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Kileak: The DNA Imperative

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IGN

Designer(s)
  
Tomoharu Kimura

Writer(s)
  
Manami Kuroda

Initial release date
  
27 January 1995

Genre
  
First-person shooter

Platform
  

Director(s)
  
Nakaji Kimura

Programmer(s)
  
Kenji Shimizu

Composer(s)
  
Kimitaka Matsumae

Developer
  
Mode
  
Single-player video game

Kileak: The DNA Imperative httpsuploadwikimediaorgwikipediaen000Kil

Artist(s)
  
Koh YokoyamaTadashi Shimada

Publishers
  
Sony Interactive Entertainment, Sony Music Entertainment (Japan) Inc.

Similar
  
Genki games, Shooter games

Kileak: The DNA Imperative, known as Kileak: The Blood in Japan and Europe, is a first person shooter video game developed by Genki for the PlayStation console. It was initially released in January 1995, in Japan by Sony Music Entertainment. It was followed by a North American and European release in September 1995 by Sony Computer Entertainment as a launch game for the platform. Kimitaka Matsumae, former member of Sega's in-house music group S.S.T. Band, wrote the game's soundtrack.

Contents

Kileak: The DNA Imperative Kileak The DNA Imperative Game Giant Bomb

The player controls an armored SJ 107 assault suit through the series of floor levels within a South Pole observation base. Each floor is connected by an elevator, which the player must find in order to proceed to the level below. The suit is equipped with various weapons, some of which require the suits battery power to operate. The story follows an International Peacekeeping Force's White Lightning team leader Matt Coda, as he attempts to stop a scientist Dr. Kim from conducting unethical genetic engineering research. As the game progresses, the eponymous Kileak is revealed to be an ancient extraterrestrial creature that is the common ancestor of all life on Earth.

Kileak: The DNA Imperative Kileak The DNA Imperative PSX 0115 B01 YouTube

Kileak: The DNA Imperative garnered a mixed reception from video game journalists, who criticized its monotonous level design and limited control scheme, but praised its 3D graphics and pre-rendered cutscenes. Epidemic, a sequel to Kileak, was released in Japan in December 1995, and in North America the following year. Both Kileak and Epidemic were re-released on the Japanese PlayStation Store in September 2015.

Kileak: The DNA Imperative Kileak The DNA Imperative Screenshots for PlayStation MobyGames

Gameplay

Kileak: The DNA Imperative Kileak The DNA Imperative PSX Game Over screens YouTube

Kileak: The DNA Imperative is a first-person shooter, in which the player controls an International Peacekeeping Force (IPKF) polar operative Matt Coda in an armored mecha, the SJ 107 assault suit. The player can move freely in a two-dimensional space and rotate the camera in any direction. The heads-up display shows an automap and the amount of ammunition for the currently selected weapon, along with the suits remaining health and power.

Kileak: The DNA Imperative Kileak The DNA Imperative Box Shot for PlayStation GameFAQs

The game is set in a South Pole observation base, which is composed of floors connected by elevators. On every floor, the player must find an elevator in order to proceed to the level below. The requirements are varied between floors, with many levels requiring the use of key cards to open locked doors; some doors are opened by puzzle solving. Throughout every floor, the player can find ID Cards and Record Cards, which are used with the computer terminal for downloading a floor map and playing recorded messages respectively. At certain points in the game, the player can also acquire Armor ROMs to enhance the suit's defense system, which reduces damage from enemy attacks. When reaching the elevator to the next floor, the player is given an option to save their progress to their memory card, allowing them to continue in another session.

Kileak: The DNA Imperative Kileak The DNA Imperative PS1 on PS3 1080HD YouTube

The SJ 107 can equip a variety of weapons, ranging from conventional armaments such as a machine gun and a rocket launcher to more exotic weaponry such as a laser gun and "erosion gun". While most weapons use ammunition, some run off of the suit battery. The energy decreases over time, and can be charged by picking up batteries or using an energy unit. When the energy is critically low, the suits driving power, radar and weapons would cease to function. If the SJ 107 suit takes too much damage or runs out of power, the game is over, and the player must restart from the beginning or from the file they have previously saved on.

Plot

On August 16, 2038, the International Peacekeeping Force (IPKF) headquarters receives a distress signal from undercover agent Franco Fukazawa in the Byflos Group's South Pole observation base, where it is under control by a scientist named Dr. Thomas Kim. The IPKF's White Lightning team, lead by captain Matt Coda, is sent to investigate. Minutes before arrival, the White Lightning's Lyger assault helicopter is shot down by surface-to-air missiles. Coda, separated from lieutenant Carlos Potrero, survived the crash and penetrates the South Base.

Over the course of the game, Coda and Carlos learns from Kim's sound recordings found in the South Base that a creature named "Kileak" is the first lifeform to have appeared on Earth, and the progenitor of all life on the planet. Kim found Kileak's DNA from an unknown pyramidal structure in the excavation pit, and used it to genetically engineer a race of mutant creatures. In other recordings, Karl Byflos confronted Kim over his use of Kileak's DNA, and hids an "erosion gun" in his office for anyone who can stop Kim. As Kim plans to use an intercontinental ballistic missile to spread the mutant DNA all over the planet, Coda descends to one of the base's lower levels and stops it from launching. Advancing deeper into the South Base's excavation pit, Coda confronts Kim, who transforms himself into an alien-like monster, and manages to defeat him. As Coda escapes from the South Base, Kileak reveals to him that the human race began long after the creature's civilization was destroyed by a comet. The South Base is destroyed, and a space station containing Kileak ascends into space.

Development and release

Kileak: The DNA Imperative was developed by a Japanese video game company Genki for the PlayStation. It was released in Japan on January 27, 1995, by Sony Music Entertainment. It would later be released in North America on September 9, 1995, by Sony Computer Entertainment. Its European release was followed on September 29, 1995. Kileak was a North American and European launch title for the PlayStation, along with other titles such as Ridge Racer and Battle Arena Toshinden.

The game's soundtrack was composed by Kimitaka Matsumae, former member of Sega's in-house music group S.S.T. Band. Matsumae was hired by the producer, who though that his ambient works were "dark". Matsumae believed that his benefit of creating "extreme themes" would be crucial for producing the game's music. He added that the music was inspired from the game's sound effects he created, and the development team gave him "a lot of freedom." The music was composed using Sony's software development kit, which Matsumae found it difficult to use, although there was no decline in sound quality. Kileak uses the PlayStation's sound chip for the in-game music, with 100-kilobyte samples and MIDI data. The music for the game's cutscenes are stored in a CD-ROM XA audio format. Most of the game's tracks, along with those from its sequel Epidemic which Matsumae also composed, were included in an album titled Kileak: The Blood – Sound Tracks & Remix. The album was released by Sony Music Entertainment Japan on March 21, 1996.

Reception

The contemporary and retrospective reception towards Kileak: The DNA Imperative was mixed. The game was criticized for its gameplay, with the Official UK PlayStation Magazine (OPM UK) described it as "uninspired" and "shallow". Jeremy Parish of 1UP.com found the game's control scheme limited comparing to that of Halo: Combat Evolved and Perfect Dark. The level design was also criticized. OPM UK complained that two consecutive levels were identical apart from differences in their "wallpaper, mood lighting, and layout". IGN similarly felt that the levels are "all very homogeneous" as they shared similar enemies and graphical detail. AllGame's Shawn Sackenheim found the collection of enemies unoriginal, although OPM UK noted that the enemies are "suitably menacing".

The game also earned praise for its 3D graphics. Maximum's review stated that "the graphics looked incredible", while Next Generation opined that it helped to strengthen the environment's realism. IGN remarked, "The graphics are detailed and full, with enemies realized in 3-D for that scary, in-your-face feel." OPM UK praised the game's pre-rendered cutscenes, especially its "awesome" introduction and ending. Sackenheim also applauded the cutscenes, which tend to "jump in at major plot points and during transitional periods where the game needs to be loaded". In contrast, Richard Eisenbeis of Kotaku felt that Kileak had "tons of bad CG cut scenes". Sackenheim was impressed by game's ambient audio, although OPM UK derided it as "Brian Eno on valium".

The four reviewers of Electronic Gaming Monthly repeatedly compared Kileak to Robotica, a very similar Sega Saturn game released at almost the same time as Kileak, with varying opinions: Danyon Carpenter said that Kileak, though "a little boring", was "definitely the best one", while Al Manuel held Robotica to be clearly superior in strategic design, overall fun, and most especially control. Maximum also commented on the striking similarity between the two games, and judged Kileak to be "far superior to the Saturn title" but mediocre in absolute terms due to its dull and repetitive gameplay.

Bob Mackey of USgamer listed Kileak: The DNA Imperative as one of the worst launch games for the PlayStation, alongside Street Fighter: The Movie and Total Eclipse Turbo. A sequel to Kileak, titled Epidemic, was released in Japan on December 29, 1995 as Kileak: The Blood 2: Reason in Madness, and in North America in October 1996. Both Kileak and Epidemic were re-released on the PlayStation Store on September 16, 2015, in Japan by Clarice Games.

References

Kileak: The DNA Imperative Wikipedia