Gungrave

"Nice, but could've been so much better."

This game can be compared to DMC, only the main character doesn't use a sword and there aren't any demons, only people.

Anyway you play as a man simply known as "Beyond the Grave" or 'Grave' for short. He and his best friend Harry worked for a big company known as 'The Syndicate'. The thought of having to power of owning the Syndicate corrupted Harry and Grave(not his real name..it gets revealed later in the game) didn't want to be a part of it and was killed in cold blood by Harry.

One day you get your hands on the guns 'Cerebros' brought to you by Mika, the daughter of your lost love who pleads for you to stop Harry and the syndicate. You lock and load and set off to venture out to the syndicate HQ for payback.

Grave has more than just his guns at his disposal, even though they don't require reloading as the ammo in them is of an endless supply, you can use the coffin (carried on your back).

The guns are used simply for shooting and pulling off stylish maneuvers whereas the coffin can be swung around to wipe out the enemies in a close proximity aswell as the fact that the coffin has a whole host of weapons and explosives inside.

The 'goods' in the coffin can be used by activating the demolition shot. In order to gain ammo for demolition shots, you need to chain your shots. Once you shoot enemies in repeated succession a 'Beat' counter comes up, the more beats you get the more the demolition shot bar fills up and once it tops up, you have another shot available to use. Not only can it be filled by shooting people, but also by shooting objects, so be sure to leave a big trail of carnage as you blast your way through levels. There are four types of demolition shots, all of which are incredibly BADASS.

The fact that the game is cel-shaded really adds to the anime feel of it. The cutscene videos and in-game graphics feel as if you're in control of the anime. Currently I haven't seen it but I plan to after playing this game.

While it's not the best shooter on the market today it is an entertaining one, it lacks in the length department as there are only 6 levels in the whole game.

Pros: Very very stylish, it gives off the same feel DMC did when first playing it. Perform the demolition shots or repeatedly hit the shoot button to pull of a combo where Grave spins around and prepare to just stare at the screen in awe and say "WOW!"

It also has a fairly decent storyline for such a short game, plus you really feel for Grave in the scene where you see his demise at the hands of Harry.

Cons: The length. It was too short for my liking, 6 levels all in all.

A tiny gripe I have is the camera, sometimes you go around corners and you can't see jack. There's not even a way to move the camera manually so you sometimes end up blindly leaping around a corner guns a blazing.

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 03/28/05