Right, I’m not really sure where I’m going to go with this review or how I’m going to get across what Killer Is Dead is all about. It’s all a little strange to say the least, but bare with me and we’ll see how things pan out.
Killer Is Dead, can best be described as a third person, over the shoulder hack em up with the most Japanese of styles. Developed by Kadokawa Games and brought to our attention by Deep Silver, you play the part of Mondo, a hitman, an assassin, an executioner who is out to do whatever deed comes his way and pays the most.
The thing is, there is no real story to follow. From past experience, we all know that our Asian friends like their video games ‘way out there’, but this is just bonkers. Set over 12 basic missions, we get treated to numerous minutes of cutscenes which attempt to recreate the life of a future life hitman. Unfortunately, once these video sequences have finished we are thrown into a level that can only best be described as a ‘bloody Alice In Wonderland gore-fest on steroids’. It’s crazy, it’s mad and it’s more than a little surreal and whilst you will happily find yourself sitting there taking in the madness, after a little while the whole damn thing will have you bursting out in laughter at how deranged it actually it.
That said, underneath all the surrealist decor, there is the inkling of a decent hack em up. Occasional dodgy camera issues and twitchy controls aside, fighting is very fast and fluid and whilst any standard enemy is easy enough to despatch, once you get up to the main boss battles the difficulty steps up a gear and can involve fights that can go on for longer than it actually took for you to reach the big guy. There is a risk of things turning into a full on button mash at times and the sheer number of quick time events only heightens this feeling, but on the whole the combat style is rather decent fun with an unblemished feel to both blocking and attacking.
There is also a very small hint of an RPG in Killer Is Dead as well. All downed enemies drop pickups and these in turn can be used to level up your character, his abilities or his trusty katana sword…...your main way of dealing out the damage! Whilst these upgrades are not entirely essential on easy or normal game modes, I get the feeling this leveling up system will become more of a necessity on the hard playthrough.
Once each mission is over, you get a rundown of a few scores dependant on how well you have done and then get shoved back into the cut scenes for a bit more randomness. I previously mentioned there being 12 missions and whilst this is the case all are pretty short and completed quickly, with only the odd one or two testing your fighting skills to the limit. There are a fair number of challenge levels present if you wish to lengthen your play time, but other than that, the only reason you’d want to keep going back to the game is to possibly improve your highscores and place on the worldwide leaderboards, or to find some of the few secret bonuses which in turn unlock secret costumes and items.
You will maybe want to go back and visit KID if you fancy showing the game off to mates though. Whilst there is no multiplayer action at all (and that’s a shame because a bit of Xbox Live or same console deathmatch would work nicely), they will be more than impressed with the outstanding cel shaded visuals, and get taken in by the musical score which is second to none. In fact, I’m not sure that I’ve heard any better audio come out of a game than that present in Killer. You can also have the option of playing with the original language but I only recommend this if you really don’t want to know what’s happening…..or if you’re fluent in Japanese!
You still with me? Good because I haven’t got much else to mention other than that the achievements are relatively simple to pick up as long as you are happy to invest some time in the game. The vast majority of them involve completing a level (super quick for some!), or using a certain move x number of times. There are a couple of cheevos that are reserved for the hardened fans and even then it will still take some time to clear the challenge levels or manage to nab yourself a AAA rating on all missions!
Killer Is Dead is a decent enough single player experience, but unless you’re fully ingrained with the Japanese way of gaming, it’s not really one that will stand out for weeks, months or years to come. The sheer madness of things can sometimes make you wonder what and why you are doing certain tasks but if you can see through that you’ll find yourself having a decent time, albeit for not very long.
SO WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON WITH KILLER IS DEAD?
Um…….No idea. Sorry.
