Gungrave was one of those guilty pleasure games. I knew that before it even came out. After years and years of gaming, you can usually get a sense about what kind of shit games you are going to end up liking. Enter Gungrave, a little game from Sega on the PS2 which basically puts you in the boots of a double gun wielding badass with a coffin slung around his back. (You know... the "usual." Red Entertainment codes up a nice little action title based around Yasuhiko Nightow created characters. Basically, if you want to feel like you are running around in a world like Trigun, then this game is for you.

As I said in the beginning, Gungrave is what I would call a 'guilty pleasure' game. Is this the best game I ever played? No. Would I call it innovative? Nope. Is it a technical marvel and showpiece for the hardware? Uh-uh. Why the hell do I like the game so much? That answer is simple: I only paid $15 for it at Target and it is a hell of a lot of mindless fun. I seriously love those ridiculous sales.

I suppose I should get down to business. I will just start from the top with the graphics. Gungrave uses the technique that Sega made famous called Cell Shading. Whether you love it or hate it, the style really can lend itself nicely to a game such as this. The graphical style in Gungrave, however is of the more subtle variety of cell shading. You're not going to get the overly bright and cartoony look of say a Jet Set Radio or Zelda: The Wind Waker. Instead, we see a subdued cell shading just like Robotech: Battlecry. This technique tends to let the game truly seem as if you are jumping into an anime movie. The main characters tend to look stellar which the average thugs are easily forgettable. Nightow's involvement is really obvious especially with Grave as well as another character that pretty much looks just like Wolfwood from Trigun if he bulked up a bit. The bosses tend to look very original and the anime cut scenes are overall pretty excellent.

The bad news is that the game tends to be bland in a lot of areas. The levels don't always show a whole hell of a lot and the generic baddies you waste in droves are extremely generic for a lot of levels. The thing that annoyed me the most is when the game would slow down every once in a while. It really wasn't anything that would cause you to want to smash the disc to bits or anything, but given the relative complexity of the game, I certainly did not expect the slowdown at any point in time. The level designs are just there for the most part. The end level is pretty decent, but even that was pretty repetitive. Red Entertainment could have kept this one in the oven for a little bit longer for sure.

The sound is very good overall. You get to hear a lot of gunfire in this game and thankfully it's more visceral than annoying. I especially enjoyed the music which seemed at times a mix between Trigun and Cowboy Bebop throughout the game. It tends to set the moods well and get you pumped while plowing through the waves and wave of goons in style. The voice acting sounds pretty decent as well since it has the 'cool' factor of being in Japanese other than being re dubbed in English. Cost benefits aside, I'm sure we are better off this way for the most part since we know what a low budget will buy in an English voice over. Since the game is in Japanese, most of us would not even realize if the voice work sucked. I have always had this theory that the original language tracks on anime actually suck and that we just don't know it, but that is a story for another time.

The gameplay is pretty much where Gungrave makes up all of it's points. It is just a fun game if you are into the sort of over the top gunfights that tend to permeate a lot of Japanese anime. Gungrave has a lot of style to it and there have been comparisons made to the game as a "Devil May Cry-lite" which seem to be pretty valid. You do get a score based on how you waste the hordes of the "Syndicate" so style does matter. As per typical Sega style gameplay, you are encouraged to play through the game more than once to try for better points and ratings. Most gamers will breeze through the game on the easier modes and you may want to tackle the hard stuff early on to make the game last a little longer.

The basic gameplay involves you playing as Grave, mowing down bad guy after bad guy with your trusty custom handguns which will do most of the dirty work as well as a huge coffin on your back which you can swing around as a close quarters weapon or use for special moves in the game such as missile strikes or screen clearing machine gun sprays. While lumbering around the levels, since Grave's default pace tends to be a lot on the slow side, you can speed things by pressing down on the little used L3 button for a little jog which allows you to fire at the same time. You can also lock on to targets to make maneuvering and killing a little easier as well as doing dive moves which server for both defensive and offensive strategies. For instance, if you lock onto a target, then dive to the side, your rate of fire will increase as you dive.

Overall, the gameplay revolves around trying to get the highest "beat" possible. The 'beat' is basically a number that represents how many continuous shots you have placed either in your enemies or in destructible objects. Keep the 'beat' going and not only will you increase your scores but you will also gain useful additional chances to use super shots or even regain some health. It's a system that works pretty well for the carnage that the game allows you to perpetrate in addition to being addictive in much the same way that old school games were when all you were trying to do was beat your high scores.

Boss battles in the game tend to be a little uneven. Some were super easy while others didn't quite make sense on the first run through. Most of them tend to be interesting enough to be fun though, however I doubt any of the encounters will be remembered as one of the greatest boss battles you have ever had.

In the end, Gungrave is an average game, however there are going to be gamers out there who will enjoy running through this title over and over again. It's one of those awesome games for stress relief and is one hell of a value for $15. I certainly can't complain. Gungrave is indeed a lot of fun and I can certainly recommend it for people who are looking for quick action games and love anime. Just don't expect it to be the greatest game you ever played and you should be fine.