Gungrave G.O.R.E reviewed by Will Borger on PC, also available on Xbox and PlayStation.
Much of Gungrave G.O.R.E feels like a missed opportunity. There’s a genuinely great combat system here, but the lack of variety and repetitive enemy design often let it down. The art and environments are fantastic and ooze style, but the story told in this attractive setting isn’t very interesting. The music and sound design are largely wonderful, too, but the voice acting is a little uneven. It’s easy to see the very real potential here, but a mishmash of missteps prevents Gungrave G.O.R.E from ever fully reaching it.
Gungrave Gore has exactly one Mission Objective kick their ass for the 12 to 15 hour campaign you'll do exactly that Shoot slash blow up and otherwise Execute thousands of enemies on your Quest to eradicate The Raven Clan when It works gungrave Gore is a captivating Ballet of blood and bullets that merges Gun Graves signature Style with the best Aspects of modern action games Unfortunately for everything gun grave Gore does right there's an equal amount Of frustrations and missed opportunities Well well I must admit I didn't think You could make it all the way here If you're new to the gun grave series There's a short video included Explaining its history to help you along The setup is a bit goofy seed a drug With a knack for transforming its users Into monsters that was thought to be Eradicated has actually survived this Time it's being sold by the ravenclan so Beyond the grave just grave to his Friends has to head to scumland to take Them down gun grave Gore's plot and Characters are never strong enough to Provoke more than passing interest in What's going on grave is as silent as His namesake with less than five short Lines in the entire game the other Characters are mostly there to deliver Exposition and it doesn't help that the Voice acting is also all over the place
Gun grave Gore's story is mainly to give You a reason to travel the world meet New people and then usually kill them While in combat grave has a pair of Pistols a charge shot a big coffin to Swing around larger attacks called Demolition shots that cost charges a Rage mode and some standard evasive Options what makes combat really Interesting are his special abilities You can do things like grab enemies with Your coffin and use them as a human Shield or enter Burst Mode by shooting Repeatedly while standing still grave Can't move in burst mode but it's a Powerful way to take out enemies around You very quickly The goal is to drive up Graves beat Count as high as you can and grab a high Art score which comes from executions Melee combat finishers and demolition Shots maintaining a high beat count Isn't easy it disappears quickly if You're not hitting something and it's a Fun challenge to drive it up during Encounters and then maintain it between Them by shooting objects in the Environment the trick is managing all of It at once demolition shots for instance Restore health and up your art score but Don't contribute to your beat count Executions provide a shield recharge and Up your art score but only add one to The beat count when you're juggling
Those abilities to pull off High beat Counts gun grave Gore feels fantastic Melee attacks may never quite feel as Weighty as they should but the shooting Is loud and impactful demolition shots Are amazing and executions are Appropriately stylish and Goring Everything else about the combat is more Mixed each level may look different from Dirty alleys to Lush forests but they're Entirely linear there are side rooms and Small detours but no reason to ever Explore them when there are no Collectibles to find and no optional Objectives to complete similarly you'll Have seen most of the enemies gun grape Gore has to offer by the time you hit The 10th of its 31 total levels many of The ones you'll face after that are just Slight variations and it can start to Get a little old Foreign S also like to limit your combat options In frustrating ways if an enemy is Equipped with a shield for example you Can only break it in a handful of Specific ways that often risk losing Your beat count while you charge up a Shot or force you to spend precious Demolition shots even then you'll often Only destroy a single Shield even if you Hit multiple shielded enemies all of Which are threatening enough that you Have to deal with them immediately
Enemies with powerful guns or rocket Launchers are the same way which means Combat is frequently less about making The most of graves's options and more About using whatever the right option is To deal with that specific enemy type Boss encounters are better than the Regular enemies at least almost all of Them are extremely unique and quite Enjoyable though unfortunately levels Don't regularly have bosses until more Than halfway through the campaign Gungrave Gore tends to get better as it Goes on but it has a bad habit of Throwing gimmicks at you that could Result in aggravating difficulty spikes For example one level puts you on top of A moving train asking you to avoid Passing signs and oncoming tunnels while Fighting this is fine in theory but Grave is a slow character and he's Strongest when he isn't moving Especially early on when you have to Rely on the stationary burst mode for a Lot of your damage avoiding the signs And trying to move quickly opens you up To enemies that can knock you off the Train which results in instant death and Makes you restart the entire section but Staying still can cause you to hit a Tunnel which also results in an instant Death Difficulty spikes like these make the Early game incredibly frustrating
Generally you're not dying because you Made a mistake but because you don't yet Have the tools or abilities you need to Succeed you gain points to spin in on Upgrades by completing levels and Gore Scores you on five categories time kill Rate life remaining highest beat count And art score on a scale from D to s Points are awarded based on how well you Do but it's hard to score well before You unlock certain abilities that make It easier to hit higher beat counts or Art scores there's a lot to buy too Health Shield damage upgrades new melee Combos and skills and new demolition Shots as you purchase more stuff Gore Opens up considerably and combat becomes Much more enjoyable but you can also Refund your abilities at any time for Their full purchase price a one-on-one Boss fight for instance is a lot easier If you Max graves's target range and Bullet damage instead of a crowd control Ability like storm barrage all of those Upgrades can't hide how limited graves's Actual moveset is though he never Acquires new weapons the twin pistol and Coffin are it so his playstyle never Really changes Gore does offer two other Playable characters Bungie and quartz But they're only there for one level Each and in Bungie's case a small Portion of a later level that said their Playstyles are a welcome Change-Up
Quartz is a Melee character in a game Not really built for melee characters Making her move set more of a novelty But Bungie is like a faster grape who Can dodge while in burst mode and can Almost be more fun than Gray It's a bummer that you only get to play With each character for a short time and Can't upgrade their abilities or buy Them new ones Much of gun grave Gore feels like a Missed opportunity there's a genuinely Great combat system here but the lack of Variety and repetitive enemy design Often let it down the art and Environments are fantastic and ooze Style but the story told in this Attractive setting isn't very Interesting the music and sound design Are largely wonderful too but the voice Acting is a little uneven It's easy to see the very real potential Here but the mishmash of missteps Prevent gun grave Gore from ever fully Reaching it For more action check out the reviews of Evil West or sonic Frontiers and for Everything else stick with IGN
