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Mastiff’s essentially free title is quite pleasant. I’m not sure how they did it, but Mastiff has released Red Entertainment’s Gungrave: Overdose stateside for a mere $15. As Mastiff likes to point out, the game includes a three month subscription to Play magazine, an $18 value so if you were even somewhat interested in the magazine, you’re basically getting $3 for playing the game. And considering just how solid of a shooter it is, that’s quite a bargain.
The Gungrave series is known for its gripping story, and Overdose is no exception. The story, in is most basic form, isn’t that particularly exciting when described. You play as Grave and meet up with others in the game in attempt to stop a drug lord from overtaking the world. The guys over at Red Entertainment put a lot of effort into making the game cool, with excellent cutscenes and the comic book panels that are used often. These really grip you and demand your attention, so much so that you won’t realize that the actual plot isn’t anything from the ordinary.
Gungrave: Overdose doesn’t waste too much of your precious time with unneeded things like in-depth tactics and difficult to figure out objectives. In the game, you’ll need to continue through the linear levels, destroying the many enemies before they destroy you. As you run through the levels, you’ll meet a ridiculous amount of enemies many of which are rather intelligent and will put up a fight before being pumped with lead. The game’s difficulty increases very gradually in the beginning and has a bit of a steep in the latter levels, adding more excitement to the already hectic gameplay. And while the gameplay can largely be described as “shoot anything that moves” you’ll also be rewarded for destroying the very interactive environments with more combo points. You can then use these points to power up special shots which will inflict ungodly amounts of pain unto unsuspecting enemies.
While I never played the original, I’ve read that fans were enraged that Sega charged fans a full $50 for a game that could be beaten in around three hours. Gungrave: Overdose fares much better in the replay department. The initial run through will take a great gamer something like five and a half to six hours but can easily to go seven or seven and a half. Additionally, you’ll be able to play as two additional characters - Juji Kabane and Rocketbilly Redcadillac – who have a different main weapon (Jufi has a sword, the other a guitar). The game also has many difficulty modes for those who really want to show off their respective skills.
In terms of graphics, Overdose does a very job of portraying its hectic action. The levels are rather simple in design, just rooms and hallways, but include many interactive items which really bring the action to live; you’ll see glass shatter and everything from computers to cars blow up explosively. The game’s art style, although admittedly a personal preference is amazing in the game, but shown particularly in the cut-scenes. Unfortunately, technical problems – namely a problematic frame rate and much aliasing (“jagginess”) don’t quite allow the game to reach visual stardom. Thankfully, you can almost forgive these problems as the game really pushes the PS2’s drawing power with the amount of on-screen enemies.
The game’s background music is pleasant, although limited. Likewise, the voice overs are quite repetitive for the enemies and your character. Thankfully, the audio is largely compromised of things breaking and gunfire going off, which matches the hectic on-screen action.
Gungrave: Overdose is a very solid shooter. The game has very solid gameplay, just the right length and best of all it is worth a mere $15. If you’re even slightly interested in either the franchise or shooters; you should pick this up. I would be totally comfortable recommending the game if it was worth twice as much. -- Jose Liz, PGNx Media
---- Sep 24, 2004
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