That’s the most common association when it comes to anime and manga series that revolve around the lives of little girls. Gunslinger Girl is the exact negative of that. It is a title for those who are able to stomach a plot that raises serious moral questions and a bit of gore. This is not to be confused with Bubblegum Crisis.

What is Gunslinger Girl?

Produced by Madhouse Gunslinger Girl’s rather serious story is played out in Italy. It revolves around the lives of a group of little girls who were taken in by a government organization called the Social Welfare Agency. However, the “Social Welfare” aspect of things isn’t necessarily about the girls. This is a secret organization that uses high-tech medical engineering to rehabilitate vulnerable children with serious injuries which they deploy as assassins – a clandestine unit of cyborg child soldiers.

Fratellos

Their main mission is to take out the mob and separatist terrorists. Each child is attached to an adult to form teams that are referred to as “Fratellos”. As the story plays out episodically, each one tries to focus on the interactions between each girl and her handler. However, the show pays more attention to the leading character, Henrietta, and her handler Jose.

The very nature of its plot and the stark differences between each individual Fratello add to the seriousness of this series. For example, Henrietta enjoys a friendlier relationship with her handler. It resembles that of a father and his daughter, or an older brother and younger sister. On the other hand, another one of the girls who goes by the name, Rico, receives a far worse treatment from her handler. He saw her as nothing more than a tool to help him achieve the objectives the agency gives him.

The Good

One of the most enjoyable aspects of this anime series is the attention to detail. It starts with the modern Italian setting (you can even spot a Ferrari in one scene) and flows through to the realism of the well-animated gunfights. Henrietta’s FN P-90 and Rico’s Dragunov sniper rifle definitely sound as real as the real-world versions.

This attention to detail can also be seen in layers of each individual character as they are revealed. Whenever they aren’t engaged in anti-terror operations, the girls generally behave their age.

The Bad

There is a lot of things this series does right. However, there are a few areas where the creators could have done a much better job. The most damning of these is the duration and frequency of the action scenes. Even though they are fluid and gripping, the number of action scenes is low. The lack of them makes the viewer want more. It sometimes feels as though the creators were trying a little too hard to stick to the realism of it.

Another issue is the focus on the girls’ lives, it seems to play a role in robbing viewers of action while never really reaching a meaningful conclusion. To add to this, there is a sense of vagueness to how the story plays out.

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The game is mainly an action shoot ’em up that took a lot of pointers from the world of RPGs and MOBAs. It also comes with a number playing like, a co-op and, a player-vs-player mode, and is made available in multiple languages.

The Storyline

In the aftermath of an abrupt zombie outbreak that brought civilization to the brink of extinction, an elite team of heroes – led by you of course – are tasked with ridding the world of zombie hoards and reigning in the scores of lawless survivors.

While cutting down wave after wave of zombie and anything else that’s been infected with upgradeable weapons, The Ark is also on a mission to get to the bottom of this deadly outbreak – collecting clues along the way.

The Gameplay

Naturally, you start off the game controlling one of the heroes – who goes by the name Carter, and has to earn in-game currency to acquire more characters to their team using the game’s gacha system.

Moving from area to area, with the action following a top-down style of play, players will first have to clear the first district of the game solo before being opened up to the bottom of recruiting other heroes. To make life a little easier, players can make use of special abilities like, a charged shot, or a grenade. In much the same way as a MOBA or RPG, each special ability in this game has a set recharging period after use.

Another interesting feature of this game is base-building, but this is purely on an optional basis – and it has some benefits to it. By adding upgrades to your base, you gain extra resources and even have the option of stationing personnel at different posts to do work for you.

As for the different playing modes, this game doesn’t leave players wanting. When you get bored of the campaign, players can indulge themselves and their friends to co-op challenges or player-v-player matches. There is also a deathmatch mode (which is somewhat different from the usual) and a mode named Dominion – where racking up points is the name of the game.

Final thoughts

The Fifth Ark is a game with a lot of potential, with action that is intense enough to keep players sufficiently entertained – the number of intriguing playing modes add to this effect, particularly in terms of the Player-v-Player action. Those who try it may come to find it hard to avoid logging in to check up on base building progress, or stealing a quick round during work breaks. This is a game with tons of playability.

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