When it was first announced, Gungrave impressed largely on account of its credentials, with character art and a storyline by Trigun creator Yasuhiro Nightow, mechanical designs by Kosuke Fujishima of Oh My Goddess!, production by Red Company (Sakura Wars, Gate of Thunder), animated sequences from the renowned studio Madhouse, and, to top it all off, a soundtrack courtesy of none other than Trigun composer Tsuneo Imahori. In this case, top talent may be the game’s greatest draw, as the above names provide an atmosphere that makes it easy to enjoy what is little more than a simple, untaxing, and thoroughly fun action title.
Appearing to be Nightow’s take on the overarching plot of Cowboy Bebop, Gungrave’s cyberpunk chronicle stars a lumbering, heavily armed assassin known initially as Grave. Murdered by the crime syndicate that he was once part of, Grave is somehow resurrected as a silent, expressionless instrument of revenge, his only allies being the gravelly-voiced Dr. T and a young girl named Mika Asagi. The mob’s new boss, Harry MacDowell (Wasn’t he in Outlaw Star?), has targeted Mika, as she’s the daughter of the Syndicate’s former leader, “Big Daddy.” Naturally, Grave’s out to protect her and take down his former partners in crime while he’s at it.
Got that? Well, it’s really just a frame for Gungrave’s hell-broken-loose action and excellent visceral impact, driven largely by nonstop shooting. Spent shells clatter, shots erupt from every angle, and the scenery is chewed to pieces during firefights. There’s seldom an opportunity to think, but nor is there a reason to, as you’ll be too busy sending gunfire and special attacks into every foe, while leaping aside to evade their retaliation. And as repetitive as it can get, the action seldom loses its raw, pseudo-cinematic thrill.
Gungrave’s stages vary from a subway to the sewers to a Chinatown maze, but all of them require the same tactics of gunning down the opposition. This is a fairly easy task for Grave, who carries around two massive pistols, collectively called “Cerberus,” as well as a weapon-filled coffin that would give even Trigun’s cross-lugging Nicholas D. Wolfwood a hernia. Grave’s also able to fire while diving, pound nearby attackers with his coffin, and even strike stylish poses as he fires, meriting a “style bonus” at each level’s end.
However, Grave is a bit too effective of a killing machine. His shambling, zombie-like gait makes him a easy target to hit, but he’s equipped with a regenerating personal shield as well as an option that refills his life meter by expending a cannon shot. To compound his advantage, the game’s structure offers little resistance until the final stage. Red and Sega may lend their logos to the game, but Gungrave was actually programmed by the less experienced houses of Positron and Ikusabune, and their ambitions for the project were rather modest. Like some hybrid of Final Fight and a light-gun game sans the plastic pistol, Gungrave is strict, straightforward shooting that doesn’t require much in the way of reflexes. Thugs sustain only a few hits before going down, and when the game’s later bosses challenge the player, it’s solely a matter of predicting their attacks and repeating a basic strategy. With this relative lack of difficulty, it’s safe to say that most players will plow through poor Gungrave in a few hours.
Yet they’re likely to enjoy every minute of it, thanks in no small way to the game’s rich surroundings. The cut scenes are gorgeous, animated with heavy shading and subdued colors that perfectly accent the gloomy tones of the storyline. Blatant Bebop references and all, Gungrave’s plot is moderately interesting while it lasts, and only the short ending bares the narrative’s uncomplicated themes. The voice acting’s also first-rate, even if there’s just a Japanese language track, featuring the likes of Tomoko Kawakami, Kikuko Inoue, and other fairly established seiyuu.
Though much of it is buried in the relentless chorus of gunfire, Tsuneo Imahori’s soundtrack gets high marks, particularly for the game’s gentle alt-rock theme “Here Comes the Rain,” which is heard in far too limited a capacity. And for someone who claims no particular love of Westerns, Yasuhiro Nightow is remarkably adept at blending its style with other themes; Grave’s a cool assemblage of gunfighter, cyborg, and 1920’s gangster, while the members of the Syndicate have subtler designs and goofier, Trigun-esque names like “Bob Poundmax” and “Balladbird Lee.”
Nightow once remarked that he wanted Gungrave to be the type of game that anyone can play. As a fun and accessible experience, it succeeds, even if this sort of brief enjoyment is best rented or bought after a sharp price drop. Still, I take comfort knowing that Nightow and Madhouse are at work on a Gungrave TV series, because there's a lot of potential in the game’s setting and story. And if Gungrave accomplishes one thing, it’s leaving players with the desire to see more.
B-
