Killer 7

Here's a great example of style over substance. Looking at the game, it seems unique, with a weird story and environment, and a surreal style. It's about something with suicide bombers attacking the world, and a group of assassin's being hired to stop them. I think. The game really doesn't make much sense. It goes for the cell-shaded anime look, which mostly works. So, now that we've got the style out of the way, let's look at the gameplay, because that's the reason I don't like this game.

It's hard to call this an on-rails first-person shooter. It is on rails in the sense that you can only move in certain paths. However, you can choose which way to go at hallway intersections and different doors, and it can get fairly nonlinear in large levels. There is only one button to move forward, and one button to turn around. Other than walking along set paths, you'll occasionally hear crazy laughter. At this point, you switch to first-person mode and shoot terrorists before they can rush at you and blow up. The problem with the shooting mechanic is that you really can't defend yourself. They can pop up right in front of you if you're running down a hallway, and by the time you try to shoot them, they just blow up. You can't back off or dodge or shield yourself in any way.

One of the rules of good game design is that you never screw the player. For example, if they mess up a puzzle, you shouldn't have to reload the entire level because you're screwed. If you're surprised by an enemy, you should have some means to defend yourself. That's what adds depth to the gameplay. This is exactly what Killer 7 lacks. If you get surprised by a suicide bomber at close range, you just die. It takes a second or two to even switch into first-person mode and aim properly. Reloading happens when it happens, and you can't do it manually. If you are low on ammo after killing someone, and then start shooting someone else that surprises you, you'll just reload right there and they'll kill you. It's unfair to the player and it's not fun.

Likewise, the puzzles are the tedious unintuitive kind. The kind where you're supposed to either think WAY outside the box, or else just guess random stuff until you get lucky. Not too fun either.

This is another case where reviewers give good scores purely based on a game's appearance. This is a case of just bad game design all around. I hope that the next game by Suda 51, No More Heroes, will be much better, but when it comes out be sure to check that the reviewers ENJOY THE GAMEPLAY, and not just the graphics and style.