Game:

Gungrave (2002)

Duration: 10:48

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5

Gungrave is a budget 2002 release with just a little over 2 hours of frantic gameplay, that, despite it's simplistic, straightforward and repetitve nature still manages to be an engaging experience that was worth the budget price of admission when it hit.

In Gungrave you play as Grave, brought back from the dead, Eric Draven style, who is on a mission to avenge his untimely death, and bring down a shadowy underworld criminal organization known as, what else, The Syndicate. I am not a manga or anime fan, but the characters were designed by, and sorry if I butcher this, Yasuhiro Nightow, who is known for his Trigun series.

Gungrave is a game that I think gets looked back on with more appreciation now then it did at the time of it's release, because mainstream tastes were a little different. Keep that in mind whenever you see anyone go back and review any game by “Today's standards,” they really just mean the popular flavor of the moment.

Gungrave came out post-Devil May Cry, and at the time I would say this game would have been seen as a game that put style over substance. People looking for something like Devil May Cry would have found it to be too shallow, and way too short. Hindsight, however, has separated it from it's contemporaries, and puts those comparisons into the dustbin of gaming history.

At it's core, Gungrave is an unapologetic straightforward shooter with a unique art direction, and simple, repetitive gameplay. Basically, you shoot everything, and just in case, shoot it again.

Players shoot their way through the levels filled with all kinds of gun toting baddies with varying degreees of toughness set in various locals around the city, at the end of each level they fight a boss. Each boss has their own unique patterns to learn, and vary in difficulty from easy, to less easy, to moderate difficulty. In fact, I only struggled in one boss fight on my first playthrough. They aren't all overly easy, but with strategic use of demolitions shots, and life refills makes them a lot more managable.

The simple design might be off-putting to those looking for mode depth in their action games, but the addition of the combo meter, used to fill the demolition shot meter to earn a big damaging attack to be unleashed on your foes does add a little strategy to the mix.

The demolition shots can also be spent, via the pause menu to buy life refills, in the rare case you'll need to refill your life. In game, your combo can be continued by either killing enemies, or destroying various environmental objects, so there is a method to the mayhem, if you want to earn extra demolition shots.




The gunplay in the game is the highlight of the experience. While tank controls and the inconsistent lock on system may be a bit off-putting (you'll really only need the lock on for the bosses anyway), every other maneuver in the game is as thrilling to pull off, as it is visually appealing. Grave can move forward and shoot, stand still to unleash a psychotic flurry of exhilarating shots, and even the coffin he caries on his back can be used to melee nearby enemies. There are also various dodging shot maneuvers which come in handy against the bosses, and of course, the aforementioned demolition shots of which new ones can be earned based on your level performance.



Combine the sleek gunplay, stylistic art direction, combo system, and various other abilities into one, and you have very engaging experience for both hours the game lasts. So yeah, that's not an exaggeration. I'm guessing the reason this game was released at a budget $20 price tag was because it's short length wouldn't justify a full price for it. On the default difficulty, thanks to a very generous regenerating shield system, the game can be walked through in about two hours or less with little difficulty. There are multiple difficulty levels to play, and a handful of unlockables, so you may be able to stretch playtime out for 10 hours give or take, your mileage may vary.

Graphically, the game's cell shaded, anime art direction helps the graphics hold up better than if it was going for realism. There are bouts of slowdown when the action gets intense, however.

The controls take a bit of getting used to, as they are Tomb Raider style tank controls, but they only become an issue when there is an enemy at a strange angle behind you, and the previously mention lock on system is finicky and unreliable, and best left alone unless you are in a boss fight.

There is also an option to turn on auto fire in the options menu that I also recommend.

The bottom Line: Fun, simple, straightforward, stylish, short, Gungrave is worth playing if you come across it. When it hit, even for it's budget price, this seemed to be a game people either loved or hated. If you overlooked it when it hit, or maybe even disliked it, I'd say give it another look if you find it cheaply. There is enough intense action, and unlockables to give you a reason to play it multiple times.

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