First Impressions: Shen Mue

Finally, it's here. Over the holiday weekend we managed to get our hands on Shen Mue, Yu Suzuki's new FREE game (FREE, of course, stands for Full Reactive Eyes Entertainment - no, we don't know what that means either). After playing the game for a few days now, we have the first impressions here from the finished Japanese version of Chapter 1: Yokosuka.

The story revolves around the murder of your father and the theft of a mystic talisman by a mysterious Chinese man named Souryu. The story unfolds with stunning real-time cinema sequences. Although they don't display the level of detail present in the E3 Face demos, they are still a sight to behold. Yokosuka, the setting for this chapter in the Shen Mue saga, is also beautifully rendered. Obviously, you cannot enter every house, but when you do step inside a house there are a lot of objects to inspect and use. Virtually anything can be picked up. You can even take pictures off the walls of your home if you so wish (although why you'd want to is another matter entirely). The only problem with the graphics is a rather odd one.For some reason, some characters fade in while you are right in front of them. It's not even at any large distance either - I was having a conversation with someone when another character faded in right next to me!

Shen Mue's gameplay seems to resemble some of the old LucasArts PC adventures (Monkey Island, Full Throttle) in many ways, except that pointing-and-clicking has been replaced by a different interface. You comb areas for clues and look for objects to pick up and people to talk to. The dreaded Quick Time Events, where you simply press buttons when instructed (like Dynamite Cop), are surprisingly few and far between, allaying fears of Shen Mue becoming a second Dragon's Lair. There is also a "free battle" mode, where in more traditional Yu Suzuki fashion you fight against various opponents. Ryo is an expert martial artist and can also learn more moves from other people to increase his skill. This though is where Shen Mue is similar to the old PC adventure games, because the action sequences here are clearly separated sections that do not tend to interfere with the main exploration element.

One bright aspect of the game is the control. The digital pad moves Ryo; the analog stick moves his head (and thus his view); and, in an innovative touch, the R trigger acts as a special "focus" button. Holding the button and pointing in the general direction of an item will let Ryo focus on the item and then manipulate it, whether that means picking it up and moving it around or using it. The digital pad is somewhat clumsy (turning on the spot is quite hard for Ryo), but in all other aspects it is top-notch.

The game also has some nice extras. Right at the start of the game you find a virtual pet, of sorts - a kitten. You can use the kitten as a diversion - you care for it by petting it and bringing it food. In fact, the game has a lot of diversions. There is an arcade in town with classic games such as Hang On for you to try your hand at, as well as the infamous darts game and a QTE game. Don't want to go that far? Right underneath Ryo's TV is a Sega Saturn. If you're wondering what a Saturn is doing in 1986, you'll probably also wonder why you can get little Virtua Fighter and Sonic the Hedgehog toys from vending machines.

At this early stage, the only major problem I've encountered is that the plot advances rather slowly. Sure, the game world has a lot going on, and a lot can be done in Shen Mue's Yokosuka, but in terms of plot there is little to do - it almost feels like a tech demo; at times you won't know what to do, and you'll walk through a beautiful city rather aimlessly. Bear in mind though that I am still in the very early stages of the game, and everything could be about to change.

Stay tuned to videogames.com for more screens and information on Shen Mue throughout this week.