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28 of 28 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Uniquely complex game, July 31, 2006
Fun:5.0 out of 5 stars
This review is from: Chromehounds (Video Game)
Chromehounds is a mech simulator. It may sound obvious, but a lot of people seem to think it's the next Mechwarrior. Mechwarrior (for x-box) was an arcade game that was simple to play and easy to learn. Chromehounds is much more difficult to play and the learning curve is very steep.
The single player story mode is shallow and really nothing more than a glorified trainer for the x-box live version. In fact, if you don't have x-box live gold, this game isn't even worth renting.
The graphics run from very good to pretty poor. The mechs look great and are highly detailed. You can customize your mech with a ton of camoflauge patterns and decals. The environments, on the other hand, are pretty sappy. Buildings, grass, and sand look pretty bland.
The mech customization is really the key to play (otherwise equally powered mechs would just be strafing each other and whoever has slightly better aim would win). You can load up on weapons and armor, at the expense of speed. There are TONS of weapons, legs, and cockpits. You can carry missle counters, thermal vision, night vision, and other "assist" parts.
X-box live featurs a "war" with three warring nations. Every player must pick allegiance to one nation (though you can change allegiances) and you can go on missions for your country. The goal of each mission is to destroy the enemy's HQ while defending your own. You also win, but get less points, if you destroy the other team's mechs.
X-box live also features ranked and unranked games so you can just try out your mech against other players before taking it on the campaign.
This game is complex and it takes a while to figure out how to build the right mech for the right mission. My only real complaint is going on missions requires you join up with your squad. If you've ever been in a "clan" on x-box live, you know how hard it is to link up with your team to play other teams. Overall, this game offers a unique mech simulator that assures players won't necessarily be beaten by trash talking 13 year olds with excellent hand eye coordination.
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8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Great online team gameplay, September 2, 2006
Fun:4.0 out of 5 stars
This review is from: Chromehounds (Video Game)
ChromeHounds is the first Mech related adventure for the XBox 360. A little bit combat, a little bit strategy, this provides quick, easy missions and then involving online gameplay.
If you've seen mech games before, you know the basic idea. Big, plodding robots with legs, tracks or wheels. Lots of weapons and armor to plunk onto the mech in lego-like fashion. Enemies and buildings to blow up, while staying alive.
Where other mech games go for arcadey non-reality, ChromeHounds tries to keep things real. Your mechs don't zip along at 100 miles an hour. They stomp with realistic weight and speed, leaving behind footprints and track marks. The detail on their glistening metal body is quite impressive. With the incredibly huge amount of customization available for your mech, you can spend hours honing the exact perfect mech for your gameplay style, and really care about its survival.
The world you inhabit didn't get this same level of loving detail. The missions are all very short and really don't need a plot. You are blowing things up while trying not to be blown up yourself. The environments you stomp through are almost an afterthought. Don't look for waving fields of grain or purple mountains majesty here.
As in many modern combat games, the basic mission tree is really all just a training mission for the *real* challenge - facing other human beings. You want to replay the local missions several times, tuning your mech movement skills and your weapon / armor combination to get ready for the team based online gameplay. That is where the real fun and skill-testing begins. Can you coordinate your efforts with your friends to ward off attacks from other skilled players from around the world? You can't just run and blast away - that technique will get you killed quickly. You have to know your mech's limitations and advantages, and then plan joint attacks to achieve that victory. It really is a fun combination of hand-eye coordination and tactical intelligent planning.
Well recommended for people who have online gameplay and enjoy that level of thought. For someone just wanting an arcadey fly-fast-and-blow-things-up-locally, you might want to rent this first to see if the realistic mech functioning will keep you happy.
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Finally a game for hardcore mech fans, August 29, 2006
Fun:5.0 out of 5 stars
This review is from: Chromehounds (Video Game)
I have played well over 200 hours as I write this review so I hope to correct some of the misinformation in other reviews...
1) This is a Mech simulator most similiar to the Mechwarrior (PC) series, especially MW2 & MW3.
2) It is nothing like the Mech Assault (Xbox) series.
3) Chromehounds does have single player missions which are really just training for online play. The single player teaches you about each Role Type (RT) and grades you in your performance in each RT.
4) Once online, you must choose a side and then find a squad to join OR you can create your own squad and recruit others. Don't worry too much about which side to choose because you will eventually want to switch countries to acquire each country's unique parts.
5) Chromehounds is a squad based game. Playing alone, although possible, isn't much fun. The most fun is playing with 4-6 per team. There is also a free battle mode that is basically a FPS fragfest.
6) Experimenting with different mech designs is nearly as much fun as testing them in combat. In the beginning you may find yourself spending more time in the garage than on the battlefield. If you like customization, Chromehounds offers millions of possible mech combinations from super fast scouts to heavy gunners than can take out half a grid square.
As much fun as Chromehounds is, it isn't perfect. There are still some bugs to be worked out but patches are in the works and minor maintenance is performed every Tuesday. Don't believe the naysayers who shout that Chromehounds will eat your disks, kill your 360, run over your cat and drop crumbs in your bed; Chromehound's flaws are of the much more mundane variety... money glitches and a few network glitches.
Overall, Chromehounds is the best multiplayer mech simulator since Mechwarrior 2 and is a must for true fans of the mech genre.
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