A shoot-'em up movie turned game, Gungrave has about as much substance as one.
It's not a bad game, it's just...not that good either. You shoot, roll, swing your coffin (yeah, you have a coffin full of weapons on your back chained to your arms), shoot some more, watch Grave dance as he shoots....Rinse, Repeat. Repeat. Repeat. Seriously, it's as repetitive as bathing, and that's repetitve. Yet you suffer through it, maybe even enjoy it, and the same goes for Gungrave : You can play through it, and you might enjoy yourself.
A definite button smash shooter, the square quickly becomes a well known ally. Controls are otherwise the same as just about every other third-person shooter.
Story is pretty cool, definitely showing Nightow's style of story elements. If you're not familiar with his work, watch Trigun, and you'll see what I mean.
Graphics, as mentioned before, are neat. Nice cel-shading, and you can again see Nightow's influence in your character, Beyond the Grave, or Grave for short. Enemies look cool at first, but quickly get old, and eventually you just know them for their weapons more than their faces or clothes.
Sound is ok. Nothing too spectacular, but not horrible either. Dialogue, though, could have been dubbed first. It's japanese with subtitles which can get annoying, but it's nothing an otaku can't handle, or anyone that's watched any movie subtitled.
Overall, this game earns its 6.5 that I gave it. It feels like it could have been better, a lot better. But, as far as third-person shooters go, it's not all bad.
Pick it up if you don't find any better ones at the store.