Katana ZERO is a 2D side-scrolling action game, developed by ASkiisoft and published by Devolver Digital. Inspired by the titles like Hotline Miami, the game features no health bar, forcing the player to deal with enemies quickly, deflecting and evading their attacks. The game follows the story of Subject Zero, a katana-wielding mass murderer, who takes to the crime-infested street of dystopic New Mecca to hunt down the contract provided by his psychiatrist. KZ features twelve 2D levels, called “Tapes”, which the player can replay.

80s-style gameplay

Katana ZERO draws heavily from the classic arcade side-scrollers of the 80s, as well as their modern renditions, such as Hotline Miami. The player controls the character of Subject Zero, leading him through 12 enemy-filled levels. Zero is armed only with a katana which he can use to slash his enemies to pieces. He can also use environmental traps to deal with the opponents, as well as rolls and wall-jumps to avoid attacks. Dodging will be crucial for the player’s survival, because like in Hotline Miami, even one hit is fatal. Completing the game rewards the player with a Speedrun Mode as well as the Hard Mode, which makes the already difficult game even more challenging.

A story of brutal recovery

The plot of KZ follows Zero, a psychopathic murderer, armed with a katana. He used to be a member of the Gamma NULL Project, involved in creating super-soldiers who would fight for New Mecca during the Cromag War. The project was a failure and Zero was left mentally scarred, haunted by the nightmares of the war. Zero becomes an assassin, working on behalf of his psychiatrist, eliminating targets involved with the trafficking of Chronos, a hallucinogenic drug. Believing that killing is part of his therapy, Zero hunts his marks on the streets of New Mecca, hoping to finally free himself from never-ending nightmares.  

Reception

Katana ZERO for PC received positive reviews from critics and players. While the reviewers noted that the game could be beaten in five to six hours, the shortness of KZ was fully compensated by the amount of action-packed into the gameplay. Reviews favorably compared Katana ZERO to Hotline Miami – both game feature no health bar, brutal action and 80s-inspired arcade gameplay.

Key features:

• Brutal, Hotline Miami-style gameplay, where one wrong move can end in the player’s death.
• Intriguing narrative, focusing on the protagonist’s mental health struggles
• 2D environments filled with traps for the player to use on their enemies