HomeReviewsGungrave G.O.R.E Review

Gungrave G.O.R.E Review

Gungrave G.O.R.E

Developer: Iggymob
Publisher: Prime Matter
Platforms: Xbox Series XXbox OnePlayStation 4PlayStation 5PC (Reviewed)
Release Date: 22 Nov 2022
Price: $49.99 USD – Available Here $89.95 AUD – Available Here

Overview

Anime. The backdrop and inspiration for plenty of video games. While I’m being pretty selective about it, I found some titles that I thoroughly enjoyed (Samurai Champloo, Elfen Lied, Claymore, etc). When it comes to gaming, anime aesthetics is an angle that sometimes works but it is also a double-edged sword. If the game is good, then that angle comes as the icing on the cake. When the game is bad, it’s just another argument of why the game sucked in the first place.

What we have now in our hands is Gungrave G.O.R.E, a shooter loosely based on the anime series from 2003. You gotta admit that the premise is pretty interesting. A character that has risen from the dead (and caries his own grave wherever he goes), with supernatural skills and a burning desire to take down a crime syndicate. And if the story was all that it matters, we would stop right here. But let’s delve deeper into the gameplay, visuals, and all the other mumbo jumbo.

Story

So what do we have here? Apparently, there is a drug called SEED and almost everyone is addicted to it. It destroys one soul (it’s never specified how, though), and the crime syndicate known as Raven Clan is its main distributor. Raven Clan is also led by Gando. Wait, who? But let’s not stop there. There is also Mika and she is the one that formed the El-Alcangel hunting organization but there is also another seed hunter called Quartz and someone called YENSEN the Boostmaster. His bio says that (I kid you not) he is “a killer who enjoys slaughtering”. Dear Lord.

If you’re even more confused now, that’s perfectly fine because I am as well. The story is a jumbled mess that somehow assumes you have an intimate knowledge of all the characters that the game keeps introducing every now and then. It is like starting a 15-season show at season 7 and trying to comprehend the basics in the very first episode, but that simply won’t work.

Gameplay

This is where things get a tiny bit interesting. The first level of the game is an absolute chore of a tutorial but after you push through that slog, you can work on some freedom in combat and how to approach the enemies. Comboy system, special skills, counter attacks……it’s all good until pretty soon you realize that the enemies are incredibly dumb and copy-pasted. There is little variety in them and most of the time they will just stand in one spot like they’re absolutely fearless (but again, no. That’s just bad AI).

The enemies behave exactly the same regardless of difficulty, the only difference is that your shield meter might drain a bit faster on anything other than easy. It is also incredibly easy to get stun locked, get locked in with manual aiming, and sound might randomly cut off just because. At least there is some variety in bugs if anything.

Visuals

The game looks good, I’ll give her that. Colorful, flashy, and without being hard on the eyes. But that’s all there is really. The level design is bland and generic although I can say that the boss design is a bit above average. And that’s really the highest praise I can give to anything in this game. It’s not amazing, and it’s not engaging but it goes just a bit above the bare minimum. One thing that also bugs me about the level design is that even though all the levels follow the premise of “go from point A to point B through this set of mostly linear corridors”, the game still finds a way to ruin it even more. There is always a yellow marker around you showing where to go, even when your next route is painfully obvious.

Audio

Insufferable voice acting, characters that overreact and emphasize words when there is no need for it. Oh and let’s not forget an incoherent mishmash of techno and metal music that will randomly make its appearance throughout your gameplay. Just as it will randomly cut off. Not to mention the insane design choice of using Mika as some sort of narrator as you play. Her interjections are anything but helpful and it’s usually things like “the enemies are approaching”, “watch out”, “be careful” etc. Absolutely unnecessary and distracting. It’s kind of impressive how the game fails at every aspect here even in these segments where the bare minimum is needed.

Overall

As I played through Gungrave G.O.R.E, I was a man on a mission. The mission was to find at least one angle, one thing about the game that would make it worth your while. If the highest praise that I can give is “it looks good sometimes, I guess” then this is a waste of everyone’s time. What’s funny is that to this moment, I still have no clue what this game is trying to be. The tone (and the game identity) is all over the place. The game’s idea of difficulty is to gradually add more and more enemies as time passes, even though they pose no challenge ever. Even the decent visual design that went into bosses is kind of wasted since your whole strategy boils down to not just stand in one spot and spam bullets in their direction. The game is a definition of a hard pass.

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Summary

Poor
4
The only impressive thing about this game is how it fails miserably on every front. Who was this for, and what was the idea behind it - all those questions will remain unanswered.
Admir Brkic
Admir Brkic
I play video games from time to time and sometimes they manage to elicit a reaction from me that I can't help but to write about them.
The only impressive thing about this game is how it fails miserably on every front. Who was this for, and what was the idea behind it - all those questions will remain unanswered.Gungrave G.O.R.E Review