Even the cool cover system can't save the monotonous gameplay.
The setting isn't remotely original, and features a well worn tale of a manipulated super soldier and his quest for retribution. In short, the player controls a grunt going by the name of Nick Bishop. But Nick is no ordinary ground pounder. He is in fact a super soldier that is remotely controlled by a character simply known as the Controller. But like any duped super soldier, Bishop has repressed memories that occasionally pop up and cause a lot of unwanted complexity for his handlers. Under orders from a man called Archer, the Controller uses Bishop to try and incite a war between two factions called North and West. Archer of course plans on war profiteering. But when a woman called Duchess enters the equation, things get decidedly hairy. In the end, a lot of people are killed, Nick finds out the source and meaning of his memories and the world is saved yet again. Original, no?
Well, some people might not really care about stories in any case (shame on you), and are thinking this game is a good buy for it's cool gameplay. Well, you're not exactly wrong, but you're not right either. While kill.switch incorporates a new and exciting feature called the "cover system", it is decidedly boring in all other aspects. After a few hours of excited playing, marveling at the cool cover system, the euphoria quickly wears thin. You soon notice that this is a very by-the-numbers shooter, with little replay value, or incentive to actually even finish the game for the first time. The game is hampered even more by it's boring mission design, since they usually just involve you getting from Point A to Point B and killing anything that moves in between. The game is also very short and has no unlockables, multiplayer support or bonuses to keep you interested.
kill.switch looks pretty nice, though the PS2 version gets the short end of the stick. It has a somewhat muddier look than the other versions and features less special effects. Even though animations look nice at first, they quickly turn repetitive and boring. Nevertheless, the game has a solid graphical quality and is nice to look at, regardless of what version you end up getting.
The music in kill.switch is forgettable at best, but the bright side is it isn't bad enough to detract from the game in any significant way. On the other hand, sound effects are top notch. Although the game mostly features a variety of gunshots and explosions, they all sound crisp, clear and powerful. A special shout-out goes to the weapon sounds.
So, should you buy kill.switch? When a game has bland gameplay to begin with, little replay incentive and a boring story, it can be pretty hard justifying a positive answer. While there is some good in there, mainly audio and kick ass CG, this game would be best as a rental. In fact, as a rental this game is a great choice. It's short, can be fun in limited bursts and has enough of a wow factor to amuse you for a while at least.