Gungrave GORE’s journey, from pen to video game translation, has its roots in a distant and somewhat obscure era: a time when even a mediocre product might give rise to a genre or a pop current that transcended the medium of use of the work. We are talking regarding the Sony PlayStation 2 era, where the first chapter of the saga received a mixed reception, to then explode in visual rewards such as the character design by Yasuhiro Nightow whose traits we can recognize for Trigun, another product comics and animation, while the design of the games’ mechanical elements was taken care of by Kosuke Fujishima (Sakura Wars). In this new installment, we are still under the hegemony of the Millennion, an organization that controls an entire state and runs things like a despot, imposing its law on us left and right. The organization must be stopped once and for all, and Grave is once once more sent into the field by Mika Asagi, now a young adult (whereas Grave being a Deadman, a kind of undead, does not age). During the early phases of the game, the objective of our heroes (of which we only actively control Grave) will be to dismantle the production of the Seed drug, which effectively keeps the population under control by the Millennion.
The desire for revenge that drives Grave makes his hunt relentless, even if the protagonist never says a word, neither before nor during the missions entrusted to him by Mika: while maintaining an awareness of himself, of the time when he was still human. and called himself Brandon Heat, Grave remains a character devoid of emotions and feelings, except for the spirit of vengeance that animates him, and the blind protection of Mika, the daughter of his ex-girlfriend. The story compartment was never the main feature of the series, unlike the two previous chapters released on PlayStation 2, although the second title – Gungrave: Overdose – can now be considered a spin-off, since the story of the modern chapter picks up exactly where it left off in the first chapter. The gameplay of Gungrave GORE (Gunslinger Of REsurrection is the acronym of the word “episode”) can be summed up as a sort of “bullet hell” unleashed on the protagonist who, armed with two (gigantic) pistols and a huge metal coffin (which will turn out to be an arsenal of weapons of all kinds) will have to face hordes of enemies of the strangest kind. The enemies in question will be men, often protected by riot shields or energy barriers (similar to those worn by our hero Grave), so they certainly won’t die on the first shot! Bosses of all kinds, from ferocious beasts to huge robots, Grave will take them all down to complete his mission.
Bullet storm.
Don’t get me wrong, in Gungrave GORE there isn’t much room for tactics or puzzles to solve: all you have to do is throw countless bullets (which thankfully never run out) on enemies and objects to explode. To do this, you will have at your disposal several skills that can be unlocked and improved at the end of each mission, where you will receive a grade ranging from S to E through the letters of the alphabet. Each rank corresponds to a greater or lesser number of experience points that can be spent to improve Grave’s weapons or skills: There’s Cerberus, the giant cannons that Grave uses; Coffin is the coffin that Grave carries on his shoulders, attached to a chain. It allows him to perform special attacks, but can also be used as a tool for melee destruction, as well as deflecting missiles fired at him (returning them to the sender). The more aggressively you play, the more abilities Grave can use: For example, by scoring a minimum of 50 hits between enemies and the environment, Grave will be able to rain bullets down in bursts of fire in all directions; impacts (called Beats in-game) generate energy over time that allows Grave to unleash a deadly explosion, releasing a massive rocket from the coffin that disintegrates anything it touches (so even if you’re in a hell of a bunch of bullets, aim matters, and you’ll have to be careful what you shoot).
Gungrave GORE is a game out of time: buggy, slow and damn boring, it seems like it hasn’t really evolved in the twenty years since it first appeared, but developer IGGYMOB (former creator of the Gungave VR chapter) or just take what was on the PlayStation 2, translate it into modern graphics, and leave the lane play system uncustomized. The elements that make up the rooms, or simply the general framework, are stripped down, with nothing to do except defeat hordes of unfortunates, human or otherwise. There is not a collectible to find, a chest to open, an upgrade or an alternative skin to give the taste or the satisfaction of having explored the few rooms that make up the map, and throughout the game, we just move on, as indicated by the writing at the start of each mission, “Let’s Kick Their Ass!” and we stop. Grave’s abilities and strength are indeed interesting, but if the feedback with the character is fair, it is not matched by the enemy who, despite being very numerous, will die easily, and the energy armor that protects Grave regenerates over time, so just stop for a few seconds and keep going if you run out. There’s no way to regain lost health: the only way to do that is to actually die and start over from the checkpoint, which is usually the start or middle of a mission, or the doorway. a boss. So, even if you arrive with a single life point in front of the boss, you will only have to die to find yourself with all the life and all the abilities in front of the boss. Of course, in all this you will lose points for the “report card” at the end of the mission, but if your interest is not to get S in each of them, you can happily ignore them and move on.
VERDICT
The game is a missed opportunity, as the developer might have taken what was good and translated it into the modern modus operandi of gaming, but it apparently lacked the will to innovate and the patience to roll up its sleeves and deliver a product in phase with the current era. Gungrave GORE is anachronistic, old and not original at all, you can play it if you are a fan of the saga but otherwise look elsewhere and move on.
