Coming from the brain of the great Suda 51, Killer 7 is without a doubt one of the best most original games ever created. Killer 7 was once one of the prime game of the "Capcom 5" that Capcom created exclusively for the Nintendo Gamecube.
But some creative decisions later killer 7 eventually found its way to the PS2 as well, no matter what console, the game is amazing and everyone should give it a try.
Dan the man, my personal favorite Killer 7.
Concept:
Killer 7 is basically a mixture of different genre’s of games mixed together to form a unique experience, the game traditionally works as a third person action adventure games but combat takes place in a first person view mode ala FPS shooters. You play through the game as one of the 7 Smith alter ego’s that make up the Killer 7 squad. Each smith brings his own pro’s and cons to the table and they carry special abilities that allow you to progress through the game as well.
Even though the game is completely rendered in 3D, your basic movements are restricted to forwards and backwards.
Story:
For a Capcom game the story is rather deep, your going to have to keep track of everything to make sense of the entire plot when the ending credits start. The game has 8 central characters and every one of theirs back story is visited every now and then. The central plot however revolves around Harman Smith, the person who seems to be commanding the Killer 7 squad, and his apprentice Garcian Smith, the leader of the Killer 7.
The game takes place in modern day USA and political action is the foreground of the plot. Tension between America and Japan is rising and the American government has hired the Killer 7 squad to take care of the biggest Japanese influences in America.
Graphics:
The game uses a very original style of cell shading, the character models, and the entire fields are rendered in that style. This gives the game a unique look not found in any other game. The texturing sharp and the character models are very well detailed. When your in first person mode you get to see very close up shots of your character’s guns which are probably the most detailed weapons I’ve ever seen in a game.
Other then the cell shading, the game often uses anime style cut scenes to progress some of the key scenes. These scenes are very well done but they don’t fit in with the serious cell shaded real time cut scenes, and tend to give the game an (unwanted) cartoon-ish look.
The only graphical gripes I found with the game were that there are slowdowns every now and then, never game breaking though.
Sound:
The soundtrack of the game is nothing special, but it goes well with the overall tone of the game. The voice acting is a mix bag as well, often great and often cringe worthy. The Smith characters are all voiced pretty well, some of them are standouts like Dan Smith, you’ll get to hear Garcian Smith the most in the game and thankfully he’s performed great as well.
One of the oddest things about the game is that almost all of the recurring side characters (who don’t appear in cut scenes, rather in the real time game play) use gibberish voice acting and you have to read the subtitles to make sense of what they’re saying. Its a deliberate mechanic and it works great for the most part since most of the recurring characters you meet in the game are supposed to be disembodied spirits.
Besides, nothing is more scary then a dismembered head that suddenly starts talking in a chipmunk style squeaky voice.
Expect many disturbing moments like this in this game.
Game play:
Traditionally there is no game that can be compared to Killer 7 to give an idea to the reader how it plays. The usual running around takes place in a third person action adventure perspective. Even though the field is 3D your only restricted to 2D movements.
When its time to fight you can switch over to a first person view mode where you will be able to shoot like a first person shooter, you can’t move in first person mode though.
Closing Comments :
I have to say anyone who’s a fan of gaming should give this a try, this is without a doubt one of the best most original games ever. Featuring tons of extra modes when you beat the main game you’ll have a lot of time to spend with this excellent game.