Protagonist Nick Bishop (voiced by Marcus McCollum) is a super-soldier remotely controlled via direct neural connection by a man known only as "Controller" (voiced by Chuck McQuary) in a series of combat missions designed to bring "the North" and "the West" to war. Profiteer Archer (voiced by Adam Baldwin) plans to benefit by selling the technology used to control Bishop, who gives Controller headaches on recollection of suppressed memories featuring a woman and the phrase "Say my name". Moments before launching a biological warhead, Controller is killed by a surge triggered when a woman known as "Duchess" (voiced by Adrienne Wilkinson) seizes control of Bishop. Sent to attack Controller's base, Bishop's memories are eventually restored: the woman from his memories was his new wife, who Archer killed when he captured Bishop to sell the technology inside him. Freed, Bishop kills Archer in a final assault and walks away.
Kill Switch received a wide range of reviews across all platforms, with the Xbox version receiving a score of 75 out of 100 on Metacritic, indicating "generally favorable reviews", while the PC and PS2 versions received scores of 66 and 73 out of 100 respectively, indicating "mixed or average reviews". Criticism was directed towards its thin plot and simplistic level design, while the gameplay mechanics, especially the cover system, were lauded and considered engaging. It was compared to the Time Crisis series. The Xbox version of the game was said to possess enhanced graphics over the PS2 version. GameSpot awarded the Xbox version a 6.9 out of 10.[17]
The GBA version of the game was similarly received, with IGN calling it a "solid portable action title" and awarding it a 7.5 out of 10.[6]
The 'Offensive Cover System' (OCS) in the game was one of the foundations for modern cover systems in third-person shooter video games.
Kill Switch is best remembered for its cover system as a core game mechanic,[18] and for introducing the blind fire mechanic to the cover system.[19] Several shooters took inspiration from Kill Switch and implemented similar cover systems. In the design of Gears of War, lead developer Cliff BleszinskiofEpic Games credits Kill Switch's cover system as one of the influences they put into the game's design,[20]asKill Switch's lead designer Chris Esaki was employed by Epic Games and was involved in the development of Gears of War.[5]
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