"Killer7" received divisive reviews and sparked debates about depictions of sex and violence in video games and the status of video games as art. James Mielke of 1UP.com likened the game's high-contrast art style to noir and neo-noir film such as "Se7en". He found that despite poor pacing and stilted gameplay, the "quirky scripting and edgy plot" were strong draws, and called "Killer7" one of the "most artfully designed footnotes in gaming history". "Edge" magazine's reviewers echoed this sentiment and predicted that the game would "the way for future creative leeway", crediting the director with an unwavering artistic vision. Eurogamer's Kristan Reed was keenly aware of the game's limited appeal, calling it "a concept game, an arthouse game, a simple game, an often beautiful game, but most certainly never an everyman's game". Yahtzee Croshaw of "The Escapist" commends the game for "showing exactly what can be done when you flaunt all established convention and just start exploring what can really be done with gaming as an art form".