Buy Killer is Dead

If this game came out 2003 on the PS2 I might've held it in a higher regard. But between the nonsensical whimsy, buttonmash-y gameplay, and sluggish pacing that pulls you out of the action with every step, I can't recommend this game on any level. And something must've been lost in the translation from japanese because the dialogue can be so incoherently broken you begin to wonder if the beginning and end of certain sentences are written by the same person.
At least the art-style can some times be pretty interesting.

With a slightly bigger budget and a few more months in the planning stage, this game couldv'e been an even more over-the-top and ridiculous Devil May Cry. As it is, I don't know what you would have to do to enjoy it.

Easily one of the craziest games I've ever played.

Stylistically superb, with excellent visuals and a fantastic (and varied) soundtrack to boot.


Quentin Tarantino taken to the Nth level.

Fun.

If you like SUDA51 games, it's another one! Weird story, fun artstyle, and grindable stuff to grind. Apparantly took me 10 hours to play through the story once. If you like fun Japanese stories, this one's for you!

weird and wonderful, highly recommend anyone and everyone trying it.

Amazing art style!

this game looks great in gigolo glasses

I've been a big fan of Suda51's work ever since No More Heroes. That game had such an incredibly layered look at the video game industry while also poking fun at the fan's of it. It was subversive in design and devisive in execution, but no one could deny it's pure style. Gory, sleezy and full of awful puns, No More Heroes truly is a modern day classic.

The years since then haven't been so kind to Suda51. He still retains a cult following, but you'd be hard pressed to find a fan of his that would deny his games have lost some of their luster. Shadows of the Damned was an interesting follow-up to No More Heroes, if only because the sheer style of Suda51 mixed with the mechanics Shinji Mikami perfected in Resident Evil 4 led to a satisfying shooter.

Lollipop Chainsaw had a very well written and thought provoking story, but it sort of gimped itself in the gameplay department. Combos with no real purpose and combat that lacked a lot of presence were the order of the day, despite the characters feeling more fleshed out then Suda51's previous games.

Sadly, Killer is Dead seems stuck somewhere in between the accessibility of Shadows of the Damned and the simple nature of Lollipop Chainsaw's gameplay. There is definitely plenty of style and the game moves at a brisk pace, but I haven't been this confused at a game's plotline in quite some time.

I get the feeling that this was written to be a different take on something like Cowboy Bebop. Killer is Dead features a ragtag cast of "assassins" who take jobs to fund themselves. After the midway point, the story shifts into focusing more on the main character, Mondo Zappa. He has a robotic arm and wears a suit...and that's really it.

I'm lost as to whom he is supposed to represent or what his real purpose is. Yeah, he kills things and has a flamboyant method, but he never speaks a lot of logic. I suppose the whole thing can be a celebration of machismo, but it never event goes full out on that.

The "controversial" aspect of this game are some missions called, "Gigolo Missions." These have you leering at women and showering them with presents until they take their clothes off. It's utterly pointless (apart from some small upgrades), but the real disappointment is just that it's boring.

Sure, I guess it's sexist in some way, but I could live with an "edgy" game if it kept me entertained. These "Gigolo Missions" really only bore me while I'm distracting myself from the main campaign. There are other side missions, but they require putting up with the combat, which isn't exactly fun.

Since Killer is Dead is a beat-em-up, I guess I'm being a bit harsh by saying that it's combat is simplistic, but I never felt the need to delve into it's unlockable moveset. Mashing the attack button works on every single enemy in the game. You build up a "Blood" meter that allows for some powerful one-shot attacks and lets you tinker with your sidearm, but those aren't necessary.

I played through the game on the "Hard" setting, so it's not like I was gimping out on challenge. Playing on "Normal" is a literal breeze and I can't imagine how mind numbing "Easy" must be. "Very Hard" also makes the mistake of simply increasing the enemie's health, so you end up spending more time mashing attack.

Digging through the upgrades, you can change things up with an upward slash and a guard break, but most of the upgrades consist of dealing more damage with the basic attack or health recovery. Nothing allows you to mix heavy and light attacks or chain together different button prompts to create new combos. This feels like a really poor man's Devil May Cry.

I only bring that game up as it's clear Killer is Dead is attempting to go so the flair of Capcom's action series. Enemies explode into particle effects and blood splatter and the screen changes into various colors, but it feels devoid of gravity. That and the damn camera often gets obscured, leaving you prone to an unseen attack.

Speaking of which, the level design is just utterly boring. It's certainly pretty to look at (the Unreal 3 engine is put to incredible use), but you could substitute each arena with a hallway and get the same effect. The few levels that do offer up anything unique are padded out that they eventually feel like a chore.

It's strange to even say that as the game is a pretty short play. If you simply focus on just the main story missions, you could reach the last boss in about 7 hours. Sadly, the final confrontation is a joke, so even the resolution doesn't leave you feeling satisfied.

There is one very interesting boss encounter at the midway point. You visit Mondo's dreams and expel a witch that is altering his memories. The game locks the camera in a way that is reminiscent of Turtles in Time or Battletoads and has you shooting at the screen to deal damage. It's the only entertaining moment in a level that is basically one long cutscene.

For the general consumer, I would say you could safely skip this game. Suda51 has far better work that you could experience. If you're a diehard fan, you will find something to like about the experience, but it's simple minded combat style might not produce enough joy to sustain the entire runtime.

As for myself, I kind of dug the game, but not really. I love the flashy artwork and crazy themes, but I couldn't latch onto the gameplay. There are only so many times I can tap my X button before I start yelling about how another enemy broke through my wall of swords.

The price isn't so bad, though, and there really aren't many action games on PC. To play any of Suda51's other titles, you're also going to need to have a console, so Killer is Dead isn't the worse purchase you'll ever make. I just wish it could have risen to the heights of Suda51's other works.

6.5/10

This game is like Takashi Miike, Tarantino, and Frank Miller had a baby.
And that baby had a dream.
And that dream took some peyote and rode through the desert on a unicorn for a few days. Surviving on nothing but cactus juice, sake, and smooth jazz.
And just as it started to come down some rat basterd jacked it up with methamphetamines, clamped jumper cables and a car battery to it's nipples and forced it to develop a video game.
Then the baby woke up slightly dazed and spoke it's first words...
"Killer is dead" is all it said.

Playing as an assassin named Mondo Zappa (a pretty metal name) you take on missions for a bald black man with half a robot face in which you......i really don't know, there's vampires, monsters, a 200ft giant with laser eyes, spiders with human faces on their backs, a demon train, a talking unicorn, aliens, spaceships, someone steals the planet Earth (??), you travel back and forth to a moon you can breath on without a spacesuit and use x-ray glasses to oggle women's boobs and lingerie then they have sex with you in exchange for a stick of gum.

I liked it.

Please port all of Suda 51's games to pc. I will give you all my monies.