A jumble of mistakes prevents it from ever achieving its full potential.
Gungrave G.O.R.E is a game with only one goal, three words that appear on the screen at the start of each level , and at every time you die: kick their a$$. In the 12-hour campaign you’ll be doing exactly that shooting, slashing or blow up and execute hundreds of bosses and enemies in your mission to eliminate all of the Raven Clan and save the world from a dangerous substance known as SEED. When it does work that is usually the case, Gungrave G.O.R.E is a thrilling dance of bullets and blood which blends Gungrave’s unique style with the finest aspects of the latest action games. However, for all that Gungrave G.O.R.E is good at there’s a similar amount of disappointments or missed opportunities which makes difficult to recommend it to anyone who isn’t action gamers or avid Gungrave players.
Gungrave G.O.R.E is a continuation of from where Gungrave VR as well as Gungrave VR U.N began. It’s not necessary to be familiar with prior Gungrave games or watched the film adaptation to grasp the plot G.O.R.E is offering although it’ll aid If you’re not familiar with this series, it has a brief video on the series’ history to guide you. The game’s setup is silly: SEED, a drug which has the ability to transform its users into monsters , which was believed to be extinct but has actually survived. The latest time, it’s being offered to members of the Raven Clan, so Mika, Beyond the Grave (Grave to his friends and the main protagonist) the Dr. Aso, newcomer Quartz as well as all of boring El-Al Canhel head to Scumland to stop SEED’s production and bring The Raven Clan, and its four bosses down.
The story gets more intense from there, naturally things get more intense, but Gungrave G.O.R.E’s character and plot aren’t strong enough to generate even a sporadic curiosity about what’s happening. Grave is as silent as is his name (he has fewer than five lines in the whole game, with none exceeding four words in length) And the other characters tend to give an exposition. The voice acting is all uneven and the translations are random There are obvious mistakes in the text as well as strange phrases that don’t sound natural when translated into English. Most of G.O.R.E’s narrative is presented through cuts. In missions, you’ll be accompanied by Quartz, who will guide you from one point to B, with lots of unhelpful and repetitive phrases such as “Grave. They’re in all directions!” or “There’s the exit,” which gets old quickly. G.O.R.E’s story is intended to give you an excuse to travel around the world and meet new people and even kill the people you meet.
Action is what you’re looking for and Gungrave G.O.R.E can pretty much give you the promise of action. Grave has a variety of abilities available to him such as a pair pistols and a shot that is charged and a huge coffin that can move around to create various three-shot combos and Demolition Shots (special capabilities which cost you money to build up through the inflicting with damage) The ability to reflect specific projectiles or dodges, as well as an ability to jump. This is pretty basic stuff, however the thing that makes Grave intriguing to play is his unique abilities. You can grab enemies using Death Hauler Grave’s Coffin and use them as an human shield. You can also use Burst Mode by shooting repeatedly while still. This permits Grave to inflict massive amounts of damage quickly. Grave isn’t able to move while in Burst Mode however, you can turn the camera around to eliminate opponents around you. Grave is also able to kill enemies with low health which means that his shield will be recharged more quickly than when you recharge it in the course of time.
If you’re able to pull off top Beat Counts, Gungrave G.O.R.E is a great feeling.
Of course, it’s not just about killing enemies; you have to look stylish doing it, too. The goal is to drive up Grave’s Beat Count as high as you can by constantly hitting enemies and grabbing a high Art score, which comes from executions, melee combo finishers, and Demolition Shots. Maintaining a high Beat Count is tricky; it disappears very quickly if you’re not hitting or shooting something, which pushes you to constantly be on the attack. It’s a fun challenge to drive it up during encounters and then maintain it between them by shooting objects in the environment, like cars, boxes, or neon signs. Play your cards right, and it’s possible (if difficult) to drive up your Beat Count into the thousands. Getting your Beat Count over 50 even gives you access to Storm Barrage, a rapid-fire attack that hits enemies in all directions and will quickly drive your Beat Count higher when used against large groups.
The trick is to control everything. Demolition Shots, for example are able to restore health, but do not add to your Beat Count, regardless of regardless of how many enemies you take on, although they can give you an Art score. Executions give you a boost to your shield and increase your score in Art however they only one of them will be added to the Beat Count. The ability to manage all of these factors effectively, including Grave’s health and shield will feel good when all of it is working. The shots are powerful and loud Demolition Shots are impressive and the executions are elegant and violent. Melee attacks don’t feel as powerful or threatening as they should, however, when you’re performing powerful Beat Counts and landing Demolition Shots, Gungrave G.O.R.E feels incredible.
However, the rest of the story is more muddled. The levels are stunning and Gungrave G.O.R.E will take you through many different settings throughout the game including the slumsy alleys of Scumland to the neon-saturated streets of Hong Kong and the forests of Vietnam and many more. Every location looks, feels and performs different. Studio Iggymob has done a fantastic job of infusing each place with a distinctive vibe. The problem is that the levels themselves are linear The rooms are a bit sloppily laid out and a few minor detours, but there’s really no reason to explore them , unless there’s enemies in the area. There aren’t any collectibles to hunt for, no additional goals to finish and nothing. All you have to do is to kill. Which is fine since that’s all you’re going to do.
Another issue is the actual enemies. You’ll have seen the majority in the enemy types Gungrave G.O.R.E offers at the level of 10 (of the total 31 levels) as well as many of the ones you’ll encounter after that are simply variations. In place the standard “guy using a rocket launcher” you may find “guy using a rocket launcher that shoots four rockets” for instance, or “guy with rocket launcher who shoots extremely fast and causes a lot in damage.” As opposed to the typical SEED-infused Orgman batterer, you could find one that has claws that move faster and strikes harder. These variations don’t pose a problem in and of themselves but when you have levels that reuse the same enemies repeatedly and over again, it becomes repetitive. This is evident especially when you get to the final levels, which have the totality of four different types of enemies.
Combat is more effective when you’re able to come up with innovative solutions, however certain adversaries block this completely.
Gungrave G.O.R.E also likes to throw enemies at you that have to be dealt with in specific ways, greatly limiting your combat options. If an enemy is equipped with a shield, for example, you cannot under any circumstances break that shield by shooting at it normally. You have to hit it with melee attacks, a charged shot, deflect a rocket into it, use an environmental explosion, or use specific Demolition Shots. That might not sound bad, but melee attacks are slow and will often miss enemies they should hit, a charged shot requires that you stop shooting long enough to charge it, which means potentially losing your Beat Count, and Demolition Shots are a resource. Even then, Demolition Shots and charged shots will often only destroy a single shield, even if you hit multiple shielded enemies with those attacks. And you have to deal with them immediately; Grave may be powerful, but he’s also slow, and shielded enemies will run right up in your face to stop you from targeting their friends, knock you down, and hit you out of – or sometimes through – your attacks. Worse still, all of that just gets rid of the shield itself. You still have to kill the guy holding it after the fact.
Armed enemies with powerful weapons or rocket launchers behave exactly the same. If you don’t confront them quickly, you’re going to be killed because G.O.R.E likes to have a number of them attack at once, their attacks are extremely difficult to avoid (you cannot really avoid the man using a machine gun and rockets must be blocked because they track your movements) and they strike really brutally. The whole thing makes fighting less about making use of every option available to Grave, and more about deciding on is the “right choice” to take on the particular type of opponent is. Gungrave G.O.R.E is best when it lets you create innovative ways to deal with enemies However, adversaries such as this stop that completely.
Boss encounters are far superior. G.O.R.E provides a wide selection of bosses that you can fight with, many of which come with multiple different phases. Except for a couple of exceptions later on, every boss is unique and nearly all are enjoyable. However, the levels don’t begin with boss battles until close to the halfway point of the game. The majority of the time the end of a level will be with a major fight against numerous smaller opponents, or stop when you’ve reached the end of a particular level. This is okay however the latter can be very jarring and may make you feel like you’ve been cut off from the adventure.
I would like to claim that all the levels were fantastic however, they’re difficult to predict. Overall, Gungrave G.O.R.E tends to improve as time gets more difficult, but this isn’t a complete description. The first few levels are definitely less enjoyable, as the majority of them do not have boss fights and G.O.R.E is known for its habit of throwing up gimmicks at players. For instance, one level needs Grave to traverse the top of a train, keeping clear of passing signs and tunnels that are coming up. This sounds great in theory, however Grave is slow, and is most effective when he’s not. Eliminating enemies that surround you effectively especially in the beginning with a restricted range of movement, is a matter of standing still to activate Burst Mode that opens the possibility of running into the sign of a passing vehicle or not entering the train before you cross the tunnel. A sign that you hit is a bad thing (it costs your shield and roughly half your health) However, being on top of the train once it is pushed into a tunnel is a quick death and the need to repeat the entire sequence. Beware of the signs and attempting to move fast puts you at risk to being attacked equipped with rocket launchers and shields. Both are extremely destructive and could cause you to fall off the train. This will, as you can guess can result in instant death and having to repeat the entire segment again.
Spikes with difficulty can cause the game to be extremely painful.
Difficulty spikes like these make the early game incredibly frustrating. Generally, you’re not dying because you made a mistake, but because you don’t yet have the tools or abilities to deal damage quickly enough. By far the worst example I ran into was the sixth level, where Grave has to hold off a large group of what are, at the time, a lot of really tough Raven Clan enemies. I spent over an hour attempting this segment, but no matter what I did, I couldn’t deal enough damage fast enough. There were simply too many enemies in too small an area, all of whom demanded I deal with them in a specific way, which usually left me vulnerable to something else. I eventually had to turn the difficulty on that encounter down a notch, and that suddenly let me clear it on the first try. Gungrave G.O.R.E actually encourages you to switch difficulties if things get too tough, but it feels bad when the reason you have to do so is that your damage output isn’t up to some arbitrary standard because it didn’t give you enough points to buy the upgrades you need yet. When I came back to that same level later with more abilities, I was able to beat it on the normal difficulty pretty easily.
In terms of upgrading, it is possible to purchase upgrades at the conclusion of each level or through in the main menu. Points are earned through completing levels. G.O.R.E gives you scores in 5 categories that include time, kill rate, remaining life, most Beat Count, and Art Score, which ranges between D from D to S. Then, it adds up the scores to create the final score and awards points depending on how well you perform. It’s initially difficult to score high – there’s no way to develop the skills required to sustain the highest Beat Counts (for an example an example: a Beat Count that is in the 300s for most levels can earn you an A) or scores for Art however it will become more accessible as you acquire capabilities.
If you’ve got points then you can visit The Lab. There’s lots to buy such as health, shield and damage upgrades along with new melee combos, skills, and brand new Demolition Shots. When you purchase new things, G.O.R.E opens up considerably and combat is simpler and enjoyable. You are also able to return your skills at any point at the full cost of purchase this can be beneficial when you’re stuck. One-on-one boss battles like this one will be much easier when you maximize Grave’s target range and damage from bullets in lieu of the Storm Barrage, which you’ll most likely use for crowd control and for establishing large Beat Counts against large groups.
Unfortunately, the numerous upgrades don’t cover the fact that Grave’s moves aren’t as powerful. Grave doesn’t get new weapons The twin pistols and the coffin are his and his style of play doesn’t really change. It is only possible to improve upon what you already have. G.O.R.E offers two additional characters that you can play, Bunji and Quartz, however, they’re only available for a single level and, in the case of Bunji only a tiny portion of a level later. Their styles of play are a welcome variation: Bunji is like a more agile Grave who can dodge playing in Burst mode. I found myself enjoying playing him more than Grave. Quartz however, on the other hand, is a bit mixed. Quartz is a melee player in an game that’s designed for characters that can be melee and, although her style of play provides a nice change in speed, it’s nothing more than an interesting novelty. The characters are only available for a brief period of time, and you aren’t able to increase their capabilities or purchase new ones. The character they get is what they are given. It’s a massive missed opportunity, particularly because Grave doesn’t get something that can really alter his game – you’re not able to even change your control settings when you’re not happy with how the game is set up.
Verdict
If you’re able to get into it the majority of Gungrave G.O.R.E appears to be an opportunity missed. There’s an excellent combat system in this game, however the absence of variety and the regular enemy design tends to put it to shame. The art work, created by the Trigun team of Yasuhiro Nightow as well as Ikumi Nakamura is amazing and has a great style, however the narrative that’s told in this beautiful setting isn’t particularly engaging. The sound and music are excellent and the acting of the voices isn’t the best. I can clearly see its potential, however a series of mistakes hinder Gungrave G.O.R.E to ever achieving the heights of.