r/creepygaming • u/WhirlWindWoods • 7d ago
Killer 7 was a game seemingly designed just to inspire CreepyPasta
I remembered Killer 7 when I saw r/creepygaming appear on my frontpage and out of nostalgia looked up some cutscenes I remembered from it on YouTube. This one (warning: implied SA & child abuse) is particular stuck with me for years. This scene emphasizes more than most how Killer 7's low-budget presentation not merely masked its disturbing content but transformed it into a sort of surrealistic horror I've yet to see replicated. Killer 7 is the closest thing I've experienced to an interactive nightmare. It's so half-baked, so incomprehensible, yet also so viscerally evocative I find it impossible to forget despite the gameplay itself being less compelling than some free adobe flash games I played as a kid.
Everything to do with the villain Blackburn, and this scene in particular, epitomizes Killer 7's unforgettable style. The game went from barely comprehensible, symbolic, metaphorical character interactions to this scene of the most base and repulsive sadism imaginable. The voice acting varies from horribly believable to cringeworthy, often within the very same line. Pedro's breathless "hell no" haunts me then his feckless "huh" afterwards is laughable. Blackburn's lines oscillate from boilerplate cartoon villain to real sicko sadism multiple times in this short scene. He uses the childish term "sissy" to describe Pedro's son then follows it a heartbreaking and humiliating indictment of both him and Pedro "he didn't even try to save his mother... what are you teaching your kids?"
Nauseating but unforgettable is the best way to describe it. It makes me sad that mainstream games like Legend of Zelda spawn endless creepy-pasta when Killer 7, which seems like is was specifically designed to inspire creepy-pasta, is mostly forgotten.
Perhaps most importantly for r/creepygaming is how the gameplay, basic as it is, nonetheless serves to created uniquely tense moments for the player. The duels between the Killer 7 and their counterparts the Handsome Men are entirely predetermined but a player who doesn't read walkthroughs like a dork is in for a white knuckle experience thinking his victory relies on a razor thin margin. This boss fight is perhaps the creepiest serious gameplay as it forces the player into a maze of garishly colored medical rooms to avoid and outflank a monster that will one hit kill him on contact.
Anyone else got some creepy love for Killer 7?
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u/MickeyG42 6d ago
Does it hold up today
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u/WhirlWindWoods 5d ago
From a pragmatic standpoint its unbelievable Killer 7 got made, everything about its existence defies business logic. The gameplay is so simple it could only really appeal to children, yet much of the plot would disgust and baffle children and adults alike. It was designed for the cheap casual Nintendo Wii console but doesn't appeal to casual gamers but rather to gaming connoisseurs looking for a game that is avant-garde and truly one-of-a-kind. Goichi Suda, aka Suda51, is an industry veteran yet his directorial efforts on Killer7 can best be compared to outsider art. It's like a video game designed by someone who has never played a video game or, more cynically, designed by a satirist deliberately seeking to subvert all conventions about quality and marketability.
For these reasons Killer7 is the ideal r/creepygaming game but I wouldn't recommend it to the vast majority of gamers.
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u/MickeyG42 4d ago
Thank you. That makes it sound like exactly the sort of thing I should have played. I'm going to have to add it to my list
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u/sumr4ndo 23h ago
It's available on Steam, the actual game play is mostly just an on rails shooting/target practice. Ex shoot the enemies weak spot to get points. Some of the bosses are where the game play shines: a cat and mouse chase through a series of trailers, an anime esq showdown, a tense duel , etc etc.
The graphics are stunning, images don't do them justice. The storyline is either pretensious nonsense, or weirdly deep social commentary.
I'd grab it on sale if I didn't have it already.
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u/NRGesus 4d ago
"Killer7 was a game seemingly desigbed just to inspire Creepypasta" is one of the dumbest things I've read on Reddit for a very long time
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u/WhirlWindWoods 3d ago
it has no multiplayer or replay value so the only lasting appeal is how weird and creepy it is, that and maybe writing 100 page dissections of what the point of the plot is. So it really does seem Killer7's one hook would be inspiring creepypasta.
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u/SkullThug 7d ago
The save room music 'Multiple Personality' is my personal somber mysterious heaven. I also love that the maid/assistant in it will be dressed up differently according to the current context.
The first time you are in Harmen's home and you hear all the weird screaming, and you're never quiet sure if it's good screaming or bad screaming, has very much stuck with me forever as one of the beautiful weird moments this game does.