Gungrave G.O.R.E. Review

Gungrave is a third-person, action-packed shooter that first saw the light of day way back for the PS2 in 2002. This release features Grave who is on a revenge path and the game was on the receiving end of mixed reviews. 2004 saw the release of a sequel called Gungrave Overdose which added two additional playable characters along with a new story, although the core focus is Grave continuing his revenge mission that first began in the 2002 release. There was even a PSVR-exclusive game released in 2017 and a 26-episode anime. Fast forward to 2022 and we are finally seeing the return of Grave with Gungrave G.O.R.E..

Gungrave G.O.R.E. follows Grave and his crew El-Archangel, with their leader Mika, as they hunt the Raven Clan, a drug cartel attempting to take over the world with an alien-based drug called the Seed in order to take control of all humanity. Grave and al. need to stop the Raven Clan at all costs and eradicate the Seed.

Gungrave G.O.R.E. is a 3rd person action shooter where players take control of Beyond the Grave, or Grave, as they plow through waves of mindless enemies with various attack patterns. Grave uses two pistols to mow down his enemies and also the giant coffin, called Death Hauler, he carries on his back. Grave also has Demolition Shots, extremely powerful (that’s questionable) attacks that will kill or knock down enemies in Grave’s path. You can also dodge and use your Coffin for two main purposes: breaking enemy shields and returning missiles to sender. Grave can also fire a charge shot by holding down RT.

The game also features a combo system called Beats. The more you shoot and kill enemies (destroying explosive items also counts) will increase the Beats counter. Once you reach 50, you can use a new attack called Storm Barrage where Grave shoots randomly around him… where bullets probably hit about 25% of enemies. Grave can also grab enemies and use them as shields or simply throw them back. Stunned enemies can be executed when up close or fetched à la Scorpion for a quick finisher.

Given that you’ll often go head-to-head with waves of enemies, Grave has a shield and health bar to give a fighting chance. Once the shield is depleted, enemies will now start depleting his health bar. Avoiding damage for a short amount of time will regenerate the shield. The problem is some areas, it’s impossible to do because there’s no cover and you have about 10-20 enemies shooting at you. Using Demolition shots will refill a bit of your health.

Executing enemies rewards you with Arts which allows you to earn XP-like points that can be used between levels or at the main menu in the Lab where Grave can upgrade his abilities. Either get more health, quicker shield regeneration, or damage increase; just to name a few. You can also purchase additional Demolition Shots for more carnage. If you’re not satisfied with your “build”, you can reset and start over.

And now the bad. So the first issue here is that Grave doesn’t run. He jogs, which is fine to a certain extent, but when set in an area with a time limit and you’re bombarded with enemies it’s a huge problem. On Normal difficulty, your weapons are borderline useless, and trying to dodge your way to the exit will only lead to certain death. Using Death Hauler when surrounded by an army of enemies, doesn’t help. They are barely knocked back, let alone damaged by it. Same for some Demoltion shots being completely useless. One of them shot a handful of bullets while Grave can’t move, but enemies just seemingly avoid most of them.

Following up on the coffin issue, some attacks, such as Storm Barrage, barely hit anything. The difficulty balancing is also problematic. On Normal, Grave feels too weak and there’s also an inconsistent overall difficulty balancing. Stage 6 was a wake-up call with its over-the-top abrupt difficulty spike for Normal mode. And on the flip side, Easy feels too easy (I absolutely have no intention of trying this on Hard). There are a few and far between annoying levels where you’re on a narrow path making it impossible to properly dodge otherwise you fall to your death. Also, enemies armed with shotguns have insane knockback; baffling considering Grave looks like a walking tree. Also. Oh god, the platforming. It’s not because you have a jump button that platforming is a good idea.

The game does look great; bright and colorful and decent level design variety. While some areas look similar, they are different in purpose. For example, both a factory level and city area do look similar because of their color palette, but they managed to make them feel different. The cutscenes look great, but lip-synching looks a bit out of whack. The little issue I found however is that the transition from gameplay to cutscenes is so abrupt, I keep thinking the game crashed. The soundtrack is exactly what you’d expect; smooth ambient-like tunes when you move from one area to another and then when the enemies pour in, it’s a heavy techno track. Some songs have vocals to them and they sound oddly similar to Devil May Cry 5’s tunes. Sadly, it’s quite forgettable as a whole.

Unfortunately, it feels like Gungrave G.O.R.E was developed in the early 2000s and shelved until today. It still plays like a game from the PS2 era. The first half of the game is fair, but the further you get, the more infuriating it becomes mostly due to Grave’s slow movements, yet takes damage like he’s made of paper. Your enemies are fast-paced bullet sponges who will fire at you non-stop. Even dodging doesn’t help so where you’re exposed, you’re screwed. Most Demolition Shots are useless as they barely do any damage. It was my most anticipated game of 2022 and it ended up being my biggest disappointment. I can’t recommend Gungrave G.O.R.E. as it feels too archaic and poorly designed.