Killer Is Dead is an action video game where players take control of protagonist Mondo Zappa.

[2] 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.

[1][2][3][4] Mondo's gun arm can transform into three gun types; the rapid fire "Bullet Shot" type, the "Freeze Shooter" which fires ice bullets to slow and even stop enemies, and the power "Charge Cannon" which deals higher damage when shots are charged up.

[6] During Gigolo Missions, Mondo goes out with a selection of women and fill up a "Guts" meter by making eye contact, with more intimate areas such as their breasts granting more points.

[1][2][4][6] Killer Is Dead is set on a near future version of Earth, where space tourism and cybernetic enhancements have become a reality.

[9] The main protagonist is Mondo Zappa, a new Executioner with a business-like attitude towards his work and a liking for beautiful women.

Following each execution, a piece of the targets' Dark Matter and their blood is absorbed by Mondo's arm, causing him great pain.

Absorbing David's blood pushes Mondo over the edge, and he cuts off his cyborg arm in an attempt to stem the flow of Dark Matter.

[13][14] Suda describes it as a "Dark Side 007" game, drawing inspiration from Ian Fleming's James Bond books and films.

[8][13] Unlike Bond, the main character of Killer Is Dead deals with a seedier underworld that the surface world does not register.

[30] 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.

The story was cited as either poorly written or confusing, while the gameplay was praised for its emphasis on dodging despite a lack of evolution for secondary mechanics.

[1][3][4][24][26][27][28] The Gigolo missions were panned by Western critics due to their negative portrayal of women and the actions the player was forced to take to complete them.

[23] Adam Beck of Hardcore Gamer gave the game a score of 4/5 and was generally positive; he compared the story's tone favorably to Only God Forgives and praised both the level design and gameplay, but found its PC version underwhelming due to a lack of graphical options and poor control optimization.

[32] In contrast, PC Gamer's Andy Kelly gave a score of 45 out of 100 points, calling it both a weak game compared to Suda's previous work and a poor port of the console version due to similar issues to those raised by Beck, referring to it as the "very definition of style over substance".