GunGrave B.O.R.E
Sometimes, being a dumb action game is fine. As long as you have satisfying mechanics, solid pacing, a well-told story if there is one, and enough variety to keep you engaged for at least a few hours. However, GunGrave G.O.R.E has none of these things and is instead a very PS2-feeling action title that offers up the same two minutes of gameplay on repeat over the span of around 12 hours.
While G.O.R.E offers a brief introduction to its world, the title does very little to introduce its cast, let alone who any of them are in relation to its lead, Beyond the Grave, a man many simply call Grave. As this is a direct sequel to the 2004 PS2 game, Overdose, it feels as if this story and every single design document created for this entry, was meant to be a quick follow-up instead of something being developed almost 20 years later. Every aspect of this game’s design feels pulled from the PS2 era, and for all the wrong reasons.
GunGrave G.O.R.E may have something of a story here, but only absolute die-hard fans of the series are even going to grasp at what is even going on and just who that guy in the trench coat even was. It also doesn’t help that the voice acting is downright atrocious, with constant “Grave, they are coming from everywhere!” being shouted in your ear every single time you step into a new combat arena, which is constantly.
GunGrave G.O.R.E has you slogging through 31 stages as Grave, an undead hitman who says all of five lines across the game, in one breath no less, as he attempts to shut down a gang that is distributing a drug called SEED. Now, we are told that SEED was originally destroyed, all connections to the drug gone, but somehow it is back and bigger than ever.
Despite some stylish gameplay shown during trailers and screenshots to make the game look downright appealing, GunGrave G.O.R.E is a very no-frills linear corridor shooter with auto-targeting for your twin revolvers with melee and weapon skills built around a large weaponized coffin called the Death Hauler. While there are elements here that should commit to being at least somewhat entertaining, inconsistent targeting, a barely coherent story, and constantly being knocked about are large parts of where this action title falls apart fast.
While its story is certainly not going to keep you interested with its bizarre character turns, poorly written and performed dialogue, and random scenarios of playing as two additional characters for a single level for some reason, its action is either going to satisfy you on a very basic level or turn you off from the whole experience altogether. GunGrave G.O.R.E’s entire gameplay loop is simply built upon the concept of rapidly pressing the RT button as fast as you can and not much else.
The main drive of gameplay is moving through a series of generic environments that barely have any connection to the story being told. From back alleys to sewers, a quick trip to a jungle and then a casino, clearing out each arena will unlock the door to the next hallway that then leads into the next combat zone, complete with tons of invisible walls, open doors that don’t work, and so on.
You’ll blast away thousands of generic and uninspired enemies within the first few levels all while a voice shouts the same four or five alerts for nearly every encounter there is. Apart from a small handful of late-game additions, almost every level is packed full of the same half-dozen enemies all randomly tossed in for good measure. While most of them are pretty standard bullet fodder, there are some exceptions where you’ll need to charge up a shot to break through their shields or slice away at those who deflect your bullets. Nothing here is revolutionary or clever and most enemies simply rush you or stand in windows or on ledges, waiting to be shot down.
While the basic core design of what GunGrave G.O.R.E offers isn’t necessarily a bad thing, it is just that all of its outlets for its gameplay are unsatisfying across the board. Its autotargeting shooting is wildly inconsistent when you are trying to be even the slightest bit precise, and while enemies can easily shoot through their own allies to get to you, your own bullets will only target what your cursor is latched onto. That enemy slightly behind the one you are looking at that is about to fire those rockets? Well, sorry, but the less threatening foe directly in front of you takes priority. Even using the manual aim will tug the cursor towards the less threatening option each and every time.
GunGrave G.O.R.E becomes this fire-and-forget spectacle where you’ll simply press the RT button down as fast as you can, spray and praying as the arena floods enemies and enemies upon you, dodging out of the way of incoming rockets, some of which will lock onto you regardless of your agile efforts. You’ll have so many enemies or effects on screen that you will rarely have the chance to time that melee strike perfectly to ricochet the projectiles back to their source, a mechanic that is wildly imprecise in its timing. There are solid ideas here for sure, but none of them feel backed up by anything even remotely well executed.
To add to the game’s issues is Grave constantly being knocked around and stun-locked by the endless supplies of missiles, rockets, and sniper shots that can launch you off platforms, destroy your shield in a single blast, or continue to fire away at you as you are simply trying to get up and out of the way. And, since you are often too stunned to move, this causes enemies to surround you, trapping you in place and it is rare that you’ll even survive such a scenario. You do have access to a decent variety of special attacks called Demolition Shots, but even those are wildly inconsistent on what they actually hit and whether or not they will actually kill anything.
This knockback causes a few levels to be downright abysmal. The train level, for example, has been a talking point for the game since release as getting knocked off the train results in an instant game over, requiring you to start the level over again from the previous checkpoint. While it may not sound like such an issue, the width of the train and your sluggish movement make it incredibly easy to be caught off guard and bounced off the train before you know it.
It doesn’t help that the level itself has timed tunnels that are a chore to work toward because the game doesn’t give you enough time to kill everything in your way. Combine that with mines that stun you, missiles, rockets, and overhead signs that you need to avoid, especially with a dodge that makes Dark Souls look like it’s on speed, and it all mixes into one of the worst levels I’ve played in well over a decade. Thankfully there are only a few levels even remotely similar to this with some minimal platforming sections that are not the game’s finest moments.
To aid you throughout the game, you’ll have a skill shop in between missions called the Lab where you can purchase personal upgrades to boost Grave’s health, shield delay, and fury, the latter being a power that increases Grave’s damage for a short period of time. It is here where you can also increase his overall arsenal, from additional melee combo attacks, and grab finishers, to Demolition Shots and how many charges you can stack. These skills all look and sound appealing, but many of them fail to function as intended.
My first Demolition Shot unlock was Death Blow, an attack where Grave kicks a missile toward his enemies. The attack looks cool, has a pretty sick animation, and most of the time, it only kills maybe two or three enemies in a group of a half dozen or more. It ends in a massive explosion that looks like pure chaos, but the range feels impacted by how far ahead the lead enemy it hit was to the remainder of the group. Eventually, during the last few levels, this move fails to really deal much damage at all, often just knocking enemies down for me to clean up with the twin revolvers. It’s still effective, sure, but it doesn’t make you feel like a badass anymore.
While Executioner’s Blood is a rapid-fire blast that has Grave spinning around and actually working as intended, you then have Horror’s Quake, a melee strike that has the same hit-and-miss percentage as Death Blow, making it almost useless in most cases. It’s a shame since so many of the other Demolition Shots operate the same way by looking like they should dish out some sweet justice but then pack the punch of a wet fart.
Grave can also charge up his main shot by holding RT, but this doesn’t give the proper feedback if it's working despite a glowing aura around Grave’s hands. Once you see the glow, there is a second pulse that indicates that the charged shot is ready, but this takes far too long considering the floods of enemies, bullets, missiles, lasers, and more that are all hounding you every second of every level. Hell, I had more than a dozen times where holding the RT button did absolutely nothing. If this blast was mapped to another button and then acted on a cooldown, it would allow you to keep shooting and then use the charged shot almost in a combo-like manner, allowing you to keep the bullets flying instead of stopping to charge a shot you’ll likely be knocked out of anyway.
While the bulk of the game’s visuals are largely hit-and-miss, coming off as something straight out of the PS3 or Xbox 360 era, I do have to say that the second-phase designs of its main bosses all look damn impressive. While the fights themselves are largely tiring, mainly due to how you often just have to circle strafe around them and dodge the odd attack, their designs nonetheless are impressive. This is also in line with the cutscene that takes place before the final boss. While I still don’t know who one of the characters is, that whole scene was well-framed and had the energy and confidence I wanted the entire game to have. Honestly, make THAT game, it looks cool as hell.
As mentioned, action games can be dumb fun but they need to function and play well enough to be enjoyable. GunGrave G.O.R.E is one of the worst games I’ve played in a long time as nothing here feels satisfying in any conceivable way. The shooting, special attacks, stuns, and presentation are all disappointingly frustrating and never feel functional. I can honestly imagine a version of this game that delivers, offering tight third-person action with functional skills and mobility that sings, but what is here is just a downright disappointment that is frustrating to no end.
Developer - Iggymob. Publisher - Prime Matter / Plaion. Released - November 22nd, 2022. Available On - Xbox One, Series X/S, PS4/PS5, Windows PC. Rated - (M) Blood and Gore, Drug Reference, Intense Violence, Strong Language. Platform Reviewed - Xbox Series X. Review Access - GunGrave G.O.R.E was downloaded off of Game Pass for review.