An Unexpected Masterpiece

This game has been in development for many years, I did not know that until after I had made my purchase and finished it. I have read other reviews on this game and they seem to complain about 3 things.
1) The game has been in development for 3 years, why isn't it longer.
2) The story doesn't make any sense.
3) I CANT MOVE MY CHARACTER THIS IS STUPID!!1

Let me talk about each of those areas of the game first of all.

About the game not being longer, it took me around 20 hours to finish the game, I consider that decent, of course I also listened to all of the optional dialogue(that I could find). Some players may miss this dialogue completely because some of it is off the main path.

About the story not making any sense, the story is not 100% complete by any means. It leaves a lot of the story up to interpretation by the players, which very few games do. On the various forums dedicated to this game players are sharing what they think the story is. I have only seen one other game series have discussions like this, that is Silent Hill.

About people now writing a complete review but screaming about how they cant move thier character, I dont see the problem. In the game, you press the A button to move your character forward and the B Button to make your character turn around. When you get to a path where you can choose direction, you press that direction on the control stick so it is highlighted and keep holding down A. Thats all you need to konw about movement, thats all their is to it. It may sound unusual, but it actually fits the game very well, and after a while you forget you are doing it.

Graphics:
The graphics in this game are best described as... Original.
The graphics dont try to be ultra-realistic like most games, nor are they trying to be bad. The graphics are done in a unique cel-shaded format with heavy shadows. This really brings the game to life. Some people say that the characters have visible polygons, and that should never happen in games these days. I can see why some people would feel like that, but its nice to see developers trying something new, by actually EMBRACING the polygons as a unique art style.

Story:
The story... Well... Its complex to say the least. The story starts out simple enough with terrorists and how you are an assassin called to get rid of them... Then it goes all kinds of crazy directions including conflicts between the US and Japan, a cult leader brainwashing people in Texas, selling children and body organs, and an "online" battle against a mock Power Rangers superhero group. And thats all I can say about the story without maybe spoiling what you think the story is... yeah... Story and graphics are definately the games strong points.

Gameplay:
Most people didn't like the Gameplay, but I did. You run around in 3rd person mode on rail as described above, until you hear psychotic laughter, this means you need to push the R button to ready your weapon and the L button to scan for enemies. Once you find an enemy you aim for their critical spot (glowing yellow/green blob) to kill them in one shot and collect blood. You can kill the enemies without aiming at the critical spot, but the critical hit is usually worth it, it kills them fast and you get blood. There are two types of blood you collect, thin blood and thick blood. Thick blood is used to upgrade your characters abilities in specialties like Power and Speed, and character specific ones such as Invisibility Length, and Range. Think blood is used to activate a character's special ability or heal yourself. Throughout the game you will need to solve puzzles. The simpler puzzles include using a specific character to bypass a certain obstacle. The harder ones involve writing down numbers for a combination to a lock or winning a toy horse race or poker game.

Characters:
I felt it necessary to talk about the characters that you will encounter throughout the game in this review, because they are great characters and they really make the game what it is. The main character of the game, Harman Smith, is an old man in a wheelchair. The other 6 main character may or may not be split personalities of himself. One other main character is Garcian Smith, who is given the missions for the group, and he has the special ability to ressurect killed members. Another character is Dan Smith, who can fire "devil bullets" with 3 vials of thin blood. Most of the story seems to revolve around Dan and Garcian. You also have Kaede Smith, who carries a sniper pistol and can slit her wrists and spray blood to reveal hidden passages that are necessary for the completion of the game. There is also Con Smith, who is a blind kid who can ran extremely fast and see sound, he carries dual pistols. Kevin Smith is another character, he throws knives and can turn invisible. Coyote Smith is another person. He can pick locks and jump tall distances. The final character in this lineup is Mask De Smith whois extremely strong. He carries Dual Grenade Launchers and can perform wrestling moves on opponents and objects.

The supporting characters are equally strange and varied. There is Travis, who is the first guy that the main character killed, he is given little to no background. And Susie, who is just a head, she gives you rings and recalls all of the gruesome exploits of her past life. Iwazaru, who is a guy in pink bondage gear who hangs from a string until he is talked to, then flies away when finished. These are the more important characters that make up the Killer 7 game.

Sound:
The sound is actually noticeable in this game, in fact I have the OST its so good. The music fits each area perfectly and the evil laugher and gunshot sounds suit the game very well.

Overall:
I really, really enjoyed this game. Some people really enjoyed it, some people really hated it, there is no inbetween by what i've seen. Its either the greatest game ever to you, or the worst game ever to you. If you like the Silent Hill games you will definately enjoy this one. Or if you are tired of the same recycled game formula and want something new and different, you will like this.