Gungrave

"Very fun, exuberantly exhilarating and absolutely beautiful. However length and bad design pose a problem"

The main character, Grave, is a man from beyond who is brought back into service when a little girl, Mika, delivers a pair of guns called the Cerberos to Grave's friend, Dr T. Apparently the Syndicate is running amok in the city and it's Grave's job to bring a little peace by wiping out the Syndicate. So armed with his two guns and a coffin he carries on his back he goes out to bring that peace. Of course as the game continues we start to learn of Graves past, and it's an interesting one.

The gameplay is a third person shoot ‘em up, thus consisting mainly of running through rooms gunning down wave and wave of enemies. You use square to shoot, and L1 to lock on to enemies. In order to dodge bullets you can either dive to the side (with X) or run away (circle + direction). However you do not have to always dodge bullets as you are equipped with a shield that will absorb quite a lot of damage before your health bar starts decreasing. Your shield bar refills if you avoid getting hit for 5 seconds. As well as guns you also have a coffin you carry around on your back for close combat by swinging it round with R1. This is a VERY effective method of attack, and sometimes you'll find yourself running towards enemies to use it rather than shooting. Finally there is the triangle button which unleashes a special attack by using up one of your Demolition Shot points (which you collect by defeating enemies)

One of the great things about the gameplay is that it is really exhilarating. When you're diving around in a gunbattle you can actually feel the speed, and using a special move feels epic. As you're shooting you will find all manner of objects are being destroyed (from crates to cars to signs), explosive barrels will explode, blood will splatter the walls and bullets will dent the walls. This complete and utter destruction furthers the exhilaration and makes the game truly fun to play.

The enemy designs initially look very nice, though this is mainly due to the fantastic cel-shaded graphics. Once you get past the initial explosion of joy at the graphics you it suddenly hits you that the generic enemies are all far too similar (it isn't until about half way through the game that you finally meet generic enemies that aren't just men in suits). The boss designs however are amazing, and some of the bosses will truly blow you away with their unique look. The level design is reasonably good, though nothing hugely original. However there are so many destructible objects in the levels that explosions and such often stop you from becoming bored with the levels.

As has already been mentioned, the graphics are stunningly well done cel-shading. I can not stress enough how well done they are though, as this game is one of nicest looking games on the PS2. The cel-shading is very sharp and creates nice shadowing on the clothes, and it gets even better in cutscenes where the game is so pseudo-2D that it looks like some very detailed anime.

As far as sound goes the music is great, has a lot of variety and helps keep the pace of the game going. Sound effects, though simple, suit the style of the game well. The voice acting ranges from good to below average.

The game is short, only taking 2 hours to complete. It wouldn't surprise me if people do decide to replay it, though don't expect to return to it for at least a year or so.

Gameplay = 9/10
Design = 7/10
Graphics = 10/10
Sound = 8/10
Length = 2 hours
Replayability = 7/10

Final Score = 8/10

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 11/09/07, Updated 02/22/08

Game Release: Gungrave (EU, 11/29/02)