From the opening stab of jazz in the titles to the metal coffin chained to our hero's arms, Gungrave roils in hard-boiled cell-shaded.50-calibur style. The gameplay is the heir to many button-masher arcade games. It is an instantly gratifying game experience. Twin guns, Cerberos, pound destruction to swarms of "syndicate" enemies and many objects in your environment. The coffin can be swung around to hammer foes at close range. The shots from Cerberos can ring singly or as a spinning fountain in Grave's "bullet dance." If you can keep a steady stream of destruction, your "beat count" goes up and you generate "demolition shot" special attacks and abilities which can restore life to Grave or serve damage like piping-hot hellfire to his enemies. Gungrave has been inaccurately compared to Devil May Cry. The games share some style points but otherwise have nothing in common. Grave's controls only permit him the most cursory of acrobatics. He can dive a la Max Payne but his normal gait is the shuffle of a zombie. In an original twist on controller schemes, he can move at regular walking speed via the L3 button (pressing down on the analog stick). Unfortunately this kink quickly loses its novelty as it is difficult to hold and feels as if it's damaging the controller. Unfortunately, the instant gratification this game brings is short lived. At about two hours of play it clocks in as one of the shortest, as well as most repetitive, games out there. --Ashley Pond V
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