Killer 7 is one of those games that's so weird that it can be tough to get into. Heck, I absolutely love this game and it took me six months to beat it's 8 short levels.
The truth of the matter is that this game is an experience. And I say that in the sense that this game is definitely not your run of the mill...anything.
The style of the game is immediately striking. Everything is cel shaded and low detail. The background music is limited and very atmospheric when it does exist. Your enemies laugh eerily and wickedly before you ever see them, and even more insanely when you destroy them.
What is most interesting about this game is that the entire game is set in the multiple personalities of Harman Smith. Each personality has it's own unique abilities, but you can switch between them at will. However, if one of your personality dies, you have to collect it's head in order to be able to use it again, and only Garcian Smith can collect heads. You can't switch between the Smiths (personalities) when you're Garcian, so if he dies...Game Over. A pretty interesting way of doing it, in my mind. Garcian cannot be powered up and he's weaker than the other Smith's, so the game grows more difficult as the game progresses.
The story is the strong point of this game. It is very deep - and very confusing. Aftering playing this game, I wasn't sure what most of it meant, but I knew that I was thrilled with it, and immediately began re-reading the script and reading discussions about what parts of it meant to get a better understanding of what I had just witnessed. The story has one of the best 'wtf' aspects among games I've played.
The gameplay is not typical at all. You move around by holding A instead of the direction you want to go, you turn around with B, and you select which way you want to go when you reach a crossroad with the analog stick. To shoot, you have to go into first person mode.
The enemies are all invisible until you 'scan' the level, so sometimes you'll be running around solving puzzles when you hear their wicked laugh, and you'll quickly go into first person mode and scan, madly searching for where they are, hoping to find them before they reach you and kamikaze on you (for that's what all the enemies do). It can be quite frightening and tense when you're low on health with your favorite personality and really don't want to pull out Garcian to rescue them, when you suddenly hear that laugh and know that they're right beside you. You can only hope you guess the right side when you scan, so that they don't kill you while you're looking for them.
The personalities are all interesting. Each one has a story and a special ability - Coyote is the thief who holds his gun sideways and can jump really high. Kaede is the woman who always has blood on her dress, shoots from a distance because she doesn't like getting in the conflict, and destroys barriers with her own blood by slitting her wrist. Kevin is the silent albino who turns invisible. Mask is the gentle ex-wrestler with grenade guns who wants to be a hero and gets powerups throughout the level. Con is the deaf child who dances while he reloads. Dan is the tough guy.
An especially interesting aspect of the game is that you don't really interact with anyone outside of cutscenes. Almost everyone you see in the level, other than your enemies, is already dead, and usually yuo're seeing the same people, in different places, in the same level. This gives the game a very isolated, lonely feel that further enhances the surrealism. This isolation is broken up once or twice for story related reasons, but there aren't any random NPC's wandering the levels. Even when you're in full towns or schools, you'll see perhaps one other person.
The cast of characters behind this story is definitely one of the most interesting in games.
If you love stories, I highly recommend this game. If you want to try something new, and have an experience, I definitely suggest this game. Play through it, as the story will leave you asking questions - in the good way.
Learning Curve: Takes a second
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