Review: Killer Project

 Ed's H Game Review!

Killer Project

Game Type: Ren'py Sandbox Adventure

Creator: Pop Sex Studio

Version Played: ver 1.12.01

I probably shouldn't, but I have a real soft spot for this game. I'm probably more generous with it than I should be. I can say that I do like it and I am invested in it. I can also say that it has problems.

Killer Project is a game about a retired elite assassin, alternately called Jack (his new identity) and Ghost (his old moniker), trying to live a new life in White Raven City. He immediately gets embroiled in a giant conspiracy involving the local mob, his old bosses in the Syndicate (yes, really), and a mystery involving the murder of a friend's Yakuza-boss father, orchestrated by locals. 

The truth is, it feels very different from most other Adult games I play, and I play a lot of these games. The characters don't do the things normal creators would have them do. They certainly don't play by the usual H-Game rules. It's refreshing. And then there's The Girlfriend.

In most of these H-Games, there are explicitly or not a specific girl the author wants the main character paired with, either exclusively or as the head of a larger harem. Very often they are primarily and sometimes solely interested in the main character's life, rarely having any agency of their own. They exist to be the girlfriend, and let the less important girls have their own stories. While this game HAS a girlfriend, who it was and what she represents was a huge shock. At first I thought it was Milla, but she's seriously injured early in the story and spends most of it in a Hospital Bed. Aiko, the young sexy hacker and Yakuza refugee looking for her dad's killer? Nope, she becomes the main character's Girl Friday and stays there. The actual answer is - to me - very interesting. But the answer is actually a spoiler, so if you don't want to be spoiled, skip the next few paragraphs.

Partway through the story, the main character finds himself getting the attention of the bosses he escaped, the Syndicate. Not knowing it's their own, presumed-dead Ghost at the helm of the weirdness in White Raven, they dispatch Medusa, known as the greatest killer in the world at this point, to clean up the mess. And she gets into town, and immediately start proving her moniker isn't some in-name-only nonsense, she starts taking out some minor bad guys. And then she gets her hands on the MC's detective friend Angelika. She drugs her, ties her up, waits in ambush. Ghost arrives at Angelika's office, Medusa springs her trap... and starts making out with Ghost, clearly VERY relieved he is safe. Meet Maarit, aka Medusa, the main Girlfriend of the game. She's one of the only people he trusted with his escape plan, and in fact, she's his Plan B. If he's compromised, then her job is to come in, murder absolutely everyone who has seen either of them, and get him out of where ever he is.

The thing with Maarit is, as Girlfriends go, she's practically a revelation. On the one hand, she is entirely and completely devoted to Ghost. It is very clear they are very, very much in love. On the other hand, she also has her own agenda and her own ideas about how to keep him safe. If she's sufficiently threatened, she will scorch the Earth... including Jack's friends and lovers he met along the way. For this reason, she's actually in many ways an antagonist, if one who is entirely connected to the main character and will never hurt him, at least directly. And she is shown repeatedly and often that she is eminently capable of carrying out her dark mission, should the need actually arise. She has her own agency, plans, and is gloriously active in the plot.

This creates a dynamic that I've never seen in one of these games. There is a very real, tangible threat involved with not keeping the Girlfriend happy (which in this case, means unraveling the mystery in White Raven City before she determines the threat to be untenable), while still making it clear that she is absolutely to be desired by the player and the character both. Dangerous, elite, murderous, but also affectionate, loving, feminine. She's such a standout character that I'm honestly surprised there aren't more knockoffs.

And it kills me that main characters this cool, a storyline this twisty, and a cast of side characters this unique is stuck in a slog of a game. The game is grindy. Long stretches of time go by without anything to do, so you play around in the sandbox and see one of a number of repeatable sex scenes. And while the cast of bangable ladies is large and varied, it still gets old quick. And while the plot is very intriguing, the actual writing leaves something to be desired. English does not appear to be the writer's first language, and they don't seem to have a proofreader. 

I'm so torn on this game. It has some incredible ideas, and a truly fantastic cast, bogged down by messy UI and questionable writing. It has so much to like, but also so much to roll your eyes at. It's a real two steps forward, one step back sort of situation. But personally, subjectively? I'm glad this game is at least moving forward. The plot has me hooked. I'm a sucker for a good mystery. And this one is surprisingly good, dodgy English notwithstanding.

Pros: Surprisingly deep mystery. Some very cool character and narrative ideas. Different from the usual archetypes.

Cons: Need proofreading and better English. Grindy. Sex scenes get repetitive fast.

Overall: 6.5/10

https://www.patreon.com/popsexstudio