Killer7 is out now on PC and as strange as ever
We're still not 100% convinced this exists
Killer7 is out now on PC, and one of the weirder things you can play this week. It's a hallucinatory adventure-slash-first-person shooter hybrid about seven assassins (who may actually be one person) hunting 'terrorists' that are apparently howling, self-destructing demons. It's bizarre, profane, allegorical, drenched in blood and a little bit punk. Originally launched in 2005 by Grasshopper Manufacture (and directed by Suda51), it's still holding up great thanks to its sharp, semi-abstract aesthetic. There's a trailer below, but don't expect to make much sense of it.
A quick peek at some streams confirms what I expected of Engine Software's port from Gamecube; it's the same as ever, just sharper than before and at 16:9 aspect ratio. Honestly, the only thing I'd want to see done with it is an increase in resolution. Killer7 is part weird maze-game with some light point-and-click puzzling, and a good bit of offbeat combat. Movement is on rails, and shooting happens from a locked first person perspective, aiming to hit the weak point on the Heaven Smile (the cackling terror-beasts) most likely to harm you, ideally before they explode.
In some ways, I feel Killer7 fits in more now than it did at launch. There are tons of offbeat adventures on PC now, especially ones that play around with the language of games itself, doing weird and wonderful things with UIs or subverting expectations as to how its systems should work. I will recommend that people at least try to play the game with gamepad. While there is a mouse-and-keyboard option, it does give you a major advantage when aiming, and the game wasn't especially difficult to begin with on consoles. Consider mouse aiming to be easy mode, to use as you see fit.
Killer7 is out now on Steam, and costs a reasonably budget-priced £13.94/€17.99/$17.99. It's published by NIS America.