ChromeHounds Xbox 360 review

Sega's ChromeHounds suffers from the same problem as Over-G Fighters in that all too many people want it to be something it's not and thus mark it down. So just as Over-G isn't Ace Combat, there's one game ChromeHounds isn't. It's not Mechassault.

A comparison with Over G is worthwhile. That game has the trappings of the action title, with anime characters and cheesy dialogue. But at its heart the game is a flight simulator and harks back to the classic days of Microprose sims. ChromeHounds does something similar. The mech angle had all kinds of folks excited about the game but what we have here is a 21st century version of M1 Tank Platoon. Sorry action fans, it's a tank sim, and a rather good one at that.

Single Player Woes

Not that you'll appreciate the game very much if you don't take it online. ChromeHounds features some of the best Xbox Live action available but the single player is rather lacking. If I were to review the game based solely on the single player offering I'd be struggling to give the game a total of six out of ten.

The single player mode is rather dull and uninvolving. This is partly down to the typically Japanese storytelling style of From Software's game. Yes it's back to the world of made up countries, melodrama via dull voiceover and a group of characters that never feel like a military unit.

The missions are split into various sections based on type of vehicle used, never quite gel into an overall campaign with purpose. Yet the single player campaign does work as an ideal tutorial for ChromeHounds' online section. It gives the player a chance to try several missions as a soldier, commander, defender, heavy gunner, scout or sniper. Here you can get used to the different weapons and tactics needed to succeed in each role. Mech parts won in the single player mode also come in useful for the online game as they can be carried over.

Have Mech, Will Travel

Despite the focus on mechs ChromeHounds is a simulation of future warfare based on a variety of mobile gun platforms. Some take the traditional two-legged route, others with wheels and tracks are essentially futuristic tanks. I'm rather fond of the heavy gunner role myself so I've just built a new mech with a long range anti-armour rifle, close-in machine gun and a pair of howitzers (one HE the other incendiary). Sat on wide caterpillar tracks it looks much more like a tank than you'd expect.

Building and testing mechs is one of the most fun aspects of the game. There's a lot of depth to the construction as care has to be taken over the mech's weight, power consumption, mobility and role. Scouts need to be fast, whereas heavy artillery needs a solid base to fire high-recoil weapons.

Recoil is a very important factor and putting two large calibre artillery pieces to one side of the centre of gravity means the mech will rotate upon firing. Place the guns too high up will also cause targeting problems. Meanwhile sniper rifles are best placed as high as possible so crafty players can take defilade positions on hill crests exposing just the gun to targets. I knew those hundreds of hours of M1 Tank Platoon play would come in handy one day.

Most mechs move quite quickly if you take into account their scale on the battlefield compared to the much smaller regular tanks and soldiers, though the heaviest long range systems do plod a little. Most weapon targeting systems work quite well though the heavy artillery seems a little old fashioned, even WW1 battleships had better aiming systems. The range finder doesn't really seem to serve a useful purpose and getting artillery on target takes some learning. Yet once mastered it can be one of the most satisfying aspects of the game.

A Matter of Life & Death

The real joy to be had with ChromeHounds is in the Xbox Live play. Yet the modes here could have easily been the basis of the single player game and perhaps a western developer would have taken that approach. A persistent dynamic campaign against the AI would have worked very well as a single player game. But hey, I'm not paid to design games.

The centrepiece of the online action is the persistent war between three factions. It's a mode drenched in atmosphere. Where items such as constant news updates and campaign medals make you believe you're part of something rather unique. Players can set up their own clans, known as squads and sign up to one of the three factions. While squads can feature up to 20 players, only six members can enter a mission together at a time. But it does mean a busy squad can be fighting in several different battles at once.

Some battles will see you take on AI units, other times you'll be pitched against human opposition from a different faction. Whatever the case may be, you'll be aiming to destroy the enemy HQ on one of 100+ detailed maps. Teamwork pays dividends and having a good mix of unit types and a player able to take the role of commander.

Maps feature radio towers that enable the players to keep in communication. The object may be to attack the enemy base but along the way it makes sense to capture these towers to ensure communications stay open. Scouts will often go off the airwaves as they move into enemy territory to find the enemy HQ, while the follow-on units battle to extend the radio range towards this enemy stronghold. The rewards for success include medals, achievements and money to spend on more mech parts and even donate to your faction. The whole thing is wonderfully involving and perhaps the best use of Xbox Live I've seen for quite a while, despite some server problems in the days following the game's release.

Sturm & Drang

The mechs themselves look fantastic. Plenty of horsepower has been used to add detail and light the mechanical marvels. The weapon effects are particularly good, especially the fountains of dirt that rise up from artillery barrages. The scenery is somewhat mixed. Some levels look fantastic whereas others seem rather bland. But for every dull flat map there'll be one with gorgeous water and interesting features such as huge drawbridges. The action is smooth though and there's lots to like about the way game looks without it really ever blowing your socks off.

The sound is pretty mixed too. The radio chatter in the single player game is nothing to write home about but the actual weapons do sound suitably meaty. Playing online you'll be too busy to notice the sound very much as you'll be listening for teammates calling out co-ordinates of enemies or for new orders from the designated commander.

One Week On

If I'd reviewed ChromeHounds a week ago it wouldn't have got much of a score. The single player game feels rather lifeless and if that's the only way you'd play the game, then do steer clear. It's a real shame From Software didn't realise the potential of the multiplayer modes early on and build a single player game around that approach.

However if your fond of strategic action and want a break from Ghost Recon and its ilk, then I do heartily recommend ChromeHounds. I'm actually having more fun online with this game than GRAW thanks to the even greater emphasis on team play, role types and big robot things exploding.

I've sat for a couple of hours today building various versions of my heavy mech and not once was I bored. And right now I'm eager to get this review online so I can go take the beastie online and cause some expensive damage. ChromeHounds looks like a mech action game and I can see why many people have been disappointed with it for not being one, but if like me you enjoy an epic mulitplayer tactical battle game it really is a little slice of noisy heaven.

Now if you'll excuse me, I'm needed at the front.