Not for everyone, but excellent for the niche.
I had a lot of doubts about buying this game. Generally, reviews about it are either really positive or really negative. So until now I refrained from purchasing it.
And well, now that I spent a good deal of time with it, I'm still a little puzzled about why the developer made it like it is, but nevertheless I'm very intrigued by it still. So I'm really happy I did buy it after all.
First of all, I find the control scheme in this game very tight, so it's just a absolute pleasure wandering around in Killer 7's world. It's a little counter intuitive at first, but I got used to it really fast, like in half an hour.
Also, the combat system is thrilling. You have to scan the area for enemies, then quickly aim for their weak spots, or else you get blown up: keeps giving me the chills. :-)
Graphically, Killer 7 is also very pleasing for a GameCube/PS2 entry. Its colour palette is reminiscent of Okami's, and the cell shaded art style gives the game a certain 70s like cool, even though the game is situated in the 2000s.
The soundtrack is a mixed bag. I like most of the songs and sounds I heard so far, but I don't really get what's the deal with the "voice overs" (if you could call them that) of the NPCs.
Save points are rather scarce in the game, which I find a little annoying, especially since other aspects of the game like the controls, seem to want the simplify things. I don't mind a hard game, but I want to be able to save more oftenly than Killer 7 allows me. Now I had to backtrack in order to save my progress if I wanted to suddenly quit the game... :(
So, all in all, the core elements of the game, like the gameplay, the graphics and sound are well executed in most cases. Which makes for an excellent game for anyone willing to put some effort into it. That's why it's not a game for everyone. I understand if some people just want to play games the way they're used to, instead of changing their ways for some oddball effort like Killer 7. But for those willing to try something new: this game is anything but broken, so fear not if you have been considering buying it.