In every visual aspect, Killer 7 is unique. It's done in a cel-shaded animation, and the menus, cut scenes and gameplay all offer a slightly askew, high contrast view of the world. The use of color is impressive in how it paints the world in stark contrast one moment and inky confusion the next. Lots of reds and blacks put the player in a dark, gritty mood for both the action and the lulls. It's a very unique presentation and it takes some getting used to, but the more you play it the more you'll appreciate it. It's bold, very different, and executed consistently.

Your first few steps through the game come slowly. Movement is only available in a set direction, and you'll be exploring from point to point one step at a time and on predetermined path. When you come to an intersection, you can highlight your choice using the analog stick, then the new area loads (very quickly most of the time). Within each small area, you can only walk one direction, aim, shoot and spin around. At first it seems very confining, and in most other games it would be hard to accept. But Killer 7 has a bigger picture in mind, and you'll have to surrender your natural urge to wander around freely.

The Heaven's Smile nut cakes come in droves, and you'll be dispatching them and their maniacal laughter by the score. At times, they're hard to see among the brightly colored landscapes of the game, but you can target them automatically and usually pick them off without too much trouble. When you're moving, it's in a third person perspective. You have to switch to first person to actually take a shot at someone. Most of the action boils down to various forms of target practice. Some up close, some a little farther away.

The more enemies you dispatch, the more blood you collect to use as a serum to upgrade your characters. And only one of you can really die, so if you get taken down just switch to the one who can raise people from the dead and keep on shooting. This makes for some backtracking, and the overall confusing nature of the game's action and story just add to a package that is so odd that by the time you get used to it, it's almost too late. It doesn’t help that most of the dialogue seems to mean absolutely nothing. There are some very interesting moments in Killer 7, but getting there can be a bit mind-bending – and not always in the fun, experimental ways of mood-altering medication. The best advice may be to enjoy the ride and don't think too much.

Throughout the game, you'll be exposed to subtle and not-so-subtle jabs at both culture (American and Japanese) and politics. Some say that art offers as much or as little for interpretation as the consumer wishes, and if you wish it, you could interpret a lot about Killer 7 that might seem like a stretch. At times, it seems to stray much further toward art than it does a game, and that's fine. But this isn't exactly Shakespeare, either. The delivery is a little clumsy to be taken too seriously as social commentary.

Ultimately, Killer 7 is still mostly a game. It's a story driven game with lots of style. The action is a little different than most action games or shooters and some might not have the patience required to enjoy it. But if you let the game take over just a little bit, the experience is an interesting one. It's extremely weird, but the characters and dialogue is going somewhere. What will keep you playing isn't the gameplay, or even the story, exactly, but just wanting to figure out what the hell is going on. Let it take you with it and you won't be sorry.