As re-release nomenclature goes, "Nightmare Edition" is pretty good. Not nearly as memorable as Dark Souls' unquestionably accurate "Prepare to Die Edition", or even indie roguelike Teleglitch's "Die More Edition", but the name still effectively sets the tone for this PC release of Suda 51's Killer Is Dead. In keeping with the name, it will come with a new, harder difficulty mode. In keeping with the tone of the cel-shaded action game, it also comes with a bizarre new trailer.

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The game created a pre-release furore for its "Gigolo Mode" missions, which centred around ogling a woman while she wasn't looking in order to raise the protagonists blood pressure. In addition, the game failed to impress many critics when the console version was released. Edge , for instance, called Gigolo Mode "a marketable hook when otherwise its publisher might struggle to find one," suggesting Suda 51's celebrated unpredictability was becoming, well, predictable.

For PC, Nightmare mode will retool the game so that enemies can only be defeated through Adrenaline Burst, Dodge Burst, or Headshot attacks. Additionally, the QTE finishers will be disabled. Having not played the game, those last two sentences mean very little to me.

Slightly easier to parse is the information that the Smooth Operator DLC will come bundled with the game, and be unlocked to all Nightmare Edition owners after completion of Episode 3.

Killer Is Dead: Nightmare Edition will be available May 9th, for £20 / $20.