Gungrave

"A cool Japanime movie with shallow gameplay"

Introduction: Gungrave is supposed to be an exciting action shooter but in the end it's just a lame old button masher. When I first read about this game on the GameFAQS message boards, I thought it would be a really good experience. Instead I rented a cool anime movie with shallow gameplay. This game was published by sega so I was shocked at how lame this game is.

Graphics- 8/10 I usually don't consider the graphics the most important part of a game but its graphic's are gungraves strongest points. Everything in the game has a cell shaded look to it but at the same time unlike jet set radio and other cell shaded games the character models don't look flat. As you play this game you will swear that you are actually playing an interactive anime or comic book. I have to give the developers credit for job well done with the atmosphere and the overall art direction. All the enemies and especially the main character are well designed and animated. unfortunately there isn't a big range in design and most of the characters look too similar. Also another pretty cool feature of this game is the animated cinemas between the levels. They are short and look like a japanime movie. At first I thought these cinemas were traditionally animated but after closer examination I came to the conclusion that they are actually 3D animated but done in a style to look like traditional animation. And I must say they did an excellent job there. Although the animation's in the cinemas look jerky and not very japanimation like. In all the graphics are nice but never mind blowing or overwhelming.

Controls/Gameplay- 4/10
Shockingly there is nothing to do in this game outside of shooting everything you see. That wouldn't be such a bad thing if there were more weapons and a bigger variety of enemies. I also found the aiming to be horrible. You have to be just a few inches away to lock on to many of the games enemies and bosses. Pressing one button over and over again isn't that much fun...especially when there is never any change of pace in the action or change in gameplay for that matter. Jumping in this game is rather lame and pointless. You will rarely have to jump but when you do, you will find that when you are moving the jump button makes you roll. So when you want to jump you have to stop moving first. The controls are totally non-intuitive and work against you more than they help you. Also there is no way to run while shooting. So you creep along rather slowly in the levels. Sure you can hold the left stick in to walk faster but it doesn't feel right and it's hard to get a hang of. There are also special attacks you can earn but most of them are just variations of each other and do little to help in tough situations. The game also rates you at the end of each level on how artistic you are and I could never figure out how to get this rating very high. I read in a FAQ on what you can do to increase this rating however none of those things really seemed to affect my score. So in all the game is a major snore fest with no real reason to play through.

Sound/Music- 9/10

The sound effects in the game are really hard hitting, especially the explosions. It really made my stereo speakers rumble and the walls shake. The music however is easy to forget and almost unnoticeable. I didn't even notice the music except for the music during the final blow of the bosses and during the cinemas.

Replay value- 0/10
I saw no reason to beat the game more than once. Sure you can try to beat your high score in the levels and unlock all the action figures but chances are by then you will be bored to tears by this game.

Final score: 4/10
I would only recommend this game to people who are big fans of japanimation but only as a rental. The high scores this game is getting on this site baffle me. I totally agree with the reviews I have read in the magazines and websites (Very low scores). By the time I was at the 4th level I was very bored and wondered why I rented this game. I totally got carpal tunnel syndrome in my right thumb and wrist by the time I was finished, which has never happened to me before. ok so maybe I didnt really get carpal tunnel syndrome but it sure felt like it! If this game had a more depth, variation of game play and bigger variety of weapons it would be a much more satisfying expirience.

Reviewer's Score: 4/10, Originally Posted: 11/12/02, Updated 11/12/02