Gaming Target - PlayStation 2: kill.switch

Written by Chris Reiter on December 18, 2003

Full Review: The only game title to end and begin a sentence using smaller cased letters, and has nothing to do with the death of switches' damn't.

There was a time in history when wars consisted of two sides on two lines, standing right in front of each other with every one man armed with a rifle. How stupid were they? Since then, the way wars were done and the way people shot at each other have changed. People learned to take cover by hiding behind objects once the battle royal began, or in an assassin's case not even giving their enemy the slightest chance to sight their position. Gangsters, like today's gangsters, in urban warfare would even hold a handgun sideways just to look cool. As time moved on, movies have stylized and redefined such gun-crazy features, as in the case of The Bourne Identity when Jason Bourne holds one handgun regularly in one hand and a completely different handgun in the other, only an upside one, shooting straight away at the bad guy. Games eventually caught on, taking notes from cinemas from time to time, like how in Max Payne The Matrix was parodied by slowing down time and keeping it flowing in something known today as "bullet time." Lately, more and more games have tried different things. Considering the cooler the game is, the more talked about it's going to be. Namco, just like every other "me too," had to have a piece of the action. If you want revolutionary shooting action, you're going to get it. If you want bullets flying all around you, you're going to get it. If you want a one man army against who knows how many others in the militaristic-styled take-cover-or-it's-your-ass kill.switch, you can have it.

Do you remember what your life was like before you became a military commando? Neither does Bishop, the prototype of an evil conspiracy to ignite a global conflict upon the world. Once an ex-operative, Bishop's own body had been taken apart and put back together again with the most hi-tech circuitry, only to become the killing machine you see before you today. Who's the ring leader pulling Bishop's strings? And why was he chosen to bring the fight to other country's doorsteps? The single man serving as the single unstoppable weapon will fight to rekindle that memory that has been forgotten to him -- whether he wants to or not.

Shooting games come in all different shapes and sizes. There are your third-person squad-based ones where small teams function as one to overcome any obstacle. There are those lightgun ones, where cover and fast trigger blasting will save your hide more than once. And then there's kill.switch, a regular format of third-person action from which Namco combined those aforementioned game substances into a trigger-fest that takes uniqueness to a new height. You are not one of four men or some sort of cop with an itchy trigger finger, though. You are Bishop, a one man killing machine that is only human by some way or another. Bullets are a very dangerous item in real life, and in most cases kill. Just like life, bullets are very able to cancel Bishop's every run, and fast. That's where kill.switch's innovative concept steps in. Cover will be both your friend and your guide. Take cover. Take aim. Take over.

Inserting into a level means that you cannot breeze on by pointing your gun at everything and making an easy escape. Bishop doesn't have a whole lot of life to live, neither does he get much ammo. Being able to use various objects in each of the game's environments and by collecting ammo from enemy weapons will aid Bishop greatly, however. From the starting point of a level and up until the very end, you'll catch sight of various elemental objects that provide safety from bullets, where enemies also like to gather up in groups of three, to four, and sometimes even more at times positioning in windows, and ducking behind the exact objects you can. Ranging from tipped over cars, furniture, pillars, up against buildings, below ledges, and fixed buildups like stacks of pipes, Bishop and enemies alike will learn that as long as it's solid, it'll qualify enough to keep bullets out of their body meat. The enemies are smart too. Sometimes they'll man turrets to get you dead faster than normal, while at the same time others will work around the bend, creeping up on Bishop from the safety of objects, ducking in and out of range. They'll throw grenades your way, and use the terrain to their advantage. These exact abilities apply to Bishop in every way, so basically, the enemy and Bishop aren't so different from one another.

One feature that the enemy can't use against Bishop, however, is a strategy called blindfire. Blindfire works precisely how it sounds. You fire a weapon while leaned up against a protective surface without Bishop being able to see directly where his bullets are headed. Meanwhile, you'll be able to control which direction Bishop's gun is pointed, whether it is toward the window the enemy is standing in, or out in the open where enemies occasionally dash across to reach another hiding spot. This feature adds a whole new dimension to the realm of shooter games, as you can literally take your man down without ever being shot at. But blindfire has a flaw. Because Bishop can't actually see the target, the aim isn't always one hundred percent precise. Usually it's better to literally duck and then stand up or peek your head around a corner and proceed to open fire. Those methods are much more sufficient at downing a man, but also the riskier approaches as there can be many enemies firing from all directions at once. Bishop can only incur so much pain before he hits the floor himself.

Unlike the counterparts that fire at Bishop, this man, this hero of sorts, also packs a wider variety of death-dealing devices. With eight weapons in all, Bishop has at his disposal automatic, shotgun, sniper rifle, bazooka, and even grenade launcher types that can finish off enemies quick and dead and painful and all that junk, if you manage to get a shot off that is. Enemies in the game rarely step out into the open unless Bishop is seen. This means that enemies have nothing to do but to wait until you arrive at the required destination in every level, appearing only when the script tells them to -- which makes for a linear gameplay experience that isn't very deep, but still tough. For instance, Bishop's goals don't always revolve around moving from point A to point B. Within certain parts of the game he'll do that, only he'll have to reach multiple markers that allow him to place C4 charges, or gain non-manageable items that let him proceed to later sectors in the stage. Levels such as these are quite challenging depending upon the outline corridors rounded about. It's easier to find sanctuary against one of the many objects trailing to your next goto target in a tighter closing, when changing over to an ambiguous battlefield where little cover is present and where you'll need your firearms and your life bar to sustain the ordeal is a bit more jeopardizing. Weapons can easily be refilled from those enemies you terminate, but health is a different issue that replenishes from the limited amount of medpacks found in certain areas and very slightly when Bishop hugs a wall. Health is probably yours and Bishop's biggest concern. He doesn't have much life to spare and he can die just as easily as an enemy can. So remember -- bullet deflecting objects are your friend here.

Mastering all the elements involved in sticking to a wall and picking off foes like flies from one location may sound simple at first, but trust me it isn't. At least not right away. Through a tutorial level, players will be able to gain the skills they'll need when the real battle begins in the following stages. Bishop is able to perform roll maneuvers with the X button, chuck grenades using square, and force the butt of his gun on enemies with a tap of circle. All of these moves are simple to pull off, but some of them are either unnecessary, like in the case of using the butt of your gun in face to face combat when just a few simple shots will end Bishop's linkup, or misguiding, as in the grenade throws. There's nothing simpler than holding the square button and letting it go only to watch a frag or sonic grenade fly (emits an irritating noise that sees enemies agonizing over the sound when they stand out in the open because of it). The problem is that there's no marking system to dictate how long Bishop is able to fling one of these babies, at times leaving the guessing game to retire early when approaching danger has already caught up and tossed its own brand of explosive device in your direction. Bishop's more important strategies rely mainly on the back buttons and analog sticks, though. With these functions he can crouch or paste himself to parts of the level (L1), pull his trigger finger (R1), reload (R2), change weapons (L2), run (left analog), and shift the camera around or zoom in to sniping range (right analog/R3). Figuring out the controls isn't too difficult, albeit they're not fully efficient either.

War has its ups and its downs. One minute you're astonished by the beautiful scenery in a country you've never visited before. Then in the next minute, you're consumed by this surrounding, battling amidst and against foes who have been committed to the land years before your time, bravely facing death to die for it. kill.switch isn't exactly a war-related game with hundreds of men passing on left and right, but it is still a nice game to look at. Setting the stage in different parts of the world, Bishop will work his way through areas along war-torn desert streets, a ship sailing through a lightning shower, and various indoor facilities where enemies will meet him, greet him, and beat him -- unless you beat them first. Speaking of enemies, the whole bunch of them almost look identical in appearance. Different levels do feature different character models, but through just one level alone, you'll notice that enemies seem to dress only a certain way in their standard army uniforms. It's not like you'll get up close and personal with them a whole lot anyway, as the nearer you are, the more likely you'll be dying. Besides, most enemy bodies disappear after they've been shot enough to keel over, so don't expect much out of character models except for the hero of the game, Bishop. Not one to dress flamboyantly or anything, Bishop too wears a similarly predictable uniform as the enemies do, but indeed better on the whole in a demeanor that sort of resembles a missing cast member from the movie Black Hawk Down; spiked hair, raised goggles, elbow and knee pads and all.

Character animations are also a little iffy at times, although not too terrible. By that I mean enemies like to either stay behind objects and stand up, fire their weapon, or crouch over and run from cover point to cover point, proceeding to engage Bishop head on. At fewer moments they're either tossing grenades or slamming their weapon into Bishop, which in all is not poorly executed, though because their actions are almost exactly the same as what Bishop can do to these men, they are relatively the same modes of movement Bishop enacts himself. And from Bishop's angle, everything's seen brighter on the level. What really adds a sense of depth into the visual mix are the game's effects. kill.switch's gritty, moderately textured world, shows detail in the way in which you can spot in the distance shadowy figures approaching as rain pours down in a blurry atmosphere when lighting flickers into the night sky. You'll notice how windows break into shards of glass realistically after firing upon them, or how when explosive devices ignite, a glow surrounds its perimeter. Bullets fly and spark all over, and gas shivers out of vents in the floor. Ready to put on a decent enough performance, kill.switch isn't the prettiest game you'll ever see, but it does get the job done.

With a game name like kill.switch, you'd figure it to be a murderous game of some kind, which it is. You'll see a lot of killing, as will you'll hear it too. And for most part, that's what kill.switch is: a straightforward shoot-fest with a few on the side objectives leading to lots of bangs, booms, and the common effect of bullets spraying in the air, and into something else. It's with this audio setup you'll hear all of Bishop's weapons replicating what rings to the ears as rapid fire drumming along wooden boxes or steel bars differently, to running from grated floors to paved ones differently, and tucking and rolling or butting the enemy with your weapon differently. All the sounds of the game are a part from one another in their own respect, however, there aren't too many bits that exist outside the regular gunplay action, and the ones that are there aren't phenomenal as they come either. In every intense fighting scenario though, is a score of music that seems to fit somewhat in the rigorousness of treading the kill or be killed trade. Of electronic techno-rock compositions that switch tracks every level, stays at a steady pace or heats up when action is afoot, and blends into the style of level Bishop finds himself presently, these ballads are suitable for the like of kill.switch, but unfortunately like the audio, aren't the most memorable selections.

A third-person shooting action game in every sense of the definition, kill.switch also has a storyline to go with it. Bishop's story develops very differently than any game before it, interestingly stemming from memory sequences that keep getting longer and longer the more you play the game. From the beginning of certain operations too, Bishop and his mysterious commander will trade a few words with each other. One of the main problems here is that like with a lot of games, kill.switch's cast of voices are generic and in many cases repetitious. Bishop as you'd expect has a sort of rough male voice, and as does the commander. Although, their acting isn't very dramatic as they try to be for a role that only supports Bishop standing in one spot each time at the entry point in a level, making you believe he's communicating to the base when his lips nor his body doesn't even move. Enemies provide their support with typical filler-in placements. Not only does each of the enemies sound alike, but they'll sometimes say the same thing over and over again if there's a lot of them up against Bishop, and there will be. It's appealing to hear how enemies will shout to each other saying, "I'm going in!" or maybe, "He's right in front of you, you fools!" Only if there were more and better varieties between the proper parts would the acting stand out bigger.