Feeling that virtual, killer instinct when playing violent games is a guilty pleasure of the PlayStation era. We kill zombies in "Biohazard," Chinese warlords in "Dynasty Warriors" and police officers in "Grand Theft Auto." For many of us, the aim-fire-reload mechanics of games have become second nature. But in "Killer 7," new for the PlayStation 2 andGameCube, players evoke that killer instinct only to discover a digital peep-hole into the mind of a killer littered with psychotic visions and extreme paranoia, all with a hint of humor. It's a fresh approach to an age-old genre that makes "Killer 7" one of the most important games of the year.

The player is given control of seven deadly assassins, including a pistol-wielding Latino, a flashy Mexican wrestler and a masochistic, barefoot woman. Each assassin has unique abilities and a demented mind, but they all might just be virtual representations of the seven unhappy comrades that make up Harman Smith's multiple personality disorder. Smith, a wheelchair-bound, Godfatherlike figure, calls the shots. The player is just along for the ride; no branching story paths or moral dilemmas to ponder -- you get a front-row seat on Smith's murderous roller-coaster ride.

From there "Killer 7" only gets deeper. The story goes that an army of laughing zombielike characters called the Heaven Smiles have filled the streets of America, laughing hysterically as they murder innocent people in suicide attacks. And of course it's up to Smith to rid the world of Heaven Smiles. The game features more than a dozen variations of Smiles enemies, but they all share a common preference in murder -- igniting themselves near their enemy in deranged glee. It doesn't take long to realize that Smiles are symbolic of modern day Islamic terrorists, evoking the name of God as they murder innocents. Once you strip away the game's cryptic symbolism, "Killer 7" becomes a powerful piece of political art.