"A Gamecube game like no other"

I found this game rather strange and definitely something I didn't expect to see on a Nintendo system. The game was dark, confusing and violent which just made it all the better. The game, while frustrating at times, left me with a sense of excitement and confusion.

The game is rather mature in nature and has scenes that are definitely not for children to watch. Killer7 is something quite rare, it's a mature game on a Nintendo system. The game is targeted for older gamers and it delivers.

Let me clear this up a bit.

Gameplay: 6/10

This was fairly simple. The game runs on a rail shooter but you control your movement up and down the track and can switch into first-person shooting by holding down a button. The enemies in the game, while cleverly designed, all follow the same method of attack which is walk up to you and explode in your face. There is the odd exception to this but it remains throughout the game. The game tries to mix things up a bit with boss fights which are unique but still follow the same gameplay style.

Sound/Music: 8/10

Laughing is what you'll hear most of the time and it really add the experience. You'll need to have the sound on your TV turned up so you can listen for the crazed laugh of your enemies. The voice acting is well done in this game and is consistently good throughout.

Story: 10/10

The is the pivot point of the game which people who have played the game argue about whether this makes the game work or ruins it more than it already is. Personally I loved the story, it was dark, confusing and extremely entertaining. Even when I didn't know what was going on. The story revolves around Harmen Smith, a wheelchair-bound old man who commands a group of assassins, the group has been hired by the world government to fight a terrorist organisation called the Heaven Smiles. The only thing is that the assassins are all split personalities of Harmen.

While the story follows this pretence the game is actually split into various chapters which each differ greatly. Each chapter has its own colourful characters, some of which appear in other chapters but most are not seen again. The games story is defiantly mature and brilliant, confusing but brilliant. The story has a very political feel to it but not the boring kind you get listening to politicians speak. Its the kind you get from watching a spy movie, it's all very behind the scenes stuff.

Oh, and did I mention the terrorists are freaky ugly, invisible and blow themselves up a lot. That just sets the tone for the game really. The characters in the game are all very different. Most move for their own goals and the others motivation isn't explained. There seems to be very little background info on almost every character, as the game moves on some is revealed but most is not explained. This makes the player piece together their own theories on aspects of the story. This story is going to make you think, a lot.

Difficulty: 9/10

The game puts up a challenge which is good. The game has four difficulty modes. Normal, hard and two others which need to be unlocked. The puzzles in the game are fairly simple and require little brain power to solve, on normal mode some of the earlier puzzles are made blatantly obvious. The bosses are a patchwork of difficulty. I found some later bosses easier than ones earlier in the game.

Replayability: 6/10

This could be better. The replay value in the game comes from trying to understand the story more than it does discovering hidden areas and so on. The two unlockable modes are defiantly worth playing through the game again for but other than that the game doesn't have much replay value.

Final Recommendation:

Rent it and if you like it, buy it. Killer7 is defiantly a love it or hate it game. I loved it but some people don't. Personally I'm happy there was a game this mature on a Nintendo system, I really wish Nintendo would make more games targeted towards older gamers. Thankfully there is a game which is made by the same development team from this game coming out on the Wii. It's called "No More Heroes" and looks just as good as Killer7 is.

Well that's me done for now, toodles.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 08/06/07