There are plenty of reasons to dislike Chromehounds: the single player section feels more like a long tutorial than a campaign; the massive robots plod along too slowly for fast-action fans; sim fans will be disappointed by the thin manual and apparently simple controls; online matchmaking leaves long downtimes between between battles, while the undocumented and unfriendly online interface remains annoying even to veterans; and it is less forgiving of misconfigured internet connections than most other Xbox Live titles.

Despite all this, Chromehounds still succeeds and is nearly impossible to put down thanks to one simple fact: it boasts some of the most deep, unique, and compelling online play the Xbox 360 has seen so far.

At first glance, Chromehounds looks like most other formulaic G.S.R. (Giant Stompy Robot) games. Three nations are joined in battle, each trying to overrun the other's territory. They gain ground yard-by-yard, fighting with tanks, turrets, and massive human-piloted robots. The robots (called HOUNDs) bristle with weaponry derived from today's technology. There are no particle cannons or lasers here, but giant machine guns, sniper rifles, artillery pieces and rocket launchers abound.

Bolting these pieces together to make a custom HOUND is the first place the game's flaws and magic both become apparent. Neither the in-game descriptions nor the paltry manual explain what most of the various parts do. Only a dangerous game of trial-and-error reveals what a condenser does or whether adding a second radiator will make you a harder target. Once familiar with the gear, however, the enjoyment from designing a blazingly-fast hovering scout or fire-raining heavy gunner is nearly unending. Not limited to simply installing parts into slots on a pre-built machine, players can capture, buy, and trade for hundreds of parts to make sure that their next creation won't look or fight like their last. HOUNDs, like everything else in the game, are rendered with great detail and look great in motion. These aren't stunning graphics, but they are undoubtedly next-gen and add exactly the right weight and believability to this world.

There is little need to build a HOUND in the single player missions. The seven missions per HOUND class (soldier, sniper, defender, scout, heavy gunner, and commander) are basically training missions, and the HOUNDs available for the tasks will do the job. Early in the game new players are saddled with some of the least interesting loadouts, and don't yet have the experience or spare parts to build something better. More parts can be earned by advancing and achieving secondary goals, adding some replay value to these missions. In the end, however, only those players without a Gold Xbox Live account will focus on the the offline portion of the game.

Everyone else will feel sorry for those saps, as they turn their attention to the game's online multiplayer faculties in the jungle that is ‘Hounds Online'. On Live, players fight for one of the three nations, each battle winning or losing a little ground a tactical map. Deathmatch-style fights with no lasting impact are available, but the action focuses on players throwing their HOUNDs into battles hoping to wipe enemy nations from the map. Once one side has pushed the others back to their capitals, the map resets, and the war begins anew.

Communication and grouping is the most important aspect of the online strategy. Friends can gather into squads of up to 20 members. A squad shares cash and captured part rewards, are ranked against each other, and can enter battle together in groups of six. Unless someone takes on a commander's role with special equipment (including radar), sensors are limited to close-range sonar and communication occurs only within the range of radio towers. If a team doesn't stay near a tower long enough to control it, they can't talk to each other in that section of the map. A team that can talk will learn to direct fire from their artillery, sneak around enemies to destroy bases, and coordinate grand attacks.

This simple mechanic adds great depth, and makes it possible to overlook Chromehound's frustrations. Confusing translations, unexplained options (protip: RT to undo in the garage), and unskippable popup alerts are all reason enough to avoid the online menus. Hearing your squad yelling in victory at a hard-earned tactical win or laughing at an unlucky shot in battle is a great feeling, and the best battles can create a story that people will be talking about days later. Chromehounds shows that in an industry dominated by massive franchises and boasts of graphical prowess, gameplay is still king.

Score: 85%

Jul 19, 2006 | 0 comments
Robert Franklin