RayCarsilloWrites.com

I’ll readily admit to being a Suda51 fan. Some may consider his games to be niche fare that fails to live up to its potential, but usually, there’s something about his typically zany ideas that draws me in. Whether it’s taking control of a schizophrenic hitman, a lightsaber-wielding assassin wannabe, or a chainsaw-toting cheerleader, I’m definitely a Suda guy. So, it’s no surprise that I was looking forward to his latest, Killer Is Dead.

Normally in a review, I’d give a brief synopsis of the basic plot before talking about some of the game’s weak and strong points—character development, pacing, that kind of stuff. As games have gotten more and more cinematic and story complexity has evolved, narrative has definitely become a focal point for me when it comes to reviews.

But I’m going to be completely honest with you here, folks. Killer Is Dead left me confused, bewildered, and, worst of all, frustrated and wholly unsatisfied, to the point where I’m not even sure what I played—or that I could properly describe it.

The basic gist of what I was able to decipher is that you play as a man named Mondo Zappa. He’s another assassin in the typical Suda style, and he travels to fantastical locations—including the moon—in order to track down his targets. Everything after that gets kinda hazy.

I’ll put it this way. If you couldn’t stomach Suda before, forget it—Killer Is Dead isn’t going to change your outlook on the man. But even if you’re like me and appreciate his special brand of insanity, this might be the point where you finally lose your patience with his wacked-out concepts.

Aside from the terrible plot, much of the side content left me wanting as well. Sure, some challenge missions add to the gameplay variety as you race against the clock or take down certain foes in a field of baddies. But the “courtship” minigame is nothing more than a tacky, half-baked idea that somehow wormed its way into the final product.

Not only do these segments—which revolve around staring at the clothed bosom and crotch areas of random girls in the hopes of then bringing them to bed—feel pointless, but they even cross the line for me and feel a little degrading and insulting. And this is coming from a guy who loved Travis Touchdown’s blatantly perverted flirtations with Sylvia Christel in No More Heroes! My bar’s set pretty low on the politically-correct front, but this was still a bit much, even for me.

Despite the shoddy story and lewd minigames, there’s still a silver lining to Killer Is Dead: It feels like Suda’s finally honed his hack-n-slash gameplay to the point where it’s now quite enjoyable. You can smoothly mix in Mondo’s arm cannon mid-battle, and a blood meter allows for special executions. Meanwhile, some foes require balancing normal attacks with parries and counters, which prevents Killer Is Dead from devolving into a mindless button-masher.

The combat also includes some RPG elements. Mondo can learn new assassination moves, level up his abilities, or unlock additional mechanisms in the arm cannon. While most of the cannon’s extra moves aren’t necessary beyond the standard machine-gun mode you start the game with, the dash abilities and health regeneration become vital as you move through the various missions.

It’s just a shame that, outside of the enjoyable core combat, Killer Is Dead is such a mess. The plot’s incomprehensible, while the boss battles lack the memorability of past Suda games. The visual style is a beautiful evolution of what he’s done before, but I’d rather listen to a stray cat’s starving mewl in the middle of the night than endure any more of the inane voice acting and dialogue found here. Some of the content feels tacked on and unnecessary, even though the game clocks in at a mere six hours on Normal difficulty.

As much as Suda fans may want to like Killer Is Dead, this may finally be the game where the over-the-top antics are just too much—even for them.