GunGrave: OverDose is one manic shooter. Its production values are questionable, but considering its absolute bargain-basement price of $14.99 at release, it has its moments and may be worth a look for fans of anime-action games.
The GunGrave saga is the story of a hero named Beyond the Grave that was resurrected by a secret organization called the Necrolization Project to become an almost invincible warrior. He double wields (see how fast that term came into use with Halo 2’s flaks throwing it around so much) a pair of pistols called Cerberus and has a large coffin filled with heavy weapons chained to his biceps, which can also perform the functions of melee weapon and shield. At the end of the first GunGrave game Grave had vanquished the Millenneon drug ring that was distributing a deadly new drug known as Seed. After this defeat, Seed disappeared from the streets and all seemed well. Now, three years later, Seed has reappeared on the scene and Grave is once again called upon to fight a new crime syndicate that is pushing Seed.
In addition to being able to fight as Grave, two new characters are now playable. Juji Kabane is another Necrolization Project warrior who uses a gunblade (combination pistol and sword) even though he is blind. Rocketbilly Redcadillac is a ghost who haunts a guitar that Juji owns. He channels his ghostly powers through the guitar for electrifying attacks. Yeah, sounds silly to me too.
Though there are trappings of a story here, the game is all about mowing down wave after wave of enemies coming at the player from all directions. There were a couple of times I thought about Serious Sam … though I wasn’t having as much fun. The standard guns are almost always the weapon of choice, but every once in a while an enemy will come along that can deflect normal bullets, and then melee or demolition shot tactics are called for. It is an almost non-stop blasting fest. Defeating all the enemies in an area brings out a “Go” arrow to direct the player to the next area and then another swarm of baddies to kill. It is fun, but can get as little repetitive.
Controls are pretty basic. The left analog stick gets the moving done. Face buttons for normal fire, melee, jump and launching demolition shots. Combining buttons with stick movements or even multiple presses of the same buttons allow the characters to do special moves. Shoulders buttons allow the player to lock on targets, look back, change the locked target and make your player do a “cool pose.” Yeah, sounds silly to me too.
What is very surprising to me is that the overall presentation of GunGrave: OverDose is not as good as its predecessor. It just doesn’t look or sound as good as the first game in the series – a rare thing in the video-gaming world where follow-on games in a franchise always seem to at least have better graphics and audio, even if they don’t quite live up to the original’s gameplay. Here the levels tend to be low resolution while repeating large chunks of the scenery and the characters look a little too blocky. If someone were to have shown me this game a month ago and asked me to guess if it was a PS1 or PS2 game, I’d have been hard pressed to choose.
Okay, GunGrave: OverDose has a few flaws. The flaws have to be weighed against the bargain price and the amount of fun you’re probably going to have with it. There is a fair amount of fun to be had. You’re going to give your controller a real workout as wave upon wave of enemies rush you and you send them straight to Hell. On the other hand this is a pretty mediocre looking game and it is a bit of a one-trick pony. In the end, a decision to buy will probably hinge on whether you’re a fan of anime shooters and want to play through to see all the cutscenes. The choice is up to you.
© 2004 GameShark.com
