A throwback from beyond the grave
2022 | Studio IGGYMOB | Playstation 5
Of all the series to see a revival for a modern generation, Gungrave would’ve (reluctantly) been somewhere around the bottom of the list. Imagine my surprise to see an announcement pop up for a brand new installment of Red Entertainment’s multi-media series. Gungrave is an absolute classic run and gun series with an anime serving as a sort of retelling of the first game to bridge to Overdose, animated by the legendary Studio Madhouse. The original two games released for the Playstation 2, in which two incredible artists contributed their work. Both Yasuhiro Nightow (Trigun) and Kousuke Fujishima (Sakura Wars, Tales of) lent their skills to provide the games with their coffin wielding protagonist, Beyond the Grave. Which is simultaneously the coolest and dorkiest name for a protagonist. Even though the original games garnered some modestly mediocre reviews, they are fondly and passionately remembered by those who played these classics of the PS2 library. However, between the first two games and Gungrave VR would be a period of dormancy for nearly 13 years. So a full blown Gungrave game releasing after that, fully blew my socks off.
I will admit that going into this game, I was a bit hesitant. What if it’s no longer arcade-y? What if we no longer have over the top action and bullets flying all over the place? Well, after consulting with a few friends who played it before me, they assured me that the experience would be, and I quote, “The most PS2 your PS5 is going to get”. So needless to say I was excited, albeit still cautiously. So, I booted up the game and was greeted by an extremely well animated cutscene, depicting a bunch of goons with colorful mohawks and guns standing on a pier. A giant coffin launches at them from the sky which explodes on impact, revealing our protagonist about to display a delightful amount of gratuitous violence in a way that only a Gungrave game can. So with that stylistic dispatch of villainy and the all caps message to “KICK THEIR ASS“, I was out of my seat, cheering and grinning ear to ear. Gungrave was back and looking better than ever, baby!
Right of the bat there are some immediately noticeable changes. With the changing of development from Red Entertainment to Studio IGGYMOB came a bunch of character design overhauls. This is immediately noticeable in Mika, who has undergone a drastic visual overhaul in comparison to her appearances in the anime and the second game, while characters like Beyond the Grave and Bunji have mostly just gotten a fancier coat of paint. During the initial announcement it was announced that Nightow would return to the franchise, but was ultimately replaced by Ikumi Nakamura of Bayonetta and Evil Within. It creates an odd discrepancy between the old and new that can sometimes feel a tad jarring. For a game so stylish it’s not stylistically smooth, however when looking beyond that there will be a ton of things on the screen that will instantly invoke feelings of nostalgia and familiarity to fans of the series.
Most of the original UI returns, including the skull with eyebrows for the Demolition meter, making the whole visual experience just scream Playstation 2. And honestly, this feels incredible. The whole game looks and feels familiar, yet it has a delightfully contemporary touch to it. Despite the ongoing action, every bit of information you need to keep said action ongoing is easily and cleanly displayed. The health bar and demolition meter as well as the combo counter pop off the screen, which makes all the information stand out from the action. Gameplay is also extremely streamlined and refined, making the game feel satisfying and snappy. Gungrave G.O.R.E. gives you two modes of fire, the traditional burst fire and a full on hold the button to unleash carnage upon anyone brave enough to venture into my crosshairs (for which my hands are extremely grateful). Beyond this you also have a plethora of Demolition Shots to use to quickly wipe the screen of enemy threats. These range from a barrage of bullets to Beyond the Grave reliving the Beyblade craze onto unsuspecting victims. Alongside these moves you also have a variety of interactions to choose from when stunning enemies. These range from being able to instantly finish off an enemy at close range, to ziplining across the room to pulpify whatever is on the other side of the grappling hook. Outside of the fact that it’s very satisfying to use it, also allows you to create more tactical and positional advantages. Being able to break free of a cluster of enemies to zip to the other room can give you just the opportunity to rapidly unleash a mortar strike from a safe distance. If you use the grappling hook on non-stunned enemies you can throw them across the room or use them as meat shield. There are so many options at your disposal and a large variety of upgrades and moves to unlock that greatly enhances not only the replayability of the game, but also gives it much needed variety.
I’m going to be honest here, I have no cohesive comprehension of what is actually going on in the story. Gungrave G.O.R.E.’s narrative is centralized around a group of SEED-hunters called El-Alcangel, formed by Mika from the second game, who spent most of their time hunting down Raven Clan, one of the largest distributors in the world. Their investigation leads them to Scumland, where they have to fight off the various leaders of the Raven Clan. Alongside the returning Mika and Bunji, we now also have some brand new supporting members in the form of Quartz, a fellow SEED hunter, and Doctor “I swear I’m not a Shenmue NPC” Aso. The whole story is a bit of a jumble of oddly cut cutscenes with weirdly MMO-NPC animations, expository loading screen entries and some of the most killer action scenes imaginable in the pre-rendered portions. I can’t understate how well made these cutscenes feel and it’s worth playing the game to watch these play out in and of themselves. Through the frequent spelling errors, odd presentation and a final boss whose name made me laugh so hard I fell out of my chair, there is a delightfully sincere, albeit campy, story woven throughout it. That is, when you’re not fending off giant robotic spiders or alien high techno priests.
Gungrave G.O.R.E. is one of those wonderful games that fully embraces what it is; a straight to the point, in your face, arcade-y shooter. And I wholeheartedly love it for this. It’s one of those games that manages to perfectly balance the levels of satisfaction, action and laughs. The sheer catharsis of experiencing the punchy gunplay while mowing down hordes of enemies, without Grave uttering a single word, is just a pure delight to experience. Throughout the playthrough that I streamed, I constantly felt reminded of playing Time Crisis 4 and 5 in the arcades. You know, the ones with the oversized cover panels that allow you to take the game a little too seriously? And while the story isn’t really well executed, it does fall in the same category of fun that I put games like Michigan: Report From Hell or The Bouncer in. I do feel, though, that the game is a little too long for the intensity that it presents. My playthrough clocked in at about 8 hours, which is a great length for most action games, but Gungrave G.O.R.E. falls into that niche of hyperintense action that’s often associated with the SHMUP genre. I feel that it stretches out a little, which could’ve been easily condensed to about half the runtime with double the replayability. It’s a balance of less is more. I think that, if they managed to cram the story into half the playtime, there would’ve been more room to have the bosses shine, the setpieces to pop and the stage and character variety would remain fresh and exciting. However, as it is now, it’s perfectly digestible as a two sitting game.
Gungrave G.O.R.E. reminded me of why I fell in love with the Playstation 2, and managed to bring me back to a time where the these types of oddball action games shined. It’s not overly polished and some of the cutscenes and story feel wonky at times, but this is something that I deeply love. IGGYMOB successfully managed to captivate nostalgia in a new coat of bloody paint and I can’t wait to see where they go next.
Who Knows Who/10
TanookiChickenAttack 