Killer7

I was browsing youtube to kill some time when I see that someone that I subscribed to covered this game as a part of their Halloween scare-fest thing.  This instantly prompted all the awesome memories I have of what is, to me, one of the best games (quite possibly THE best) game on the Gamecube, so I thought I'd have a little gush about it right here.

So, unless you've been living under a rock, you are probably aware of who Suda51 one is.  In case you do live under a rock, or you don't game as much as everyone else, Suda51 is the guy behind the No More Heroes games and the more recent Shadows of the Damned.  Now people loved stuff like No More Heroes, but I was quite disappointed with it, because I was comparing it to this thing.

So, Killer7 follows a group of assassins as they try to take down a terrorist organisation known as Heavens Smile.  The 7 assassins aren't actually real though, they are all different personalities in some guys psyche that are given form somehow.  Basically, the plot is the fucking strangest thing I've ever played through, but it's actually really good.  There is a big story arc about relations between Japan and the US and government conspiracy and stuff, but some of the chapters seemingly have no link to that, but then they actually do, and....oh god, shit's nuts.  Just play it, it's really hard to explain.

The only real way to describe the gameplay, along with pretty much everything else in this game, is unique.  You are on rails all the time, but you still have freedom to choose where you want to go at junctions in the level, and the levels get more sprawly and complicated as you go.  You have to stop and go into this first person mode to fire your weapon, but before you can shoot anything you have to scan the environment since the enemies all come with built in stealth.  Combat aside, it has those kind of survival-horror esque puzzles of finding weird shit to use as keys to open various things.  On top of that, each personality has it's own ability, which you have to make use of in order to progress.

The other big thing about this game is the art style, and it's really pretty but still retains a sort of bleak atmosphere.

It's cel-shading out the arse, but it's done in this really masterful way and the game looks really good as a result.

I could probably fill up about a weeks worth of posts just talking about each individual aspect of this game and why it's just so damn good.  But instead of me yapping on, I recommend that you hop on e-bay or amazon or something and fucking find a copy.  Gamecube version is better than the PS2 version, but whatever version you play, you won't regret it.