This is one of two import games I picked up while on my last visit to Japan. I
was hoping to pick up Custom Robo GX for the Gameboy Advance, however, that game
wasn't getting released until 4 days after I left, so I had to be content with
only picking up GunGrave.
Released in Japan on 7/18 of this year, GunGrave is basically your chance to be
the plodding, unstoppable force that just mows down everything in the room. Take
one part "The Crow" and one part "Trigun" and you've basically got GunGrave.
Plot
You're "Grave". Or "Brandon". Or "Big Daddy". I dunno, I never quite figured it
out. He gets called various different things. Maybe if I spoke Japanese, I'd
know what what they were referring to you as. In any case, all you need to know
is that you're the undead looking guy that's got the huge coffin chained to his
neck.
Mika, the daughter of the woman you loved comes running into your little neck of
the woods, and drops off a case with two guns, named "Cerberos". She's bleeding
badly, and so quickly passes out. You, who had just about left the yakuza
underworld, pick up the guns and leave.
Kicking Their Ass
That's what this game is all about. In case you forget, the helpful little
reminder pops up on the screen at the beginning of every level.
You've got 2 basic attacks. Your handguns are accessed by hitting the Square
button. This will be your primary source of punishment. In case you're
wondering, the guns that you use don't have unlimited ammo...the Japanese manual
says they hold about a million bullets. I didn't have to test their capacity.
The other basic move is to swing your coffin around to let people know they're
in your personal space. This is a slow, but fairly devastating attack. You won't
run into enemies that can withstand one swipe of the coffin until the 4th level.
Your other form of damage is a "Demolition Move". Basically, it's your smart
bomb. At the end of each stage, you'll get little points based on how you
performed in 5 categories: Your "Beat", (basically a combo counter.) Level clear
time, Kill %, Life remaining, and the ever important Artistry. (The Russians
scored that kill a 4...and he's not too happy about that!)
You'll get a rating of 0 to 5, and once you accumulate enough points, you'll
acquire new Demolition Moves, which you can switch between by pausing.
Additionally, you can spend Demolition Moves to regain life.
The meter at the upper left will show you a skull and the number of Demolition
Moves you have stored up. A blue circular gauge there will fill up as your beat
level gets higher. 20 is the number that starts the gauge filling, and the
numbers to fill it up will scale down progressively from there, until eventually
every 5 hits will add something to the bar.
If you ever see your Demolition Gauge glowing, hit the triangle button for a
special attack that will get you a neat cutscene and show the true power of your
coffin based arsenal.
Your life bar has 2 gauges. A blue bar to show damage that you can basically
shrug off, and a red bar that is your actual life bar.
Basically, what this allows for is you can walk around like a tank and absorb
hits from a lot of small arms fire without actually getting hurt. So, feel free
to run up and smack people with your coffin, you aren't going to get hurt any.
However, once you DO start taking damage, you take it fairly quickly, so keep a
mindful eye of the blue gauge.
Controls
Doh, every game's got an Achilles Heel doesn't it? Control is GunGrave's biggest
weakness. Grave doesn't have the best footwork, so he's kind of hard to maneuver
properly. You can only move him and navigate the menus with the left analog
stick.
He has the option to run, using the O button, and you can jump using the X, but
his range of leaping leaves much to be desired. There's an exceptionally
annoying boss that takes advantage of your lack of mobility to hide around
pillars and heal while you go and try to find him. That's just not fun.
What also get frustrating is that while you do have a "lock-on" feature, it
doesn't really lock on to all targets and stuff that's too close or too far away
won't get targeted, even though all Grave would have to do is point his guns
upward and blow something out of the sky.
Wrap-Up
For what the game is, a stylish, in-your-face, shoot everything in sight, moving
or not, killfest, the game's excellent.
However, with the steep price tag it carries, GunGrave is going to be resting in
peace on your shelf for a pretty long time. The only real replay value is found
in trying to better your scores and times, and due to my finding a spot where
you can get Infinite Beat on my 2nd time through the first level, there's not
too much there for me. Nobody's going to be calling this game difficult, or long
by any stretch of the imagination.
The art is done really well, as is to be expected from the guy responsible for
great characters like Vash the Stampede and Nicolas D. Wolfwood. The music is
also very similar to what you'd find in Trigun, very fitting, and it contributes
well to the overall feel of the game.
Sound, on the other hand, leaves a bit to be desired, there's a feeling of stock
gunshots and stock explosions.
The game alternates between cel-shading and full 3D, and for the most part the 2
mesh well. There is one level where they have these stairs that extend upward,
and they don't work right.
This might be a game you pass on and are satisfied renting, depending on how big
of a fan you are of style-heavy anime like Trigun and Cowboy BeBop. If those
aren't your thing, then you'll probably get all you want out of the game within
a 3 day rental. Once this game hits the US shores, you'll have your own chance
to decide.
Secret Section
For those of you who enjoy discovering this stuff on your own, you may want to
ignore this section, which is why I placed it last.
Infinite Beat
The Beat Counter will only go to 999. I know this because I found an area where
you can get an Infinite Beat. At the end of the first level, you be in a outdoor
area with a bunch of cars and the "Target".
There's lots of guys here, so naturally, your beat's going to get up pretty
high. If you don't get too close to the target, you can get hits off of him.
Until he gets to his final location in the alleyway, he's invincible.
I discovered that while he's crouching behind the car that's in the back corner
of the level, that you can start shooting from behind one of the other cars, and
still hit at the edge of your range with your guns.
Since he doesn't take damage, and is considered a legitimate target, you can get
your Beat Counter up to whatever you want it to be. I got it to 999, and still
finished off the level in under 10 minutes.
 
GUNGRAVE
|
Gungrave
