I personally believe that Goichi Suda, also known as Suda 51, is one of the most inventive, enjoyable, and generally great game developers ever. This guy was on a real winning streak, going from “Killer7” to “No More Heroes” 1 and 2 to the less excellent but still interesting “Shadows of the Damned.” His more recent games have seemed to degrade in quality of writing and storytelling, but they have become more and more augmented in gameplay. With “Killer Is Dead,” disappointing as the story may be, there are lots of elements that make it definitely worth playing.

“Killer Is Dead” follows Mondo Zappa, a professional assassin with a mechanical arm, as he goes on a variety of adventures across the globe, fighting those he is paid to kill. The narrative is the most disappointing part. The story is boring, poorly written, and not even up to par with the likes of “Shadows of the Damned.” There are some interesting concepts, like the use of celestial bodies as symbols, and how the entire game can be interpreted as a chess game, but it never comes together well and remains a fragmented mess throughout. Sure, there are some enjoyable goofy things, but one can find weird stuff in a lot of places nowadays – just by playing one of Suda's older games.

However, despite the plot shortcomings, “Killer Is Dead” has a lot of good that outweighs the bad. First, this game is ­astonishingly gorgeous. The intensely cel-shaded look makes this Suda's most visually stimulating game. However, graphics this good come at a price. The game runs at a barely maintained 30 frames per second, the screen tears constantly, and the visual noise can be so overdone in combat that it can be impossible to understand what's happening. There's no lock on target, the characters all look similar, and the general flashiness makes the game feel too chaotic to be taken as a truly technical action game.

“Killer Is Dead” continues the arc left by “Shadows of the Damned,” so that must mean that this is Suda's best-playing game, which I believe is true. While not even remotely in the echelon of technical action games by Platinum, Itagaki, or Itsuno, “Killer Is Dead” has a fair level of strategy behind all the flash and noise. Mondo hacks, slashes, dodges, blocks, and shoots his way through a variety of levels and bosses. The enemy design is solid and varied, and the bosses are very cool. Sadly, the game settles for fairly loose execution, so the skill needed to play well isn't very high – but it maintains itself for the approximately seven-hour running time.

“Killer Is Dead” is far from the best game this year. The story's a mess, it has a lot of technical issues, and there's very little replay value. Yet it is an enjoyable little romp with a lot of fun to be had in enjoying the visuals and the engaging combat system.