Gungrave G.O.R.E from South Korean studio IGGYMOB and publisher Prime Matter is an action fest of a game. It’s a third-person shooter where players will take on the role of Grave, a gunslinger who lugs around a coffin and packs two trusty pistols by his side.
Gungrave is a franchise we haven’t really seen a lot of in recent years but thankfully the developers of the game included a handy “History” option in the main menu which gets you up to speed with what happened in the first game and its sequel Gungrave: Overdose.
As Grave, players will once again be tasked with taking down enemies but this time around, there seems to be a sinister plot unfolding involving 4 mafia bosses. The story of Gungrave is told by means of cinematic segments that play out as you complete missions. It’s all fairly standard and nothing really to write home about. The gameplay is relatively the star of the show here.
Gameplay in Gungrave G.O.R.E involves players taking control of Grave and quite literally raining down bullets on waves and waves of enemies. When you start out, you’ll only have access to a few basic attacks but as you progress throughout the game, you’ll slowly but surely start unlocking more complex attacks and abilities as you invest in them. Pressing the trigger button will have Grave instantly locking onto and firing his dual pistols at enemies within range. You can aim if you want to, and you can also charge up and fire a more powerful shot.
Demolition Shots
Then there are the “Demolition Shots” which are super powerful attacks assigned to specific buttons in combination with the trigger. These shots can be assigned as you learn them after unlocking them and each one has its own unique use in levels. For example, there’s a Demolition Shot that lets Grave literally smash his coffin into the ground and unleash an earthquake shockwave in his nearby vicinity. This is extremely useful when you’re surrounded by enemies and can really save your neck.
Grave can also perform finishers on enemies that have been stunned as well as use his chain to pull enemies towards him and use them as shields. There are a lot of attack options available in Gungrave G.O.R.E but at its core, the game is all about firing tonnes and tonnes of bullets at enemies both human and monster alike.
As you fire shots at enemies, you’ll rack up “Beats”. Beats are essentially your combo total and once you’ve surpassed 50 beats, you’ll be able to perform an attack where Grave can spin and fire his Ceberus pistols around him dealing damage in his immediate vicinity. This is useful in situations when you are surrounded but cannot use a Demolition Shot to save yourself. Grave can also use his coffin to melee attack enemies but the damage it does is rather lacklustre compared to his guns. With that said, he can use his coffin to deflect projectiles such as rockets right back towards enemies and this is fun to do. Grave can also enter a Fury mode where he does more damage and this is reminiscent of other third-person action titles which have a similar gameplay mechanic. If it ain’t broke don’t fix it eh?
Mafia soldiers
Enemies in Gungrave G.O.R.E are quite varied but for the most part, you’ll be mowing down humans, mafia members and soldiers. There are monsters and boss enemies to fight against too and these provide some of the more stand-out moments in the game. The boss battles in particular are quite great and you’ll definitely have to dodge, use Demolition Shots and make use of all your other abilities to survive encounters with them.
Gungrave G.O.R.E looks fantastic with the visuals being high quality throughout. Unreal Engine was used here and the game is filled with lots of gory visuals. If you’re squeamish you should note that buckets of blood get spilt when enemies get shot or obliterated by Grave and his abilities both in-game and in cutscenes. His abilities are extremely satisfying to pull off and the Demolition Shots are all very visually appealing. Environments are filled with detail and IGGYMOB did a good job here.
The soundtrack of Gungrave G.O.R.E is unfortunately not as great as it should be. There isn’t enough variation in music tracks and it becomes very repetitive quite quickly. This was a missed opportunity since they could have really gone all out with some adrenaline-pumping tunes to shoot enemies too. However, this isn’t the case and there are only a few tracks here which really do get old quite quickly. The voice acting in the game is thankfully really good with the South Korean voice actors doing a stellar job here. The English cast is fine too but the South Korean really stands out in comparison.
Gungrave G.O.R.E is a fun game but suffers from a few problems. The levels themselves are all fine but the shooting and actual gameplay mechanics feel somewhat stiff. Grave moves very slowly. And dodging is also just as bad with Grave feeling as if he’s being held down or is glued to something. It’s a very weird feeling and coupled with the fact that you actually need to press the trigger button each time to fire bullets in bursts means that you’ll be suffering from some serious button-pressing fatigue in your trigger finger – Even more so when levels are fairly lengthy and you’ll pressing the trigger constantly throughout.
Gungrave G.O.R.E is best played in short bursts. If you’re going to sit and play through the entire story for 15 hours or so, your fingers are going to hate you afterwards. Play this title on and off in short bursts, like a level or two and then take a break. It will make a world of a difference because the repetitiveness and the fatigue set in really quickly here.
Final Verdict
Overall, Gungrave G.O.R.E is a title that we recommend giving a try. While it’s not exactly a Triple A and definitely has a budget feel to it, the game is fun and has some great cinematics in its story. If Grave could only move a little bit faster and controlled a bit more like Dante from Devil May Cry, maybe then would this game truly excel. If you do play this title, don’t go in expecting too much. It’s a rather stiff, action-shooter but it does have its moments of enjoyment especially when Grave is a bit more upgraded in the later levels.
Developer: Iggymob
Series: Gungrave
Engine: Unreal Engine 4
Platforms: PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Xbox Series X and Series S, Microsoft Windows, Xbox Cloud Gaming
Publishers: Prime Matter, Plaion
Grab you copy here https://store.steampowered.com/app/1630110/Gungrave_GORE/
Reviewed on PC and Xbox
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