A game that may be too close for comfort

VIDEO GAMES have always courted controversy. Only last week Hillary Clinton was telling the US Congress how interactive gaming was a disgrace and something had to be done. Hillary was getting all steamed up about a hack for Grand Theft Auto that "unlocks" some dubious adult entertainment.

Over here it could be Killer 7's subject matter that attracts the condemnation of certain less discriminating tabloids because, on paper, this remarkable game could have been ripped from today's headlines.

Set in the present day, Killer 7 tells the story of a new wave of terrorism that is spreading fear and panic across the world. The threat goes by a seemingly innocent name, Heaven Smiles, but there is nothing blameless about an army of walking bombs under the control of the world's most wanted terrorist.

In order to combat the threat of these indiscriminate killers the authorities decide turn to the world's most feared assassin, Harman Smith.

But Smith is confined to a wheelchair. The assassin's punishing line of work has left his mind in tatters and he is the victim of severe multiple personality disorder.

So the scientists take the broken pieces of Harman's mind and find a way to make them real. As the game says they become "killers from hell working for heaven".

Switching between his seven different personalities, Harman employs each character's abilities to terminate targets he deems "deserving to die". Your job is to take them to war against chief bad guy Kun Lan and his walking bombs. Kun Lan was once Smith's friend and is now his deadly enemy.

If this far fetched plot sounds pretty uncomfortable you would be right. No wonder Capcom describes Killer 7 as "hard edged" adult entertainment. This is not a game for children. There is even a brief sex scene (don't tell Hillary). Killer 7 gets away with such things because the Heaven Smiles killers are transformed into (mostly) invisible monsters and the whole game uses cell shaded visuals.

All of Harman Smith's personalities have abilities that can be upgraded during the course of the game.

The method of control will come as a shock to gamers brought up on free roaming 3-D actioners like Grand Theft Auto. Instead of using the pad or analogue stick to move a character, you press a button. One press makes a character run forward, another turns them 180 degrees and sends them off the way they came.

You're alerted to the close proximity of a bomber by its telltale laugh, but can't see it because of the camouflage it can use. When you draw your weapon the game switches perspective from third to first person.

The concept of multiple personalities has never been tried before but, thanks to tight scripting and genuinely innovative gameplay, it works superbly here.

The shooting sections are frantic bursts of action and the fairly traditional action adventure plot keeps the game rattling along. Blood is the game's major currency. You collect it and use it to upgrade your personalities as the game progresses.

If one of your personalities dies in battle you take control of Garcian, who must race to collect the body. He is the only character who can see through the cloaking device used by the Heaven Smiles so there is no excuse for getting him killed. If you do it is game over.

We shouldn't be surprised that the game trades freedom of movement for atmosphere and cinematic set pieces; it is, after all, the product of a collaboration between Shinji Mikami, the creator of the Resident Evil series, and Hiroyuki Kobayashi, who oversaw the much lauded Resident Evil 4.

It's likely to be a game you'll either love or loathe. I couldn't help but applaud Mikami/Kobayashi for their boldness and daring in bringing such an uncompromising vision to our small screens. It plays like a gory film noir for the 21st century.

If Killer 7 points the way to games of the future then adult players can be certain the industry is in better shape than the myriad third person shooters would have us believe.

* Cricket fans nearly got more than they bargained for when naked images of glamour girl Lauren Pope were set to feature in the new Brian Lara International Cricket game.

Lauren could be seen running out naked onto the cricket field as Lara, the West Indies Cricket legend, prepared to smash another boundary during a test match.

The cheeky artist at Codemasters, publishers of the title, left the sequence in the game, only for it to be discovered at a later stage.

It was removed from the game just in time and replaced with the image of a male streaker jumping over the stumps during an England test match.

Virus Watch

In 2005 a chain letter circulated across the Internet urging mobile phone users to add a special number to their cell phone directory in case they had an accident and next of kin details could not be found.

The chain letter advised recipients to enter an "ICE" (In Case of Emergency) entry to their directory of phone numbers which could be used by emergency staff if required.

The campaign, started by British paramedic Bob Brotchie who works for the East Anglian Ambulance Service, was launched in early 2005.

Shortly afterwards, hoax messages began to spread across the Internet claiming that ICE was a virus.

East Anglian Ambulance Service has confirmed that rumours of ICE being a virus are a hoax.

More information about the real ICE campaign can be found at www.icecontact.com

Published: 29/07/2005