Killer is Dead: Limited Edition (PS3) This is a DOUBLE HAT review. Both Paris Matic and Raymond Hernandez are tackling this one (but Paris gets the author bio box because the review was her idea -- fair's fair). Why DOUBLE HAT? Because some reviews are so complex they need two people/hats to do them justice. Enjoy. Killer is Dead (PS3) | Pic source: Amazon.com First Hat: Paris Matic From Suda51 and Kadokawa Games group comes a cell-shaded, heavily-filtered, cryptic story starring 35 year-old Mondo Zappa, who holds a striking resemblance to Sir Henry Cooldown of the No More Heroes series. At least that's who I thought this game might be about when I saw advertisements for Killer is Dead. Boy, was I wrong about that; it's the same developers though, so it's no surprise they might recycle some character design. Anyway, each "episode" focuses on executing the dark-matter manifested within someone. Story The protagonist, Mondo, stands tall with a slender neck and wears a sleek business suit. He wields the "Gekkou-Katana" in his right hand and has a shape-shifting, robotic left arm, AKA: "Musselback." Mondo does not work alone - he's recruited into an executioner's office led by Bryan Roses, a former-assassin cyborg and Vivienne Squall, your femme fatale boss. During missions, Mondo is occasionally assisted by a ditzy Japanese lolita, Mika Takekawa. We have to assume the game takes place sometime in the future, 2XXX, as it's revealed on all the end-mission time-cards; not to mention cyborgs and an evolving species of moon-demons, "Wires" are part of their everyday standard. Mondo travels across the globe and is sent as far as the Moon to complete his assignments. Locations on the map are dedicated to story mode, ranking side quests and "Mondo's Girls," which I will discuss later. Gameplay Pic source: Amazon.com Killer is Dead is a hack and slash game, which means players are rewarded for mashing buttons. If you want to gain style- points, you can be tactful by using the "Just-Guard" parry. For power-hungry players, you can upgrade Mondo's attacks and weapons in the pause menu during missions. I didn't realize this until much later, so I haven't maxed his godlike powers. Mondo's "Musselback" is powered by the blood of his veins, but I didn't use it as much as I thought. I admit the design looks cool though; imagine Mega Man's mega buster meets Tetsuo's transformation in AKIRA. I know this game is rated M for Mature and I feel that "Mondo's Girls" is the developer's fan service at best. It's as if they said, "Thanks for playing some levels of our game, now enjoy some T&A." In short, it's a sexy staring contest with Mondo and one of his lovely ladies; your goal is to get her in the mood by looking at her and giving her presents to claim her heart. If you are successful, she rewards you with a "Musselback" weapon! So if you want those add-ons, you better be one helluva playboy. Extras The Limited Edition comes with a download package called, "Smooth Operator." This includes bonus missions and alternate items that would normally be unlocked later on. When I played "Mondo's Girls" with the DLC Gigolo Glasses, I could ogle undergarments to my hearts content; but it didn't end there. The girls give Mondo booty calls during story mode, so my initial thought was I could unlock more upgrades or extra stuff. Wrong! The game insists on giving you another sexy stare down. A little risqué, but I can prove I pleased his harem, because I got the PS3 trophies for turning his women into love slaves. mm-hmm. The extra content in the Limited Edition include "The Music of Killer is Dead" video game soundtrack and "The Art of Killer is Dead," a modest 80-page book with character bios and concept art. When I first opened it, I was excited to see everything. Low and behold, there was a stamp on the first page reading, "WARNING! This book contains game spoilers. Continue at your own risk." So like a good little gamer, I put the book down and played on. The Limited Edition is worth it if you want to access the artwork and music, but if that stuff isn't important to you, I would recommend finding the standard version, roughly $20 less. Paris' Final Thoughts Now, some afterthoughts on presentation: I wanted to enjoy the story, because it looked bad ass. Like a movie filmed with dark filters and warped colors. They built a cast of characters from all around the world, but there were some things that went unexplained. So generally speaking, a dark-matter consumed their Moon and this caused some kind of mutation that turns people into demons ... That's about all I gained from it. The major antagonists would say, "You don't get it, do you?" and Mondo's response, "You talk too much. Let's end this!" - I'm with you, Mondo. It's clear that he's dedicated to his day job, but he's oblivious to his clients; so maybe my view of things got askew by the protagonist's bloodthirsty advances. "The Job ... Killer is Dead." - Mondo Zappa. Second Hat: Raymond Hernandez Limited Edition | Pic source: Amazon.com Here’s my take on the same game: Killer is Dead Limited Edition for the Playstation 3. I reserved and picked up this game on the day of its release. I normally do that for games created by its creators I like. Suda 51’s (guy who made it happen) the man! The guy normally makes games from a genre of gaming somewhat disappearing fairly quickly: Japanese games. It’s comforting to know that the genre is still kept alive. Of course that doesn’t mean it’ll be kept from being scrutinized honestly. Y’know cuz this is ReviewHat and we don’t get paid lol. Packaging The game comes out in a really nifty packaging. It comes with a mini art book with a small amount of spoilers (if you want to consider how later characters look like ’spoilers’), a music CD, and the game itself with some free downloadable content codes inside. The paper that has the DLC code imprinted on it has a recipe for soft-boiled eggs, which the main character apparently likes. I like that little piece of odd-ball that’s missing in Western gaming. All these things are encased in a cardboard case. Awesome. Stylistic Choices I play the game and it screams anime and coolness right? Then it has all the signature stylish assassin themes Suda is known for, like those from Killer 7 or No More Heroes. The music is very cool with tracks from Akira Yamaoka. The visuals are all strange, cell-shaded, and simplistic but with style. The game play is easy enough for the casual player but has enough features that make it so even hardcore players can dive into it with varied moves and attacks. Jiggolo Mode (a mini-game mode where Mondo shows ladies a good time and tries to be all James Bond to them but is actually a front to be a big-ol’ pervert) is a funny gag distraction that reminds me the game is Japanese. Nice. But then of course the ugliness comes out and shows its unwashed face. Not so nice. Ray's Final Thoughts I can nitpick all day but I won’t because I’ll be here for awhile and I remembered I’m just piggybacking on Paris’s review. Anything else and I’ll just be repeating her points eventually. BUT I will point out that its story got way out of hand. It lost its point quickly and a lot of times the characters talk in a way that only they themselves understand leaving you pretty much wanting to take you cellphone out and fiddle with buttons. Its dialog seems to be written for the people-who-have- seen-deep-movies-on-Netflix-so-now-they’re-experiencd-and-stuff crowd. Despite liking a ton of things in it, overall I was still disappointed with it. Normally I’m not overly offended by games with bad stories but good gameplay but this one really troubled me. I wanted to like it but with the game so deep into its own story, I just couldn’t do that. I paid my money in full with hopes that it’ll be really great but it was a gamble that I lost to then. If you’re into this genre, look for it in the bargain bins but if you’re just browsing around, skip it. *** Paris Matic is a mixed bag of talent and trivia that requires sorting. A former living-room DJ turned into vinyl enthusiast, music motivates her. Casual gamer & spectator; standard arcade junkie. Paris is a published writer and illustrator, available for discussion and collaboration. She enjoys blogging and would like to share her words with you. Paris wears her Cap on ReviewHat with pride. .