History VideoGame / KillSwitch

Though not successful in its own time, ''kill.switch'' proved to be immensely influential, with third person shooters released in the following years such as ''VideoGame/RogueTrooper'', ''VideoGame/SpyHunter: Nowhere to Run'' and ''VideoGame/CTSpecialForces: Nemesis Strike'' adopting the games cover mechanics. Among those to take notices were the developers of mega-blockbusters ''VideoGame/GearsOfWar'' and ''VideoGame/{{Uncharted}}'', the former even hiring ''kill.switch'''s combat designer to help in implementing the game's cover system.

See ''Film/{{Gamer}}'', for a similar concept of an actual person being controlled by a player.

One man known as Archer has gotten his hand on revolutionary technology enabling remote control of human beings through neural implants. Using the body of a former soldier who won't be missed, you, as Archer's psychopathic hired hand "Controller", are to cause global chaos by assasinating prominent officials, sabotaging infrastructure, and initiating rogue missile launches, all in the name of stroking tensions between the West and the North. That is, unless a concerned hacker has anything to say about that...

* FalseFlagOperation: The final part of Archer's master plan is to steal deadly viral samples from a military lab, load them on a missile and, once he's done launching it, have The Controller suicide Bishop so that the whole thing looks like an US-backed covert operation gone terribly wrong.
* HeroicMime: Bishop is completely silent in the early stages of the game, being little but an empty puppet for the Controller. [[spoiler:He gets more talky once The Duchess frees him]]
* MaximumHPReduction: Beshop's HealthMeter drops should he take too much damage, his RegeneratingHealth capacity notwithstanding. Should it happen, he must find the med kits that are scattered around the levels to undo this effect.

* WarForFunAndProfit: Archer's master plan is to start a war between the "North" and the "West" so that he can sells the neural implant technology to both sides of the conflict.

A third-person shooter developed by Creator/{{Namco}}'s defunct American studio, Namco Hometek, released in 2003 for the UsefulNotes/Playstation2, UsefulNotes/{{Xbox}}, PC and UsefulNotes/GameBoyAdvance.

* BaldOfEvil: Archer, the BigBad of this game, is also bald as a cue ball.

* FalseFlagOperation: The final part of Archer's master plan is to steal deadly viral samples from a military lab, load them on a missile and, once he's done launching it, have The Controller suicide Bishop so that the whole thing looks like an US-backed covert operation gone terrible wrong.

* RegeneratingHealth: Bishop's health recovers while he's not under fire, but if he incurs too much damage, his HealthMeter drops permanently and he must heal the damage with med kits scattered around the levels.

* FalseFlagOperation: The final part of Archer's master plan is to steal deadly viral samples from a military lab, load them on a missile and once he's done launching it, have The Controller suicide Bishop so that the whole thing looks like an US-backed covert operation gone terrible wrong.

* RegeneratingHealth: Bishop's health recovers while he's not under fire, but if he incurs too much damage, his HealthMeter drops permanently and he must health the damage with medkits scattered around the levels.

--> ''Score one for the bad guys!''

* YouBastard: Most of the game revolves around a completely amoral mercenary gleefully puppetting a mind-controlled soldier to cause war, and all the horrible destruction that comes with it, [[WarForFunAndProfit to help sell arms to both sides]] and revel in murdering soldiers only defending their country.

''kill.switch'''s main claim to fame is its [[TakeCover cover system]], allowing players to hide behind objects, shimmy along chest-high walls, peak over or by cover objects and blindfire. It was not the first game to feature cover mechanics (being preceded by the likes of ''VideoGame/{{Winback}}'', ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid2'' and Namco Hometek's own ''VideoGame/DeadToRights''), but it set the basics of expected controls and features for a cover system and made it the main feature of the game, pairing fast-paced arcade-style shooting with the need to maintain awareness of one's positioning and use the environment to your advantage.

* WarForFunAndProfit: Archer's master plan is to start a war between the "North" and the "West" so that he can sells the neural implant technology to both sides of the conflict.

''kill.switch'''s main claim to fame is its [[TakeCover cover system]], allowing players to hide behind objects, shimmy along chest-high walls, peak over or by cover objects and blindfire. Though not the first game to feature cover mechanics (being preceded by the likes of ''VideoGame/{{Winback}}'', ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid2'' and Namco Hometek's own ''VideoGame/DeadToRights''), it set the basics of expected controls and features for a cover system and made it the main feature of the game, pairing fast-paced arcade-style shooting with the need to maintain awareness of one's positioning and use the environment to your advantage.

Though not successful in its own time, ''kill.switch'' proved to be immensely influential, with third person shooters released in the following years such as ''VideoGame/RogueTrooper'', ''VideoGame/WithoutWarning'' and ''VideoGame/CTSpecialForces: Nemesis Strike'' adopting the games cover mechanics. Among those to take notices were the developers of mega-blockbusters ''VideoGame/GearsOfWar'' and ''VideoGame/{{Uncharted}}'', the former even hiring ''kill.switch'''s combat designer to aid in implementing the game's cover system.

* FalseFlagOperation: The final part of Archer's master plan is to steal deadly viral samples from a military lab, load them on a missile and once he's done launching it, have The Controller suicide Bishop so that the whole thing looks like an US-backed covert operation gone terrible wrong. He almost succeeds,
* HeroicMime: Bishop is completely silent in the early stages of the game, being little but an empty puppet for the Controller. [[spoiler:He gets more talky once the Duchess frees him]]

* RecklessGunUsage: One of the first things Bishop comes across is overhearing a terrorist being reprimanded by his sergeant for pointing his gun in the wrong place.

* VillainProtagonist: For the first quarter of the game, you're running around and killing innocent people to further one man's war profiteering scheme. The Controller is perfectly aware of the ethical implication of his actions – and entirely unconcerned with them.