Highlights

  • Jeff Lew's Killer Bean franchise has evolved from a short film into an expansive digital empire of movies, games, and memes.
  • The upcoming Killer Bean game blends influences from movies and video games, promising high-octane shooter gameplay with unique elements.
  • Killer Bean features an open-world island setting where players take down the Shadow Agency, with procedural storytelling and planned stealth elements.

The Killer Bean franchise has a long and storied history. From humble beginnings as a surreal two-minute-long short about secret agent jelly beans, the Killer Bean franchise has evolved into a coffee-themed digital empire spanning short films, feature films, mobile games, and (most importantly) memes. Now, a new action roguelike looks to bring even more attention to Jeff Lew’s caffeine-fuelled Killer Bean series.

First announced in August 2021, Jeff Lew’s upcoming Killer Bean game saw renewed interest earlier this month when a new gameplay trailer was shown off at Summer Game Fest 2024. Showing off both third- and first-person combat, the most recent Killer Bean trailer gave gamers an in-depth look at the game’s high-octane shooter gameplay. With Matrix-inspired slow-motion and a Metal-Gear-inspired plot—plus breakdancing, gunkata, zombies, and 80s action movie one-liners—Killer Bean looks to be a melange of influences from across cinema and video games.

In 2012, Jeff Lew released a mobile game, Killer Bean: Unleashed , for Android and IOS. In 2021, the game received a number of updates, bugfixes, and content drops—updating the game engine, changing the game's sprites to 3D models, and providing players with additional levels featuring new enemies.

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Killer Bean is a Unique Blend of Narrative-Driven Action-Adventure and Roguelike

While many of Killer Bean’s gaming influences are apparent on the surface—Grand Theft Auto, Just Cause, and Max Payne, to name just a few—others are hidden beneath the surface. Taking inspiration from Hitman: World of Assassination’s Freelancer mode, Killer Bean is set to feature roguelike elements that randomize the game’s environment, NPCs, and missions with each new run.

Set on an open-world island, the premise of Killer Bean is simple: take down the Shadow Agency. In order to achieve this, players will explore the game’s tropical setting, taking on missions, interacting with NPCs, and fighting ‘Shadow Agents.’ Vehicles, weapons, and ally factions scattered around the island will aid Killer Bean in his mission as he shoots, slides, and suplexes his way through a legion of evil enemy beans.

On top of visceral open-world action, Killer Bean’s Steam page also promises a compelling story packed with plot twists and surprises. Despite this, the game is designed to be replayed again and again, with solo developer Jeff Lew claiming that the game’s narrative elements will be procedurally generated with each new run. Even for an experienced dev team, a procedurally generated story system is an ambitious undertaking, and it’s even more ambitious for a solo dev. Still, if Jeff Lew manages to pull it off, a procedurally generated narrative could be what allows Killer Bean to stand out as more than just an amalgam of its influences.

There’s Still So Much of Killer Bean That Has Yet To Be Shown Off

While Killer Bean’s trailers have so far focused on the game’s vehicles and high-octane action, there are a number of elements that have yet to be shown off. Promotional materials for the game reference a level up system and RPG style skill trees that will allow players to upgrade various skills—including stealth and parkour.

Both stealth and parkour sound like interesting elements that could add another layer of depth to Killer Bean’s gameplay, and it’s exciting to think about how each element might be integrated into the game. While parkour gameplay seems like it would be a natural fit for what’s been shown off so far, it’s less easy to see where stealth might fit into a game so focused on bombast, chaos, and emergent action setpieces.

Killer Bean Will Enter Early Access Later This Year

Bean fans don’t have long to wait to play Killer Bean for themselves. The game is set to enter Steam Early Access later this year, with a planned 1 to 2 year development cycle before its final release. With such an ambitious range of game design elements he hopes to implement, solo developer Jeff Lew has his work cut out. Here’s hoping Killer Bean can live up to its heady mix of big promises and high-concept aspirations.