Have you ever watched a film or a TV series, read a novel or a comic book, or played any type of video game that was so f*cking mind-boggling & completely insane that it literally just becomes one of your main interests for a long time and doesn’t leave your head for a single day? For me, that term belongs to none other than Killer7.
For starters, Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty is one of my favorite video games of all time, and it’s not just because it has such a well-written story, but because of how relevant the game is in today’s time with its themes, the narrative, and everything it talks about, as well as the fact that I played it during one of the lowest times of my entire life, so you can tell how much it means to me as a person. Ever since I played it well over a bit of a year ago, the game just hasn’t left my mind since I finished it, and for many months after that, I continued to play several games, and as good as some of them are, NONE of them managed to capture the same exact profound nature that Metal Gear Solid 2 did.
That was not until I completed Killer7 on December 28th, 2023 at exactly 2:33 PM where I found a game equally on the same level, if not even crazier. And, to this day, the game has not left my brain at all, and I will remember it till the day I die.
Suda51 is an interesting case for me, as the only game of his that I played before Killer7 was No More Heroes. While at the time, it was pretty cool, there was nothing TRULY outstanding about it that proved to me why Suda was considered one of the best video game developers on the market (PS I take this back now NMH is one of my favorite games lmao), but Killer7 felt as if it uplifted literally everything good about the video game medium and took its own spin on it which no other video game could possibly recreate. It’s almost like if he sniffed 10 pounds of cocaine before he would go to the studio to work on the game, and the insanely absurd nature of it all further proves that.
The narrative and the overall story are what I found to be the best parts of the entire game, as I was literally hooked from start to finish, even if I could not comprehend whatever I f*ck I even saw. Like, the whole plot revolving around Japan’s role within the circle of US politics and how Harman’s never-ending fight with Kun Lan serves as an allegory for the conflict between the East & the West just goes incredibly deep, and it also has one of the better portrayals for how terrifying some of our world leaders really are. Outside of all this, you even have the smaller storylines within the game, including the whole Blackburn subplot where we got to see more of the entire idea of sick individuals with how they can easily go unnoticed whilst bigger issues overshadow any problems that we might have with them, and there is just more and more to talk about in regards to the full story of the game which I still did not get a full grasp of.
The game also has one of the best forms of gunplay that I have ever seen within a video game, as it’s not too repetitive, not too crazy, rather it perfects the formula of how guns should be used in a combat system, not to mention the way in which every Smith has their own balance with how you use them. Also, the whole linear structure that forces players into following one set route is brilliant, and f*ck the people who think it sucks, because it absolutely rocks, more so with how it literally reflects on the game’s message that the world just doesn’t revolve around you, and that in the end, it will just be the same outcome, no matter what we do. If anything, there are so many things to get out of Killer7’s messages, and this is one of the many that benefit the game in its entirety.
I obviously can’t complete this review without talking about the art style, because holy sh*t, it’s so clean & stylish that it's genuinely amazing to just look at and see how vibrant it is. Like, how did we reach a degree of style so well during the 6th generation and completely f*cking fall off with the 8th-9th generation of video games being mostly over-realistic AAA movie games that are almost completely devoid of any sort of substance? Like, there definitely are some amazing games being released within this period of time, but otherwise a lot of them just don’t hold the same level of creativity or imagination as what we got around twenty to thirty years ago.
I don’t think that video games as a collective medium will ever reach something as insane as Killer7 ever again, and this is truly just one of the best works of art I have ever had to experience. As of right now, there is quite a long way to go in life for me, but truth be told, I will always remember this game, as both it and a few other of my favorite games have become my primary inspiration for writing online about all of my interests.
“Harman, the world won't change, all it does is turn. Now, let's dance.”
