KIRA IZU DEDDO
DARKNOVAFORCE REVIEWZ
KILLER IS DEAD
Platforms: XBOX 360/PS3
Game Supports: Japanese and English text.
Audio Support Japanese and English.
Supports 1p only.
Played in Japanese.
Story: Mondo Zappa is a executioner who wields a sword and has a prosthetic arm, whose job is to kill the scum of the earth…only if he has a contract.
Good or Bad Story?: The story in the game is cut down in to episodes and each is treated like a day in life. Like what may happen in 1 episode may not have a connection to the next episode, but some episodes do have connection to each other. Also the story is funny at times and there are parts of some episodes that get really weird. G00D!
Graphics: Killer is Dead runs on the Unreal 3 Engine and it looks awesome. It takes the visual style of the HD versions of No More Heroes with the colors of Killer 7. While it looks awesome there are issues with the visual like in some areas it can be hard to see, there is also some screen tearing during game play, but not during the cut scenes, and there are some slowdown in some cut scenes.
Audio: The Japanese voice acting is really good. The music is well done and it features popular Japanese band Jesse and The Bonez.
Game play and Features:
Good: Killer is Dead is a action game where you can hack and slash, punch, dodge, tbag, take cover, and shoot. For slashing you have many options like just doing regular slashes allows you to perform combos and if you reach your maximum combo then you can use a Final Judgment which is a finisher and depending which of the 4 face buttons you press you get a unique reward. And there is also Adrenaline Burst which is a 1 hit finisher(except on bosses) that can be activated at anytime as long as you have blood in your blood meter(and how much you have determines how many enemies you can use it on). Now Mondo has a punch that can be used in combos; however, its main purpose is to break an enemies guard so if your opponent is blocking just puch him/her as many times as needed to break their guard.
Dodging is essential to the meta game as it can help you escape from many situations. If you can perfect a dodge you can perform a counter attack called Dodge Burst which gives you a freebie assault on your target. The dodge button also allow for guarding like a regular guard and a Just Guard that causes the enemy to lose balance and provide you a freebie attack. You can also shoot at enemies by aiming you metal arm if you have blood in your blood meter, you can still shoot if you don’t have blood but the shots will be weak. When aiming you can take cover behind object and nothingness as well this allows you to tbag your enemies once their dead. This game allows you to check your stats like what level your health and blood meter are at and allows for upgrading on the fly. There also tips in the loading screen and in the office. The difficulty can be adjusted for each level before starting. Some object are destructible, enemies can hit each other, and enemies can drop items after their killed. The game also contains some weird boss fights, main missions, side missions, gigolo mission(dating the girls), and challenge missions.
Bad: The game’s camera is bad as it can make it hard to see in small rooms and it zooms out, but never tends to follow the character. There is no lock-on and since it doesn’t have 1 it makes many of the boss fights tough. Even though you can take cover you can’t shoot while in cover. And if you exit a level at any point when you come back you will have to redo the level from the beginning.
Overall: Suda 51’s latest game is really good, weird, and funny just like his previous games. The game is similar to No More Heroes in terms of combat, but still ends up having its own identity. It has issues, but I got to say that Killer is dead is still 1 of the best action games of 2013. A must have if you want to try something that is out of this world.
Likes: Graphics, game play, music, voices, story, and weirdness.
Dislikes: Camera, screen tearing, no lock-on, no aiming during cover, slowdowns, some darkness in the graphics, and restarting levels if exiting.
Wish list: better: Camera, no screen tearing, lock-on, aiming during cover, no slowdowns, easy to see in the darkness in the graphics, and actual checkpoints in a level.
SCORE: 4.5/5 REALLY G00D!
Recommended for fans of: Grasshopper Manufacture, Killer 7, No More Heroes, Action, comedy, weird, Platinum Games, Lollipop Chainsaw, Shadow of the Damned.
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