get, characters speak in criptic ways, in-universe global politics comes into play along with cultural conflicts and spiritual symbolism. And on top of it all there is a layer of irony and a masterful meta commentary on the real world version of these conflicts. You will never be certain on who is right and who is wrong. The time line of events later published by Suda51 in the book Hand in Killer7 spans close to 400 years, certain official informations given about the world will directly contradict others, things are not what they seem and fans still debate the meaning of certain scenes to this day.

''Why would I ever play this then? it sounds like a impenetrable mess.'' -You, while reading this.

Well, lore wise it kind of is, however piecing the obscure lore together is part of the experience. Even if you come out of the game and don't understand absolutely nothing I can 100% guaratee that it will leave a lasting impression, you will be thinking about it for days if not weeks afterwards and it is a unique experience no other game can provide, and I'm not being hyperbolic here, I'm serious, there is no other game out there like Killer7. The best word I can use to describe it is ''insanity'', and you will know why from the moment you press new game. In my honest opion, it is is Goichi Suda's Magnum Opus, and Suda himself stated that he might never be able to surpass it. It's been 15 years and it remains a somewhat obscure Gamecube era Master Piece.

Score: 10/10 // Master Piece

A surreal, psychedelic, dark comedy about political manipulation Goichi Suda's"Killer7" stands out as one of the most unique, complicated and mature videogames made. Like a Takashi Miike movie spliced with a bit of Seijun Suzuki it plays with some very disturbing themes in a bizarre darkly humorous manner and expressionistic visual style. It's gameplay a cross-genre between a first person and 3d person shooter with adventure elements and a prefixed rail-movement scheme. The weirdest of the weird, hate it or love it you haven't seen a video game like this one before.

Explaining the plot is a complicated deed and useless in the sense that it spoils too much, so I'll just give the barebones. Killer7 is about a struggle. That struggle could be between good and evil, it could be between two countries it could be between two entirely different cultures it could be all that combined and probably is depending on how you wish to interpretate. But above all else Killer7 is a struggle between two men, friends and enemies at the same time. Harman Smith is the Killer7 a man who has seven split personalities each a psychopathic assassin and Kun Lan mastermind behind the Heaven Smiles, invisible laughing zombie-like creatures who explode on contact this game is about their battle. A confrontation loaded with guns, guts, ghosts, smiles, wrestling, talking heads, flying brains, organ dealers, psychopaths at every corner and more.

Graphically it is not much different to its plot in terms of weirdness that is. The cell-shaded animation provides a striking minimalistic approach in terms of scenery and detail, lots of contrast between colours. An expressionist fan's wet dream. Camera work and cut-scene direction are top notch with some interesting stylistic choices such as for example the introductionary shots, some of the more violent scenes or the change in cut scene animation.

The gameplay as mentioned before is a combination of 3rd and 1st person shooters along with some puzzles to boot. During the course of the game we take control of the Killer7 detecting (hear laughing and you've got yourself a Smile nearby) and destroying large array of Heaven Smiles. Now, just shooting at them will suffice but aiming at the critical point on a Smile's body is a recommended course of action during battles because a direct hit means a direct death for the Smile and the direct death results to an explosion of blood that will be consumed by the Killer7 and can be used for healing and upgrading their skills, also it's awesomely cool. One of the more interesting and ambiguous parts of the gameplay is the on-rail movement scheme. Which means that moving is limited to just two directions: forward and backward, there are junctions where it's possible to change the rail a character is moving on and follow a different path. The idea of such a limit to exploration is to establish one simple fact: the characters, the Killer7 know more about the outlying world than the player. They know where to go and what to do at times when the player might not have a clear idea. This is done to provide the sense of mystery vital to the game's bizarre plot, playing part in the creation of the surreal atmosphere.

Bloody brilliant from start to finish. Beautiful in its visual appearance and direction and mind blowing in the plot compartment though flawed due to the supposedly missing levels. Director/writer Goichi Suda uses the video game format to present a unique story and vision that doesn't follow the clichés most games fall into, doesn't try to so desperately to emulate cinema. It is believe it or not a sign, a sign that videogames are evolving, becoming more mature and open for adapting complicated stories, with much more character and plot than a simple arcade shooter.