Developer: KCET Publisher: Konami Release: 09/24/99 Genre: Action
Konami had a legendary run on the PlayStation 1 in nearly every genre. While I cannot speak to the quality of their sports games as I did not care they adapted to 3d better than most of their contemporaries. The likes of Metal Gear Solid, Silent Hill, and Vandal Hearts can attest. They had few stumbles with the most surprising being their handling of Contra. While they let a European team butcher the once legendary series for the US Japan and Europe received a far better third person action game in the form of Gungage. It has a few warts but is an import gem in my opinion.
Gungage offers little plot even though it has four playable characters with their own motivations. In the world the game takes place in there is another realm that runs in parallel with its own time and progression called the Dark Moon. There is no contact with the Dark Moon until one day gates begin to appear at ruins scattered around the planet. From these gates beasts appear. Four individuals from different walks of life each separately undertake a journey to find the source of the gates and who is behind them.
Gungage has four playable characters although you initially only begin with Wakle Skade. Wakle is well rounded in all categories but has the best defensive special weapons. The rest of the cast unlock based on set criteria. Kard is the big strong man of the group, slow but has some of the best special weapons to make up for it. His homing missiles especially make boss battle trivial. Steyr is the clear favorite of the designers. She has more special moves like dashing and ducking, three weapons, and even has a compass in addition to dodge rolling. Her only drawback is that she is weak. Dee is the hardest to classify. His weapons are good but his defensive moves like rolling suck. But he can platform like nobodies business. I would view that as a positive were it not for the controls.
In an odd move Gungage uses tank controls. The dual shock was on the market in all territories by Gungage’s release yet the controls are designed around the standard controller. I am not a fan of tank controls but can tolerate them if necessary. To the game’s credit it has many features that relieve the burden of this less than ideal setup. You can strafe with L1 and R1 enabling you to keep your target in view at all times. The camera is a little slow but it works. Depending on the character double tapping either button will perform a side step or dodge roll with speed and distance varying. Technically you can center the camera using L2 but I found it to be poor. The majority of the game takes place in wide open spaces so navigating in tight corridors is largely avoided. There are still other issues however.
No matter how many amenities they bolt on tank controls are still not ideal for a game with platforming and fast action. Character movement is slow and stiff. Any time you are in large fields it is fine. But indoors the sluggishness leads to unavoidable hits. The game loves to hide enemies in corners and such and it feels cheap. Some boss battles suck depending on the character and are a nightmare; I’m looking at you dual Cerberus. The spastic camera does not help in these instances either. Platforming sucks but luckily there are only two levels that call on it extensively. You can of course adapt to these flaws and make it work like I did. But by 1999 there were games like Ocarina of Time and Mega Man Legends with Z-targeting and lock-on cameras. The flaws stick out even more as a result.
As a third person action game Gungage is a little short. The nine missions breeze by and most will probably complete them in a little over an hour. But that is where the different playable characters come in. Technically you are playing the same missions again in a different order for story reasons. Characters may start in a different part of a level and also have an alternate path unavailable to the rest. The content is not 100% brand new but the weapons and individual mechanics make for a unique experience. While I prefer exclusive levels for each character what is on offer is decent and short enough to warrant multiple runs for replay value.
Gungage is a 1999 release and unfortunately next to that year’s heavy hitters it does not stack up visually. The environments are small boxes that suffer from low resolution textures, warping, and short draw distance. The art direction carries the game heavily. Where the game does shine however is in its absolutely fantastic soundtrack. Castlevania series composer Michiru Yamane contributed to the score and the orchestral sound incorporates a ton of rock, jazz, and techno that accentuates the atmosphere. Because of the composers involved the music would not seem out of place in a Castlevania title. However it does fit here even if the style is unusual for an action game of this type.
In Closing
Gungage is a fun yet flawed action title that I enjoyed immensely. I feel it would have helped to serve an under served action audience in the US as the pickings were slim and most do not hold up. I am jealous Europe got this and we did not. Some genius thought C: the Contra Adventure was better than this. Let that sink in.
