Xbox 360 PS3

Killer Is Dead

Hack and slash/Beat 'em up

Time to beat: about 10.8 hours
Plays offline: Yes

Overview

Killer Is Dead is a hack and slash video game developed by Grasshopper Manufacture. It was released for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 in August 2013 and for Windows in May 2014. It is published by Kadokawa Games in Japan, Xseed Games in North America and Deep Silver in Europe.

Killer Is Dead is an action game where players take control of protagonist Mondo Zappa. As Zappa, the player goes through twelve story-driven missions selected from a world map; they range from short linear levels to longer levels that require exploration. Some level areas also require the activation of switches to move forward. During missions, Mondo fights a variety of enemies using his katana and cybernetic gun arm; using the latter changes the camera angle to an over-the-shoulder perspective.

Killer Is Dead is set on a near future version of Earth, where space tourism and cybernetic enhancements have become a reality. A key element of the story is Dark Matter, a malign energy stemming from the dark side of the Moon that negatively affects weak-willed humans and generates mindless monsters called Wires. It is the job of a government-funded group dubbed the Bryan Execution Firm to kill those infected with Dark Matter using people known as "Executioners", although doing so will inevitably lead the chosen Executioner to be overwhelmed by Dark Matter.

Planning for Killer Is Dead began in late 2009 and proper development started in early 2011. Suda was inspired to title the project Killer Is Dead after The Smiths's song "The Queen is Dead". Initially the title was only a placeholder; over time Suda felt the name matched the style he wanted. The game was announced in April 2012, the debut trailer premiered in January 2013. Suda describes it as a "Dark Side 007" game, drawing inspiration from Ian Fleming's James Bond books and films.

The game was released in summer 2013, published by Kadokawa Games in Japan and Marvelous USA in North America. Deep Silver, the European publisher, and Sony Computer Entertainment Asia, the publisher for the Asian release outside Japan, announced that these editions of the game would include both English and original Japanese voice acting tracks.

During its first week, the PS3 version of Killer Is Dead debuted in fifth place, selling just over 17,700 units. By the end of 2013, the PS3 version had sold a little over 23,000 units. In the United Kingdom, the game did poorly during its debut month, reaching twenty-sixth place behind many other new titles including Lost Planet 3 and Rayman Legends. As of May 6th, 2025 the games has sold over 1 million copies.