Xbox Critic Reviews

For all the fun the game offers, and it is fun, it is brutally short... Admittedly there are a plethora of options to "unlock", but the game itself is all too brief. There is no versus mode either, something that would have added greatly to the replay value.

Repetitive missions are a strike against it, but the real damage is done by the annoying auto-aim and the slow to respond control.

It both gets old quickly and also feels frustratingly similar to plaing a Roadrunner cartoon in which your target is the fleet-footed bird and you're the poor, starving schlub strapped to the rocket and headed straight for the cliff. [Apr 2003, p.86]

Surprisingly boring. Murakumo's plight is the result of shallow and uninspired game design. [Mar 2003, p.88]

The lack of manageable control and the nearly on-rails gameplay are just two of the sorest sore thumbs that stick out, which if fixed could have made the game at least halfway enjoyable.

It’s a shame that the city shows no real personality, I would have hoped that a city in the year 2090 would have looked futuristic or something. This one could be any of the current major cities with nondescript skylines and very plain colors.

Coming from the folks who developed the "Armored Core" series, I expected a lot more. The gameplay was not to my expectations, and the graphics do not take full advantage of the Xbox console.

Although the mech designs are beautiful and the presentation is slick, an overly busy HUD and vague control feedback make hunting enemies much more problematic than it should be. [Apr 2003, p.132]

Although the game's controls remain its biggest hurdle, Murakumo does have its moments, mostly due to its graphics. [Apr 2003, p.91]

Full on style but short on substance. Although it’s firing on all cylinders in terms of presentation, the repetitiveness is disheartening and becomes too boring to make Murakumo even a recommended rental.