Killer7 splits into stores

The early media word, or words, in this case, on Capcom's Killer7 seem to be "bizarre, bewildering, and nonsensical." Now it's time for gamers to find their own descriptions of the shooter that seems to be a bit off the beaten path.

Capcom today announced that Killer7 is now available at retail for the GameCube and PlayStation 2. The previously GameCube-exclusive title was announced back in 2002 and was originally slated for a 2003 release. However, 2003 came and went, and Killer7 was still in hiding.

Meanwhile, its brethren known as the "Capcom 5," a quintet of "different" games from the publisher that included P.N. 03, Viewtiful Joe, Resident Evil 4, and the canceled Dead Phoenix, had their fates determined by making it to store shelves or being killed during development.

But after several delays and little news of its state, Killer7 reared its mug earlier this year and was announced for the GameCube and PlayStation 2.

The game, which Capcom describes as a "surreal action adventure game" (but could also be pegged as a cel-shaded film noir rail shooter with a bizarre, current-state-of-politics underlying message), "puts gamers in the mind of an assassin." This assassin, however, may actually be seven assassins all crammed into the mind of a wheelchair-bound Harman Smith.

The Killer7 are contracted to fight the Heaven Smile, a demonic group of explosive terrorists that has become a scourge across present-day locales, including Japan and Seattle, Washington. Gamers will be able to shuffle between each of the seven assassins on-the-fly, choosing each depending on his or her unique strengths and weaknesses.

The game alternates between exploratory hustling throughout the game's environments and simple first-person shooting. A storyline rife with deception is accompanied by highly stylized cel-shaded graphics and presentation that borrows from a combination of art house cinema and Japanese anime.

Killer7 is rated M for Mature and retails for $49.99. For more information on the game, head over to GameSpot's full review.