Previews// Killer 7: Exclusive hands-on access to latest build

When SPOnG first saw Killer 7, announced at the time as a GameCube-exclusive in the days when Capcom and Nintendo were snuggling up, we were about as excited as we could get about a game's announcement. Produced by Shinji Mikami of Resident Evil fame, the title promised art, blood and sex on tap in a proprietary software release that seemingly epitomised Japanese junk culture.

Then we heard nothing, nothing at all about Killer 7 for months. An E3 came and went, with the title showing in video teaser mode to a disappointed and increasingly sceptical public.

There was clearly a problem. We heard talk from retailers briefed by Capcom’s US office during E3 that the game had been pulled at the last minute, though no one seemed to know why. As the months tripped by, various sources claimed that the original game had been scrapped, with the entire play mechanic being revised. Perhaps the most damning piece of news regarding Killer 7 to reach SPOnG came from a product analyst based in Nintendo Europe’s German HQ. “It’s a point and click,” he said. “It’s a disaster.”

So over two years since it was announced and still with several months of development before the game is complete, what is Killer 7?

Capcom is nervous about its new offering, or at least its European office is. As with any satellite office serving a Japanese master, room for cultural manoeuvre is restricted to an almost claustrophobic degree. Just picture the scene: 'Here’s a very odd title developed to appeal only to a Japanese audience. We don’t care if everyone there thought it was an FPS – sell X units!' Never good.

Take into account that Killer 7 almost certainly started life as something very different to the product you'll soon be able to buy, and you have something of an unusual proposition on your hands.

Simply put, Killer 7 isn’t really a game. Well, of course it is a game: you run around shooting things and solving puzzles in a piece of software running on a piece of gaming hardware. Yet it still really is only masquerading as a game. As far as SPOnG can work out, Killer 7 is a playable graphic novel.

The controls during in-game non-action sequences comprise pressing the 'A' button to move and the 'B' button to turn about-face. When a corner is reached, you select your desired direction from a rapid menu system. You can only follow a pre-determined path, with the whole game entirely on rails.

Action sequences come into play when you hear the giggle of an enemy, but more about them later. At this point you hit the right trigger to enter shooting mode, then tap the left to scan the scene for baddies. That really is it. Action sequences comprise lining up the cursor with the analogue stick and firing using the 'A' button.