loses some of the original's hulking zombified gait, but stompin around like a big dumb brat with guns blazing's still a good time. lots of plates to spin, dumpsters to shoot, scores to rack up, and some surprisingly inspired encounter design. I don't wanna alarm anyone, but there's even a touch of serious sam in here

even at its worst it's never bad, it's just loaded with unforced errors. I'm positive you could add a whole star to this game's average just by making some snips and alterations so its content harmonizes better with the systems and mechanics. streamline levels to reduce runtime and facilitate score chaining, remove RPG upgrades (+100% damage!!!), rebalance the game around a stable set of numerical values, cut a handful of bits in the midsection, and mix the OST twice as loud. there you go, from pretty good to pretty great

when I was replaying gungrave (2002) I was gonna post a review that jokingly concluded it was Touhou For Boys, but I don't think that's too far from the truth. GORE was never gonna be that same rail thin in-and-out arcade experience, but it almost certainly would've been better if it hadn't branched so far out in the opposite direction without a clear goal in mind. 31 stages says it all. what the fuck guys

still fun tho. still a cool ass game. nightow and nakamura's designs rule, higher difficulties bring a lot of flavour out of the combat system, and there are at least a handful of bosses and cutscenes that go real fuckin hard. the post-game unlockables include a whole second character and a cute PS2 throwback outfit and everything. it's cute! it's good!

further cements "small game held hostage inside bigger game" as my least favourite genre, but still a welcome entry in the unfairly maligned AA action game hall of fame alongside devil's third and wanted: dead🫡