Gaming Target - PlayStation 2: GunGrave

Written by Chris Reiter on April 22, 2002

First Impressions: Be a bad person, and feel so good doing it.

The baddest of the bad; the slickest of the enemy dicers; the guy who's going to take on everyone, and live through the rough job of enemy disposal only to emerge from out of it without a scratch. This is Sega's setup for an upcoming PlayStation 2 title that has been receiving a lot of attention lately as the best out of all games seen in playable form at the recent Sega GameJam event. And I can't see why not with a title like GunGrave, you just know the game's got to be something special.

What is known about this game thus far is that you get to play as a kick ass character by the name of "Beyond the Grave." For a character of such kick ass qualities, what he does -- all he does -- is kick ass. GunGrave sets you up in a gameplay style that's typical of that old school rampage effect used in such games as Super Smash TV, Loaded, or its sequel, Reloaded. To sum it up, what GunGrave does is take the player from one area to the next, having you slaughter as many enemies that are placed on screen. The more kills the better, obviously.

Sega's vision of the gameplay focuses on a weapon based system. Amongst the weapons Beyond the Grave can equip are either from standard set of double pistols, one for each hand, or a massive gun designed in the shape of a coffin, that has the ability to slice all surrounding enemies, or charge up for a super blast of death to all, whether they're up close or not. It's too early to tell right now if there will be more weaponry in the game to select from, but I wouldn't doubt the fact that there wouldn't be more.

Playing the game, and using the weapons available is coming along marvelously, with an assortment of fast moves Beyond the Grave can posses. This demonic character will able to shift fighting stances often having jump techniques and of course the rapid gunfire to follow. Interestingly though, Beyond the Grave is given a life meter during gameplay that works to both your advantage and disadvantage. A green bar that's placed underneath the health bar depletes itself if you are to take any enemy blows. The thing about is that when the bottom bar vanishes from the damage you incur, your actual health meter won't lessen any unless that single bar drops fully, meaning that you have to keep a close eye out for your life, or otherwise you'll be dead. In effect, this feature will in the long run help to balance the mindless killing, training you to do not only what your eyes want you to do, but what your brain knows what you must do and when you should do it.

Straight through the center of battle lies the extremely graphic imagery of slaughter, and the death that tags along. Rather than cementing the appearance of any standard 3D action title before it, Sega is sculpting GunGrave with a more naturalistic cel-shaded look that will fit well with the game's inner anime movie sequences. What's more is that while being maintained at a smooth frame rate, GunGrave will be able to place multiple enemies on screen and running the chaos of its battle system. Throughout the gameplay, you'll be able to rip into the game's world by placing ammunition through and demolishing most any object you see on screen, surrounded by tremendous explosions and realistic lighting effects to top off what might be both Sega's number one best playing and best looking game this year.