Killer is Dead Review – Love and Kill

After the splendor of No More Heroes, the CEO of and creative director of Grasshopper Manufacture - Suda51 - is back with the sparkling Killer is Dead: a third-person action adventure that follows Lollypop Chainsaw, Sine Mora and Shadows of the Damned in this closing part of the generation. Among hundreds of productions that increasingly advocate top-notch graphics or an obsessive quest for originality to stand out from the crowd, the last delivery of Suda Goichi arrives with the intention to impose a different way of understanding the video game entertainment as a whole.

 

The first, stylistic choice is to rely on a clever use of cell-shading rather than looking for photo-realism, as the most successful productions currently do. Killer is Dead, thanks to the strong contrast light / shadow, use of colors, light colors and dark tones, is emerging as leading manga or anime. Even the style of the characters is convincing, especially that of the assassin Mondo Zappa, our main character who has been hired by a mysterious government organization that is responsible for equally mysterious murders. Mondo is dressed in an elegant way, holding a large katana with his right hand, while the left arm has a dual function: secondary weapon or tool to overcome inaccessible steps.

 

 

Mondo is accompanied by the exuberant Mika, who has the task of rescuing and resuscitating him in the event that he passes away during a mission. Then there’s Vivienne, a sexy coordinator who follows him via radio and comes to his rescue by offering a “divine” kind of support. Finally, there’s the head of the team, Bryan Roses, more machine than man. Mondo, Mika, Vivienne all work for the boss at Bryan’s Executioner Office, and the purpose of the game is to complete all twelve missions that will be taken over by Mondo Zappa during the adventure. In addition to the classic missions, the game by Grasshopper Manufacture offers nice side quests that brought me more than a smile, especially those where Mondo has to play the part of a “Gigolo” in particular, showing an unexpected side of his personality.

These are used to obtain possession of weapons and upgrades. There are also quests offered by the nurse Scarlett, which seriously put to the test our skills as a fighter and reward the player with valuable “currency”.

 

There are, in fact, many different “currencies” in “Killer is Dead”: blood, moon crystals and diamonds. The first is used the power of the bionic arm of Mondo, the crystals serve as the currency of the game world and are used to buy gifts with which to conquer the girls in the missions Gigolo; diamonds, finally, represent the character’s hit points.

 

 

Killer is Dead is made of a sequence of missions in which we drive Mondo along some of the most beautiful levels ever seen in a video game. It almost seems like a distorted “Wonderland”, made even stranger and crazier by the brilliant mind of Suda51. As every self-respecting action game, even in this one you make a lot of combo during the fights, the most effective of which can only be unlocked after accumulating a certain amount of money to spend. Inevitable “as cheese on macaroni”, comes the element borrowed from role-playing games, thanks to which the protagonist evolve their skills and efficiency in battle thanks to the skill points accumulated.

 

Among famous quotes, a story hard to follow and to interpret, Killer is Dead delivers those ten / twelve hours of crazy, light-hearted and carefree fun, strengthened by nice graphics, animations and compelling music. A mention dedicated to dubbing: the Japanese and the British speech are corroborated by the contribution of Ryotaro Okiayu (the voice of Alucard in Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, among many roles) and to Patrick Seitz (the voice of Arthas Menethil in Warcraft, for example). It’s ‘a game that fully satisfied my desire of challenge, thanks to a well-calibrated degree of difficulty. Let me warn you though, as the game can be quite hard on tougher levels.
The only notes that I can move against this beautiful and rare action adventure are those concerning the lack of originality (Killer is Dead seems to be the illegitimate son of No More Heroes and Bayonetta) and a plot that might very well leave many players confused, failing to understand the personality and motives of the characters. Also, the choice of cell-shading might not appeal to everyone, and ultimately I have to register some frame rate drops now and then.