Killer is Dead's Visuals Defy Explanation

Killer is Dead, the newest game from Grasshopper Manufacture and Suda 51, has made apparent its level of grindhouse violence, sexuality, and insanity before, but it never hurts to have another trailer making their point clear, and this trailer features more straight-up gameplay than the previous ones.

The trailer's dialogue is in Japanese, but we all know that it wouldn't be any more comprehensible with dialogue in English. Classical music makes an appearance as it has in previous trailers, and its juxtaposition against the buckets of blood and rampant zaniness is still just as striking. Mondo Zappa, the protagonist, looks as sharp as ever, with a few cinematic sequences featuring hard liquor and anime-inspired pockets of brutal violence giving way to the most focused look we've yet had of the gameplay.

Suda 51 has never presided over games with the tightest or most capable gameplay around, usually letting the visceral experience carry the game, for better or worse. That doesn't appear to be the case here, however, as the combat looks awfully fast and flows far better than I expected from a Grasshopper game, making it not dissimilar to the feel of Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance. Also similar to Revengeance are a few moments of Mondo mercilessly dicing up his enemies; is there an equivalent to Blade Mode here? Set to explosively colorful visuals, this does look like it'll be either a seizure-inducing catastrophe or an intensely absorbing experience.

Killer is Dead will be released in Japan on August 1st, with US and European releases set with a currently unknown release date. It will be available for the Playstation 3 and Xbox 360.