When Plaion (back when they were still known as Koch Media) announced a new publishing label last year, dubbed Prime Matter, it did so with more than a few promising upcoming games as part of its initial offerings. And recently I was able to check out three of their upcoming titles, which while still showing promise, feel like a continuation of the theme from my recent previews about the importance of a well-crafted demo and the impact it could have on anyone playing them. The Last Oricru was good, but the demo didn’t make the greatest use of its sci-fi/medieval hybrid setting, mainly focusing on the latter part and thus coming off as a little generic for an action-RPG, and Mato Anomalies was visually striking and had an interesting setting, but as it only showed off the very beginning of things, didn’t feel like the greatest taste of the game’s potential. First impressions can indeed be important, even moreso when it comes to the first hands-on time with a game, and a couple of Prime Matter’s titles shown could have used a better showcase.
There was one obvious exception there, though, and that would be Gungrave G.O.R.E., a new entry in the action game series that began two decades ago, here resurrected by South Korean developers Iggymob. I actually remember seeing the original Gungrave for the first time, and how its slick characters and concept of a man wielding a coffin that acts as a massive gun sounded delightfully bonkers. And twenty years later, I’m happy to see that it’s still just as beautifully bonkers, if not more. What we have here is a straight-up pulse-pounding action game with a focus on quick gameplay and a ton of targets to shoot. In fact, if there is a complaint to be had, it’s that the action was so relentless that my time with the gave almost feels like a blur, to the point where it could run the risk of being repetitive.
Still Gungrave G.O.R.E. still had quite a few memorable moments in the moves our Gunslinger of Resurrection can pull off. Let’s see, there’s shooting enemies with pistols that pack unlimited ammo, a coffin swing that can deflect rockets back at opponents, at least four different super moves that could pulverizes opponents in front of you, have a spray of bullets ricochet around, and much more, and combos that can easily rack up into fifty hits and beyond as you lay waste to tons of various enemies with different types before you eventually fight off a giant mech. And that was all in the first level. Where the game goes beyond that, one can only imagine.
Gungrave G.O.R.E. arguably doesn’t come off as the deepest action game right now, but what it lacks in a complex plot, it makes up for in pure cathartic fun. Ripping apart waves and waves of opponents with a constant spray of bullets that results in a hefty chunk of gore is always oh so satisfying, and combined with the simple and easy-to-learn controls, it makes for a nice little delight, something that feels like the comfortable fast food of the gaming world. It’s a game that likely won’t be a genre-defining masterpiece, but should hopefully be worth checking out even more when it comes out next month.
