Preview: Gungrave G.O.R.E is a wild, bullet-filled adventure

After somebody wrongfully slays an innocent young man, you can bet that there will be Hell to pay. In the case of Gungrave G.O.R.E, that price is more bullets then there are grains of sand on Earth. Gungrave G.O.R.E, the highly anticipated action game developed by Iggymob, was at the Prime Matter booth at PAX West. At the event, I also played the demo firsthand.

After slaying hundreds of bad guys, and a giant robot, Gungrave G.O.R.E is shaping to be white-knuckle thrill ride of bullets, blood, and revenge.

Gungrave G.O.R.E reloads the cult classic!

Gungrave G.O.R.E is both a soft reboot and remake of Gungrave, an action shooter and hack’n’slash released for the PlayStation 2 in 2002. In the sea of major releases at the time, Gungrave broke out onto the scene with solid feedback from both fans and critics. Gungrave comes the from the mind behind the revered anime Trigun, and had mechanical designs from Kosuke Fujishima, who worked on You’re Under Arrest and Sakura Wars. The reception of Gungrave led to a successful adaptation into an anime and a sequel to the game in 2004. In 2019, Gungrave VR and Gungrave UN released, putting players right into the thick of the action.

My demo took me through the first first level, and began with a bang. The opening featured the typical setup for a big action film with a shot of the city, a group of bosses, and an army of henchman. The opening scene featured a sharp-looking CGI cutscene.

Regrettably, the headphones weren’t sufficient enough. and I could barely hear the audio. However, I can confirm there was English dubbing. Shortly after the scene, the game began, and it began in a hail of bullets. For the demo, I played the role of Grave, the man brought back from the dead to take revenge against those who ended his life.

Nonstop explosive action!

From the very start, Gungrave G.O.R.E offers nonstop action. Grave’s two handguns, Cerebus, have unlimited ammunition’s, keeping the action squarely focused on destroying as many bad guys and obstacles as possible. First, I learned all the basics: form rolling to running to aiming down the sights. The shooting felt terrific, impactful, and profound, but that was only the beginning of my time with Gungrave G.O.R.E.

Like a moment straight out of a Michael Bay film, an entire city’s worth of armed foes came at me. At each section of the facility, I eliminated everyone. I then learned to use close-range combat, and special moves. Grave can maneuver his coffin, singing it like a giant battering ram, smashing enemies into a pulpy mess. Players can use a combination of their Coffin and shooting to pull off solid combo and wipe out hordes of bad guys at once.

A heavy arsenal of abilities

One of the special abilities of the demo includes Demolition Shots. These immeasurably powerful moves deal a lot of damage at once. You can unlock this ability by charging your special meter. Once charged, grave can pull a variety of Demolition Shots. The trailer teases one that sets up what appears to be a coffin shaped missile. From there, Grave kicks it forward, causing a devastating explosion. This was useful when facing the more shielded enemies, that require a little more strategy to upend. Another move allowed for Grave to fire a mammoth beam cannon forward at an enemy as well. My personal favorite was a gun frenzy type of move, where gray starts spinning and rapidly firing bullets in the environment. It was reminiscent of the “Death Blossom” from The Last Starfighter.

Finally, the demo showcased two other moves as well. One involves chain that can bring players closer to enemies. The ability is especially useful for getting out of a bad situation. Another was the ability to take an armed combatant hostage for protection, though the bad guys in Gungrave G.O.R.E do not care about each other, and only stopping the super undead zombie warrior in front of them.

Bring out the big guns

The demo ended with a bang, featuring a boss fight with an armed pilot piloting a giant green mech. This particular boss fight was a cake walk, but a nice finisher to the demo, complete with missiles, lasers, bullets, and a mech trying to crush me. However, between unlimited bullets and supernatural abilities, the giant spider mech easily fell.

With that, my demo concluded. The developer did say there will be close to 20 hours of content to enjoy, and plenty of replayability between difficulty settings, trophy hunting, collectibles, and so on.

Enter the bullet-filled chaos of Gungrave G.O.R.E this November!

Gungrave G.O.R.E is shaping to be a gnarly, pulpy, blood-drenched action thrill ride just like the good ‘old days. Gungrave G.O.R.E is a flashback to an exciting generation in games, in an era before patches, microtransactions, and downloadable content. The action is visceral, impactful, and kinetic. The shooting gameplay is stylish and enthralling.

In addition, the controls are quick, polished, and on-point with the action. The classic challenge of fighting villains and an entire army of henchmen is nostalgic and refreshing, harking back to the days when games were made and built for straightforward fun and enjoyment. Gungrave G.O.R.E may have some competition, between the impending release of Bayonetta 3, God of War: Ragnarok and the recently-released Soulstice, but each action game offers something different and Gungrave G.O.R.E is offering an action adventure straight out of a vivid animation, and that imagination is filled with lots of bullets and enjoyable action.

Gungrave G.O.R.E launches on Tuesday, November 22 for PlayStation 4/5, Xbox Series X/S, and Steam. Gungrave G.O.R.E will be available both physically and digitally and is now available for pre-order.