Somebody please explain Killer7, and I don't mean the storyline

[brazenhead89]

How on EARTH is this game so critically acclaimed?
Now, I'm not here to rip on Killer 7 (despite the fact I think it's the worst game I've ever played), I'm actually here for an explanation....
The thing is, you see, I'm an aspiring game critic and am amazed (or appalled, one or the other) at the praise lavished upon this game by critics and fans, and it's interesting to me to see what other people like about games that I perhaps don't. I was wondering if anybody could explain what it is about Killer 7's gameplay that people find so appealing, because right now it feels like a jumbled, messy, poorly-executed insult of a game.
Now, I understand for many that the storyline to Killer 7 (despite being almost deliberately incomprehensible twaddle) is the main draw, but I'm looking specifically at gameplay mechanics. - the pacing, the controls, the structure and so forth. I bought this game as I'm always on the look out for hard-to-obtain, cult status games and I really want to like Killer 7, but God damn, right now I never want to see it again.
So, presuming you fans exist, what is it about Killer 7 you find so enjoyable?

 

[Sarah Kerrigan]

It's the dude who createrd it. SUda 51. If you have played ANY game by him (andf I mean any. No More Heros included) he describes in a an interview, "I pull the ideas from manga, anime, stories and TV..msotly mixing things that make no sence and creating them into something that sounds intresting" Which is what he did with that amazing game.

 

[Hazy]

You make it sound like it was loved across the board, which couldn't be further from the truth.
People love or hate K7, with no real discernible middle ground.

I love the aforementioned story. It's dark, it's complex, it's sinister, and it's heartbreaking at points. It pulls from society, and from us. It's very hard to understand, but that's the point. It's eccentricities.

The gameplay is what throws many off - it takes some getting used to. I think they wanted to offer up a more cinematic experience; one that would only be hampered by traditional movement. Perhaps it's a throw back to arcade rail-shooters, your guess is as good as mine.

I'm at odds with trying to sum up what Killer 7 is attempting to say, but I honestly don't know.
Maybe we're not supposed to know. Maybe we're just not willing to learn. Maybe we're just along for the ride, and we're not supposed to ask questions.

I can't explain it - you'll love it or hate it for yourself.

In the name of Harman...

 

[Hazy]

and the freaky guy in bondage gear that would pop up like an in-game instructor just kinda freaked me out.

Iwazaru?

C'mon, how can you not love Iwazaru?

[sub]In the name of Harman...[/sub]

 

[brazenhead89]

I tried, honestly tried, to play Killer 7. I just couldn't puzzle it out. The strange graphics, the ear-splitting chatter they tried to pass for talking, and the freaky guy in bondage gear that would pop up like an in-game instructor just kinda freaked me out.

I think the most enjoyable thing about the game for me was: the day I returned it to the video rental store.

I still consider this the worst game I ever played.

Ditto that, man.
It seems to me that a lot of people like the storyline. I'm not even going to BEGIN there, but even so, each to their own.
I was more intrigued as to how people could consider the game mechanics particularly good. Enemies respawn right outside the doorways of rooms you're leaving, every time you need to resurrect a dead character you need to make return trips to and from a save room and the area of death - twice - the shooting is rendered near-impossible by asking you to have one of the triggers constantly pressed, and it seems you spend more time running and looking at loading screens than doing much else.
Apparently some people can look past terrible gameplay mechanics in order to appreciate a story. I don't know if I envy or pity those people.

 

[SturmDolch]

Isn't this the one where you hold R to run along a kind of rail system? It sounded weird.. Never owned it because it was rated M, and during my Gamecube years, my mom went through a "VIDEO GAMES ARE BAD" phase thanks to GTA III.

 

[brazenhead89]

Isn't this the one where you hold R to run along a kind of rail system? It sounded weird.. Never owned it because it was rated M, and during my Gamecube years, my mom went through a "VIDEO GAMES ARE BAD" phase thanks to GTA III.

Yep, that's the one!
In a wierd way, I would urge people to play it. Yes, it's the first game I've ever played that I HATED rather than just thought was bad, but in the same breath, I think that that's kind of interesting, and part of the reason I'm so interested in critique. I can think of so many games that I just completed and forgot about, simply because they weren't very good, but the curiosity that is Killer 7 will actually stay with me for quite some time as a game that genuinely provoked an excessive reaction from me.

 

[razormint21]

Killer 7 is an Arty game.

It has a very different aesthetic, from its writing, to its sound, to its visual style.
Its gameplay system is unconventional and severely flawed. But for what it wants to portray, it's the greatest mix.

It's not targeted to the mainstream, it's not user friendly, it's not something that wants you to have fun. What it is, is a game with a point to get across. It is an essay in form of a game. It cares less on how you perceive it's message via the story, art style, music and overall gameplay.

Empahsis on Gameplay. it's an FPS for lazy people. Rather than give you freedom to explore the emptiness of the room, the game just provides you a full view so you could focus on the task at hand.(Whether it was killing the smiles or finding the shining puzzle pieces) It has a persona switch system so that you are to balance workloads on your team. You could either assign killing to one guy and the puzzle stuff to another, or you could make all them able to hold their ground against anyone while doing a weird aesthetic puzzle.

It is critically acclaimed because critics do not review for the mainstream, they dont review games so that people would have an idea to buy them or not, they review because they want to point out the curves and the flaws that mainstream does not care about. And during at the time, Killer 7 was so weird and noticeable that it made a class of it's own. And pretentious people thrive on things that are unique.

it has a following because there are some people who dislike far more effective communication mediums like film or novels, and want the same interactivity that a game delivers. It was made to please a sure select class of people. And reviewers took notice of that. The general consensus was. if you're into this sort of weirdness, this should be the first to check out. And so the love spread like wildfire.

In the name of Harman...

 

[PureChaos]

i mainly like the puzzle solving side of it, plus it's just twisted

 

[The DSM]

The fact that its just so different.

It does make sence, and it doesnt have to.

Also the twisted sence of humour appeals to me.

 

[razormint21]

The Man who made it, has never made a bad game in my point of view. He can draw inspiration from the smallest of places. He's my rowmodel actually.

Personally i would disagree, Blood+ for the PS2 sucked. Samurai Champloo Sidetracked was a bit tolerable, but it takes lots of time getting used to.

This is Suda 51's problem really, for his games to look good, it needs careful analysis and critique. Not necessarily a competitive trait in the game industry...

EDIT:
But yeah, Suda 51 pretty much kick serious ass, with or without his lucha mask...

 

[armaina]

For me, the real draw was the story line itself. I knew there was something psychological about it, and I was interested in seeing the why of things through to the end. The combat was a bit odd I will say, can could be frustrating, the game play was also a bit awkward, like a rail shooter but you could choose where you were going on that rail, and could even turn back. I also loved just the surreal quality of it all, along with the artistic direction in the designs and rendering. Oh and a small thing, the characters you played had a different costume each chapter which I don't think is something you see in any game, save ones where you can change the outward appearance of a character.