izigame.me

Where are the damn trumpets and saxophones?

I don't always write reviews for games on Steam, but when I do, I was hoping I could write a positive review. But this is not it. As someone who plays both the first Gungrave, Gungrave: Overdose and watched the anime series, this game is a very, very huge disappointment. And that's still an understatement of how disappointed I am with the game. I know the devs (Iggymob) probably worked hard on the game up to release date and beyond under supervision of Red. But delivered as it is, the game lacked the only reason I've ever played a Gungrave game: to feel like a complete badass.
This third installment, unfortunately, doesn't make me feel like a complete badass. And the reason for this, weirdly enough, is something pretty simple yet fundamental of a Gungrave game that I felt was totally overlooked by the developers, which I will elaborate at the last section of this review.
Graphics
Graphics in this game is very nice for a Gungrave title. Character fidelity and details are very good, although there is much to be improved on the animation side. I have a hard time wondering why the faces of female protagonists (Mika and Quartz) both look the same, however.
Mechanics
First of all, let's get some things out of the way: Gungrave is, by and large, a particularly mindless shoot-'em-up game. And that's not an entirely bad thing; not every game need over-complicated mechanics for it to be fun. The mechanics in Gungrave GORE is, in much of the fundamentals, very identical to both the first and second game. That's fine. I personally don't open up a Gungrave game expecting doing stylish combos while not touching the ground like in Devil May Cry.
But one thing that defines Gungrave is the Demolition Shot mechanic. And for some reason, despite the improved graphics and more VFX, they don't feel as nice as the previous Gungrave titles. But as this is pretty subjective, I won't really bust anyone's balls preferring one style over another.
Characters
If you're someone coming from Gungrave: OD, you'll be very disappointed on this department. Beside Grave, you only have Bunji and another new character Quartz, whose gameplay is very questionable. I won't even talk about some of the DLC characters, which is just a Bunji clone with different skin (save for Billy, we'll get to him later). The extra characters in this game felt lackluster and underdeveloped. They feel like an afterthought design slapped together with bare minimum mechanics and the devs just call it a day. Bunji, a nostalgic character, sure, but he is just a guy with akimbo handguns and some wolf spirit. And Quartz who acted as some kind of fan-service might entertain some, but definitely not me.
I've played Gungrave: OD, and the introduction of Jyuji Kabane and Rocketbilly Redcadillac was the best thing that's ever happened to Gungrave series. There is definitely no turning back from that high-point, especially considering what's on the table here with Gungrave GORE. Both Jyuji and Billy felt distinct, unique, have interesting mechanics that went well with their character and adds to the Gungrave lore without being too jarring. A mute zombie with artillery-coffin as a weapon, a blind frankenstein-like warrior wielding gunblades and a poltergeist with an electric guitar? Wow! So much inspiration! So badass! That is what character design should be all about!
Some people in Iggymob seemed to realize this at some point, and released Rocketbilly Redcadillac as a DLC character. But that is still a slap on the face considering what we're getting on the base game.
And finally, this is the most important part of my disappointment.

THE STYLE, THE MUSIC, THE GOOSEBUMPS!

I can't stress this enough. The one and only thing Gungrave GORE needed to do is to make me feel like a COMPLETE BADASS, but they spectacularly failed to do this right from the start.
MUSIC
WHERE ARE THE GOD DAMN TRUMPETS? SAXOPHONES? WHERE ARE THEY???
You know, Gungrave series had never been known for its story nor its gameplay, and honestly? I don't care about those things when I pick up a Gungrave title. But hell, it definitely had one of the BEST MUSIC among all of the games I've played. The original intros of both previous games KICKED ASS! The trumpet, the saxophone, OH MY GOD. It's really peak, probably one of my favorite video game intro music of all time.
And in Gungrave GORE, instead, we got what? Lameass music. One of the best thing about Gungrave series, all gone, reduced to nothing.
MAIN MENU
Might be hard to believe but they failed pretty badly with the damn MAIN MENU. If you don't believe me, go look for main menu of Gungrave and Gungrave: OD on YouTube and then tell me if you can say the current main menu is better.
It's dark, it's quiet, with the sound of the machine and chains slowly working its way out to assemble the Grave logo and then clank! Ssshhh a woman whispered to you: G u n g r a v e. Oh. I think I just got an eargasm.
Bunch of chains (reference to Grave) shooting away from the screen and then rapid blade slashes making up the Gungrave text (reference to Jyuji!) and then !!HARD ELECTRIC GUITAR NOTE!! (reference to Billy!) while the text OD appeared. Oh my goodness. Oh my god. I need to breathe. This has to be one of the BEST menu intro design of ALL TIME, I got to tell you. It's so perfect, you won't believe how clever the whole thing is once you let it sink in for a while.
And in Gungrave GORE, instead, we got what? No chains, no style, no clever animation, no soul. Nothing. Just Grave posing meaninglessly like some sort of photomodel while some lameass music playing on the background. It was very underwhelming to say the least. It was right from this exact point in the game, the goddamn main menu, I knew that I was in for a lot of disappointment. And I was right. It never got better past this point.
BOSS DEMOLITION FINALE
Oh yeah, you remember those over-the-top cutscenes at the end of every big boss battle in Gungrave games? The ones where Grave cracked open the ultimate coffin-weapon to finish off the villain real good with badass music? Yeah, good times. Now, they're all gone. Can you believe it?
After expecting something to happen in the first few... "mini" bosses (or what I thought them to be), I still took my sweet time giving this game a chance up to the first big boss battle: the snobby Hong Kong mafia guy wielding katanas, of all weapons. Hong Kong guy wielding a Japanese weapon? It's so meh. What's his name again? Johnson? Jansen? Oh yes, Yenson. Oh, not that? It's Yensen? Right. Anyway, after I beat his ass, I was expecting a big finale where Grave shove his big coffin-cannon up Jansen's ass and making him explode from the inside. But then, there was nothing. Couple of gun dance from Grave and pew pew, few shots to the head. And... is that it? Are you guys in Iggymob serious about this?
After all the mindless shooting of waves of enemies, the only redeeming reward of any Gungrave game is the final demolition shot right to the face of the bosses, complete with badass trumpet tunes and all. And after all the things taken away, you also took this away from us? Unbelievable.
This is the exact point I feel like putting the game down, to be honest. I don't think I can endure anymore disappointment. I'd probably just watch the rest of the game on YouTube or something, skipping the no-reward mindless shooting and just get right to the bosses to see how they fell down in the lamest way possible.

Conclusion

If you're a big fan of Gungrave series, like me, Gungrave GORE was indeed exciting. Was. Don't get me wrong, I was more then ecstatic when they announced a new Gungrave title a few years back. But if you pick this game up expecting to relive the nostalgia or magic of the previous two games, you'll be very disappointed.