Gungrave OD: Impressions, Screens & Video

Our hands-on with the next Sega and Red Entertainment project, Gungrave OD, results in these impressions and new media.

Last year's Gungrave was fairly well received when it was released by Sega. Visually it was a decent title, the shooting-based gameplay was pretty good - and the music by Tsuneo Imahori was fantastic. But some had complaints about the game's longevity and replay value.

The sequel, again crated by Sega and Red Entertainment together, is called Gungrave OD, and was playable at Sega's TGS booth last weekend. We had a go to see what it offers over the original.

The game will feature two new characters, although only Grave from the original was playable at the show. The first new character is the unfortunately named Rocket Billy Red Cadillac, sporting bright orange hair, an exciting red outfit and taking a rock guitar with him everywhere he goes. The second new character is Kabane Juuji looks somewhat cooler, with a jet-black flowing jacket and a flame constantly burning behind him.

A number of gameplay additions have made their way into this sequel. The first is the introduction of a shield bar, making you stronger or more open to damage depending on the capacity of the bar. Secondly, Grave can now string combos together using the white coffin he carries, defeating a group of enemies in one attack.

Combined with his awesome firepower - including those concealed in the coffin itself - this makes him even more potent than before, and more entertaining to play. The new combo attacks add a level of depth to the regular combat in the game, since many enemies are now able to block standard shooting attacks.

Graphically Gungrave OD was looking fairly average to be honest, although we have confidence that, when we next get our hands on, it will be looking better; we won't be so tired and jetlagged - but also because the levels in this build acted as an introduction to the game, and things are likely to look a lot better as the game progresses.

One major graphical flaw at the moment is the inconsistent frame rate, but these things have a way of sorting themselves out after early showings at TGS - especially on PS2 where refresh consistency is almost always achievable.

The level of interactivity with the environment is higher than before, and the levels seem to be considerably larger, a trend which if consistent through the game, should at least partially address the longevity issues some had with the original.

With western releases yet to be confirmed, and a Japanese release scheduled for "2004 early", (saying it backwards is fun), Gungrave OD is definitely going to be an improvement over the original, thanks to new characters, expanded gameplay and better level design. Stay tuned for more on this as we get it.

Adam Doree
Director, Kikizo.com