Gungrave G.O.R.E Review

Published by Prime Matter and developed by South Korean studio IGGYMOB, Gungrave G.O.R.E was released on the 22nd of November 2022. For the most part, its inclusion in last year's gaming line-up came without much fanfare or excitement. This was likely due to Gungrave G.O.R.E being the first real entry in the Gungrave franchise since 2004. However, after spending a few hours with the game, I cannot say it's a title I would recommend.

Let's first cover the basics of the narrative. This is a story of revenge, where you play the anti-hero known as Grave. Best described as the broody type, Grave has a unique look, considering he sports two pistols and carries a coffin on his back. After you were killed by your friend, you managed to resurrect, though your memories and emotions are gone. But, you do remember the name Mika Asagi. Since his death, Grave has joined with Mika who has formed the “El-Arcangel’ resistance group, whose purpose is to overthrow the gangs controlling the distribution of SEED (a parasitic drug of extraterrestrial origin). To that end, the resistance forces head to the city of Scumland to try and put a stop to the spread of this threat. As a newcomer to this franchise, I appreciated that a history button was available on the main menu — to catch me up on the lore of the world I was about to enter.

The game is a third-person action shooter, comparable to the early Devil May Cry titles; button-mashing and combos are going to tire your fingers as you face countless waves of enemies across the 12-14 hours of playtime. Unfortunately, despite this favourable comparison, Gungrave G.O.R.E includes mechanics from games I have not seen in years. The game is completely linear in its level design, exploration is not required at all (as there are no collectibles to be found), and you are even given a bouncing yellow arrow telling you where to proceed. This kind of hand-holding feels extremely dated. In fact, the wave after wave of enemies I killed just to get to each yellow arrow made me feel like I was playing an expensive arcade game. The player has a full range of movement, with the ability to jump, dodge, and engage in range and melee attack combos. But outside of combat, there is nothing to do or see, which is a real shame. Throughout, each level the player will also have to deal with the character known as Quartz, she will be yapping continuously, often repeating lines you've heard countless times before. I can’t say I needed to be told that people were shooting at me from above at any point in the game, but nonetheless, I was told many times.

The graphics in Gungrave G.O.R.E are surprisingly quite sharp, in this at least the game sports a modern feel, having been created using Unreal Engine 4. Options for DLSS and ray-tracing are available under the advanced graphics menu. In terms of audio, the game would play heavy metal music during combat (which is a lot), but mostly the sound of gunfire is going to be your constant ear-wrenching companion. Various language options are also available for the subtitle text, voice-over, and even the enemy mafia-like NPC’s. While I normally watch my anime using the original voice work and reading the subtitles, for Gungrave G.O.R.E, I kept everything set to English. The dubbing was perfectly acceptable, which was a relief — as I did not want to have to read and button-mash at the same time.

I can’t help but feel that Gungrave G.O.R.E has all the elements of a great game, but doesn’t quite follow through on its potential. I was intrigued by the story, but the repetitive and linear gameplay bored me quickly. I did enjoy the boss fights though, some were easier than others but they had me feeling satisfied when they happened. If I were to recommend one thing to the developers, provided another entry happens, it would be to allow more player freedom in the level design and to add a reason to explore. Even linear games are capable of this.

Gungrave G.O.R.E is available now on the PlayStation 4 and 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, and PC.