Platform	Xbox
Price	6800 yen
Genre	Action/Shooting
Developer	From Software
Publisher	From Software
Graphics	Stunning
Sound	Loud
Gameplay	Promising
Overall	Good

Being one of many Xbox owners in Japan (all five of us), I felt obligated to write my impressions of Murakumo, a promising action mech game from From Software. This company is well known for their successful Armored Core series on both Playstations. Several From Software people set up shop on the Xbox floor at Laox Akihabara Game Kan and had multiple machines running Murakumo, including the premier demo booth with a 100 inch flat panel TV and Dolby Digital 5.1 Pioneer sound system.

I have been impressed by the videos of the game released on the Internet since E3. So how does the game play? The demo had several types of game modes available, but I could only access the mission mode since the other modes were locked (only available after all mission modes have been cleared).

The game allows the player to pilot different mechs, with each machine having different weapon systems and handling capabilities. After attempting several different missions, itfs safe for me to say that the game is basically an action pursuit game. The game revolves around the player piloting a mech to chase down an enemy target and shooting it down. The enemy pilot AI seems quite competent as the enemy unit often outmaneuvered me in an eerily human manner.

The graphics in the game are simply stunning with highly detailed mechs and vast levels with objects that just arenft for eye candy. In some of the levels, you can conduct exhilarating high speed chases between tall buildings. The game runs at pretty smooth frame rate for most part, but there are occasional hiccups whenever therefs too much debris or weapons fire activity going on at one time.

This game is a good first attempt by From Software. Ifll be picking up the game when it is released on July 22.