by StewartS - October 29, 2004

Less is more. But don�t tell that to the developers of Gungrave: Overdose. After their initial effort with the underappreciated Gungrave, Red Entertainment has subscribed to the idea that more is more. With more action, more characters, more levels and more overall madness, the subtitle of Overdose fits the bill of this spaz-tastic shooter perfectly.

Given the original Gungrave�s lack of any kind of success, it was incredibly surprising to find out that Red had plans to develop a sequel. Imagine the surprise, then, when it was discovered that Mastiff would be bringing it across the pacific to us. While I was one of the few (read: eight) people who actually purchased the original, I actually found it to be quite an enjoyable experience. Sure, the levels were few and short, the gameplay consisted largely of tapping square as fast as humanly possible, and the frame rate dropped liked a prom dress. Despite all that, however, I found it to be a quite fun experience, especially with some great character designs by Trigun creator Yasuhiro Nightow and extremely catchy music by Trigun�s composer Tsuneo Imahori.

Kick Their Ass

Now, with the promise of a new Gungrave came the claim that there would be more of everything. More levels, more action, more characters, more everything. All in all, I�d say they succeeded in doing just that. There are now nine levels to the original�s six, two new playable characters (Juji Kabane and Rocketbilly Redcadiallac), a more in-depth story (sort of), six new Demolition Shots, and a ton of unlockables. However, while the additions are certainly nice (the extra characters and unlockables add to the replay value), not much of the core gameplay has changed. The game again commands you to �Kick Their Ass!� before the start of each of the nine linear (and far too generic) levels, which consist primarily of going from point A to point B and blowing the crap out of anything in between said points. Yes, anything. It doesn�t even have to move, Grave isn�t a discerner of objects be they animate or otherwise. See, most everything can be shot and destroyed in Overdose, from zombies to commandos to flower pots to couches to bookcases to lab equipment to grocery store aisles. The point of all of this destruction is to build up the Beat Combo. The more beats you get, the faster your Demolition Shot meter fills allowing you to fire off huge attacks that often clear the screen. Thankfully, Grave does this all fairly stylishly even if it is just mashing the square button repeatedly. It all translates into a wonderful symphony of controlled chaos with so many bullets and bodies flying constantly, even if it does get repetitive. Though, that�s part of the challenge of it all. Gungrave is akin to the shoot-em-ups of old where level memorization and quick reflexes were the order of the day. Gungrave carries on that tradition, though in a way that isn�t near as polished or refined as, say Gradius V. Playing with either Juji or Rocketbilly changes up the gameplay, though only slightly. Juji and his twin gunblades make his game more melee-focused while Rocketbilly�s guitar (yes, you read that right, guitar) makes him the perfect long-range fighter, though at the expense of really weak close-range.

The story of Gungrave: OD is�well, there�s not much there, and what is there really doesn�t matter given that this game is about nothing more than blowing stuff up. But for the few that might actually care, here goes. It appears that three years have passed since the end of the first game and the mutant drug SEED is being manufactured and then distributed all over the city. Maria brings Beyond the Grave out of hibernation to help stop this and those behind it. Juji and Rocketbilly begrudgingly team up with Maria and Grave given that they have similar objectives. There are a few other things that happen, but for the most part you�ll probably find yourself, as I did, rushing through the boring dialogue so you can get back to blowing up everything in sight.
 

Vash+Elvis=Awesome

The look of Gungrave has changed a bit with Overdose, though if it is for the better will certainly be up to the player. The original had a slight cel-shading flair to it with thick, black lines drawn around the environments and character models. Overdose drops that style in favor of a more traditional look to the graphics. However, one of the biggest graphical problems with Gungrave has been rectified: the slowdown. Simply put, the framrate on the original was terrible. Anytime more than five or six enemies would appear on screen (mind you, this happened all the time) the framerate would plummet. This is no longer an issue.

All the character designs are wonderful. Grave has dropped his cowboy motif in place of a more refined look of a business suit. Juji looks fairly generic, though Rocketbilly Redcadiallac (which is one of the greatest names ever, I might add) looks like a combination of Elvis and Vash the Stampede in a way that only Nightow could imagine the two. Not much else to say about the look of it all. The environments are fairly generic, but it doesn�t really matter seeing as how not much of them will be left after you�ve shot first and forgotten to ask questions later. Also, special credit should be given for the wonderful anime-style cut scenes that play periodically. Nicely animated and appropriately stylish, they suit the game well.

Soundtrack to a Symphony of Mass Destruction

As for the sound, this is one of the more blas� aspects of Gungrave: Overdose. There gunshots and �splosions a�plenty and they all sounds just fine, except that they happen so often it starts wear thin. The voiceovers are decent, at best. Not cringe worthy, but just generic sounding enough to not really give any of the characters any kind of personality. The real letdown, though, is in the limited use of Imahori�s soundtrack. The original Gungrave prominently featured the jazz/rock sounds with blaring trumpets and thumping base in every level. Now, use of music has limited to sporadic use in each of the stages with long stretches going by with naught but ambiance and the sound of guns (or guitars blazing).

More isn't always better...

As a whole, despite the many additions and supposed improvements over the original, Gungrave: Overdose is inferior to its predecessor. Sure it�s an odd statement to make, but here�s why: length. Gungrave: Overdose is three levels too long in my opinion. The original could be beat in about an hour once you got really good at. The levels were short but it took skill to memorize them and enemy patters in order to maximize beat count and score. The brevity of the game gave it a sense of enjoyment and accomplishment since it was easily beatable in such a short amount of time. Combine that with the fact that the gameplay certainly gets repetitive after a while and it only compounds the fact that a game like this needs to be short.
 

The best things in life are value priced

In all, though, Gungrave: Overdose is still an enjoyable experience in controlled, ADD-induced, stylized chaos. Plus, at $15 brand new, it's a tough deal to pass up.