Murakumo: Renegade Mech Pursuit

"A Tiger LCD game called...it wants it's play mechanics back"

FROM Software has never disappointed me before. Whether it be the Armored Core series or the lesser known Frame Gride on DC, FROM has consistently pumped out very good, very attractive mech action games with as heavy an emphasis on customization and role-playing elements as on fast paced action. That's why I was so surprised when I played Murakumo.

STORY: 3
The horrible, amateurish English voice acting didn't help, but it's only the tip of a very, VERY big iceberg. You are in control of the Murakumo group, comprised of 5 of the most uninteresting characters this side of the WB network. The team (which includes a token black guy, a token asian woman, a token blonde guy, a token blond girl, and a token guy with black hair) are apparently some sort of paramilitary group who are called to bring down an escaped mech whose AI has gone haywire. That's pretty much it. The world is fleshed out well, with plenty of supplemental reading material provided in the game and a slew of locations like Port Oliver, but it's not enough to save this game. Along the way, predictable and cheesy plot twists only serve to make you groan and shrug your shoulders, and the cut scenes in between levels take place almost exclusively in the hangar. Do these people never leave their robots? The ending is also an amateurish attempt at drama, complete with a happy ''10 years later'' epilogue that is, once again, told from a far away angle, eliminating the need to actually draw anyone.

GRAPHICS: 8
FROM holds up the tradition of excellent robot design, with some detailed and even innovative mechs. Furthermore, the graphics show off the Xbox's power by retaining a constant shiny effect on the mechs even in action sequences with dense polygon populations. I've got no real complaints in the graphics department except the frame rate. It doesn't hurt your eyes or anything, but you are always fully aware that it isn't moving at 60fps, and it even slows down occasionally.

SOUND: 5
Uninspired action game fare leaning toward the heavy metal end of the spectrum. The voice acting is on a par with an old episode of Hanna Barbera's Birdman, and after hearing it about 10,000 times in a row while struggling to control your mech as it bounces between skyscrapers, the voice reminding you that the ''ENEMY IS ESCAPING'' will grate on you and frustrate you to the point of breaking a controller. A note to Japanese game companies: I know you think that English voice acting sounds ''cool,'' but you have no idea how bad these ''actors'' actually are. Please have mercy on us and hire professionals or leave the script in Japanese like it was written.

CONTROL: 0
No, that's not a typo. I rated the control a ZERO. What's wrong with it? Everything. The boosting and braking controlled by the triggers behave very strangely. For example, you tap the R trigger, just nudging the analog trigger a bit, and let go immediately, and your mech will shoot forward at full speed until it runs out of ''charge.'' These controllers were designed with analog triggers and sticks for a reason, FROM Software! This same unforgivable problem plagues the analog stick. You move left, right, up, or down at a constant angle and speed. Despite the sensitivity provided by the analog stick, no fine tuning or adjustments are allowed. Left or right. Yet, you do not have the option of using the D-pad. Unforgivable.

GAMEPLAY: 2
The only reason gameplay didn't also get a well deserved ZERO is that I find the concept of the game to be interesting. It's almost reminiscent of NiGHTS as it is a racing game disguised as an action game. The difference is that NiGHTS was fun and Murakumo is like pulling teeth. Here's the gist. Watch a cut scene. Pick a robot (you can use all 5 robots, but aside from the one piloted by the main character, they all SUCK horribly and lead to an early death), chase after a single enemy for a few minutes while being ping ponged back and forth between background elements and being pelted with projectiles from unseen missile placements far off screen (the vibration function certainly gets a workout with this game). Watch another cut scene. Repeat. The difficulty curve is terrible unbalanced as well, with some early levels and a few in the middle taking many repeated tries (and many broken controllers, tears, and cursing), while the last few levels are as easy as the first.

OVERALL: 4
Maybe this 4 is a little too generous. No...When I think back to all the excellent robot designs and nice graphics, I have to admit I have a soft spot (a VERY small one) for this game. Murakumo actually caused a spike in hardware sales for the Xbox in Japan. Must've been the commercial...

Reviewer's Score: 4/10, Originally Posted: 09/05/02, Updated 10/09/02