Gungrave

"Not exactly"

GunGrave is Red Entertainment's debut on the PS2 and did a damn good job. Gungrave is an amazingly stylish, fun to play arcade style action game. You take on the role of Beyond the Grave, who was murdered by a mob, and thus, with a gigantic casket with extra-ordinary abilities, two huge hand guns, and the help of Dr. T and Mika Asagi, he's ready to wreak havoc in night clubs, factories, China Town, sewers, sky scrapers, and rooftops. Well, onwards!

Graphics- 7

The graphics in Gungrave are presented in a stylish cel-shaded format. Surprisingly, everything is very clean on the PS2, something that was a pleasant surprise to me (they looked pretty much on par with with the Gamecube and Xbox). This pretty package, however, came with a steep price- frame rate and draw distance reduction. If there are about seven or more objects on screen, the frame rate takes a huge hit, which is often times annoying in the heat of battle. The draw distances are some of the worst I've seen (yes, worse than Grandia Xtreme's)- enemies pop out of nowhere, and there is even some fog behind Grave as he is running. Overall, not superb, but not average either.

Sound- 7

The game features voice acting, which is pretty good. Nothing to shout about. Music is pretty good, but the problem I found with it was that it a) didn't live up the expectations the movie gave me and b) was really, really forgettable. Each antagonist has his own music, all of which fit, but were not superb. Sound is okay, not great.

Gameplay- 7

Nothing revolutionary here, but that doesn't make it bad, not at all. The controls are very simplistic, as there are dedicated buttons for every action (shoot, jump, dive, target, melee attack, demolition attack and slowdown (like activating bullet time manually)). This is very good for the fast paced action you'll be facing 97% of the game, however, this makes a for a very bad score in the depth department. There are no real combos, only holding down the square button in order to a burst attack, which has Grave showing off his ''mad gun slingin' skillege'' and there are only four demolition attacks, all of which are selected from a menu and activated with the demolition button (triangle). On the subject of demolition shots, they have limited ammunition and are linked to the beat count, which is a count of how many people or objects you've hit with Grave's guns (named ''Cerberus''). Beat counts fill up a meter on the upper left hand of the screen and when full adds to the demolition shot ammo (located in the same box). This could've used a small bit of improvement in the depth, but that's not bad.

Oh, and Grave movements are slow... when he is WALKING. Some people complained about this, but I wonder if they have found the ''run'' button (circle).

Plot- 5

I really didn't pay attention to the plot that much mainly because I don't know Japanese, but all you need to know is what I explained in the first paragraph of this review. If you're disappointed with this, I must ask, is story vital to action? I think not.

Replay Value- 8

Since this is an arcade style action game, players are encouraged to go back and beat the game on harder difficulties in faster times in order to gain extras like unlimited demolition shots, level select, higher ranking (for some reason, I can't get passed the ''Rash''), and character select. Very good here.

Import Friendliness- 8

If you purchased your game (regular edition) from Video Game Depot or NCS, you got the Asian version (you can tell you do but back of the box having Chinese on the back and a different cover from it's Japanese counterpart). The great thing about Asian games is they come with an insert that summarizes the Japanese manual for you in English and Chinese. Otherwise, all the menus are in English and since the control scheme is very simplistic and easy to pick up, no one will have a problem with the language barrier... or what little of it.

Overall- 7 Well above average

Gungrave is by no means the Game of the Year, nor the greatest title out now, but it still is a high quality title that won't disappoint those in the mood for a good game. Definitely a buy.

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 08/02/02, Updated 08/02/02