A game I have been playing: Gungrave G.O.R.E

Gungrave G.O.R.E on the PlayStation5

I got to start by saying that I am a massive Gungrave fan, I watched the anime adaptation back in the day, and I played the two games that came out on Play Station 2, Gungrave (2002) and Gungrave Overdose (2004), so I may have gotten a wee overexcited when I saw the announcement of Gungrave G.O.R.E. 

This game is a third-person action shooter, you take on the role of our hero, Grave,  a gunslinger, a sweeper for the Millenion mafia, now working alongside an organization called "EL-Alcangel" with one mission and one mission alone KICK THEIR ASS, well, there is a point to their mission. The setup is pretty simple, SEED, a drug that transforms its users into monsters that were thought to be eradicated, has actually survived. Now, sold by the Raven Clan, so Beyond the Grave and friends head out to stop SEED production and take the Raven Clan down. 

The stages are simple, you shoot your way from point A to point B, decimating waves and waves of enemies. Blood, explosions, wrath of god, lol, like a good old shoot 'em up. And you do that over and over until there is a boss fight of sorts. One thing that this game does differently from its predecessors, is the fact that in some instances, you don't necessarily play as Grave, there are other playable characters, that you play as for a short mission or so. Although, I think Overdose had two playable characters besides Grave if memory serves.

There are, so far, four main bosses of the Raven Clan you need to fight against, the boss fights aren't particularly super-engaging, I mean, all you do is move around shooting at your target and maybe evade one or two attacks but they push the story along. Most of the story is told in cutscenes, there isn't too much story, I mean, it is a simple setup. I don't need an overly complicated story on a shoot 'em up, honestly, the action is what you are here for.

I feel like this game is purely a fan service, you don’t have to have played any previous Gungrave games or seen the anime adaptation, though I do recommend it, at least the anime adaptation. Even if you do have a PS2, these games might be tricky to find and they probably don't hold up. However, there’s a short video explaining its history which is useful. Even I had to watch it to kinda remember some of the events of the previous games.

I am having fun with the game, but I can see how someone who is not a fan or familiar with the series might not pick up this one.