Fat Ninja

Every Microsoft console needs a solid mech shooter 

Given the success of the MechAssault series on the Xbox360’s bulky, black forefather, it’s no surprise that From Software looked to Microsoft’s newest console as the platform for their new intellectual property, Chromehounds. Offering solid gameplay akin to that found in Fasa Studios’ popular mech shooter, Chromehounds also brings a great deal more depth and versatility to the genre, along with a heavy emphasis on team tactics for its multiplayer suite.

Set in an alternate post-apocalyptic, post-Cold War future the world is embroiled in conflict as three factions born of the Third World War continue to vie for supremacy in what is referred to as the Neroimus War. As the conflict evolved, so too did the weaponry, giving birth to the Hounds. Towering over the field of battle, Hounds are what we most commonly refer to as mechs. In the midst of this chaos, an enterprising corporate entity known as Rafzakael has sought to capitalize upon the growing arms market. Providing both Hounds and the manpower to pilot them, Rafzakael seems to be the only one that’s really winning the war.

This is where you come in. Playing as a Rafzakael mercenary, you’ll begin the campaign as a new recruit. Broken into Scenarios, the campaign plays out in a linear fashion. Each Scenario places you in the employ of a different faction and centers around learning the how-to’s of piloting a specific type of Hound.The initial missions in each Scenario will provide a brief, yet effective crash course on the piloting of the Scenario’s respective Hound. Upon completion of your training, you’ll take on assignments in the service of the various factions, earning renown, prowess, and, of course, wealth. 

Soldier Hounds dukin’ it out

Neither original nor trite, Chromehounds’ storyline serves as a solid enough backdrop for your mecha-exploits. However, with a rich and fertile ground for elaboration and genuine depth, the developers never manage to tap into the narrative potentials offered by the alternate reality in which Chromehounds’ plot unfolds. The result is a fairly flat and impersonal dramatic experience that never really leaps off the screen. Interactions with your “employers” are handled entirely via voice communiqués, lending a disappointing sense of anonymity to the entire affair that only amplifies the hollowness of the game’s exposition.

Sadly, this disappointment carries over into the single-player campaign’s gameplay, resulting in a very flaccid solo experience that serves little more function than preparing you to tackle Chromehounds’ online component. Frustration with the single-player campaign stems from a number of elements. While controls are entirely comfortable and intuitive, sketchy mission details will often leave you and your Hound wandering the field in search of objectives. Compounding this issue is the fact that there’s no objective checklist with which you can confer to obtain clues as to what in the hell it is that you are supposed to be doing in any given theater of operation. To make matters worser still, there’s no option to abort or restart missions, so you’ll often end up either having to restart your console or meander about in hopes that you either 1) haphazardly stumble upon your objective, or 2) encounter a powerful enough enemy force to put an end to your aimless wanderings so that you can start over and pay close attention to the ambiguous briefings that occur at the start of each level.

When the single-player campaign isn’t challenging your patience, it’s doing it’s best not to test your mettle. After several hours of facing and easily dispatching hordes of incredibly weak and equally stupid enemies, Chromehounds’ solo experience quickly becomes an exercise in monotony. Sadly, the promise of Achievements and new parts with which to build a Hound of your own serve as flimsy incentive for enduring the experience for very long before you turn your attention to the game’s multiplayer component.

Fortunately, Chromehounds’ online suite manages to make up for the shortcomings of its single-player counterpart by offering a unique online experience that still manages to feel comfortable to fans of the genre. It is here that the Chromehounds storyline is used to best effect. Players will first select which of the three factions for whom they wish to fight in the ongoing Neiromus War. Similar to Capcom’s Steel Batallion, Chromehounds offers a persistent battlefield in which territories are gained and lost by each faction. Once you’ve joined a faction you can take on solo sorties to earn money by annihilating AI-opposition, or join up with a squad and work together to further the conquest of your respective faction.

Now, in the world of Xbox Live, it’s easy to get lost in the crowd, so any game that allows players to sort of carry their own banner of originality into the virtual arena is generally applauded for the effort. Chromehounds has done just that by allowing you to build your own Hound from the ground up, and with over a million possibilities, there’s something for everyone. From selecting your paint scheme and the colors of it to designing a near infinite number of emblems, the Hound design feature alone will eat up hours of your time. But this ability to cuztomize and create goes well beyond mere aesthetics and individual expression, for it’s as much about the gameplay as it is about personal creativity.

Hounds come in many forms

Chromehounds is, truthfully, a tactical third-person mech shooter. While close-quarters combat will, like MechAssault, often come down to a strafing battle, you also need to rely on communication and teamwork. Versatile, customizable, and adaptable, Hounds come in a wide array of classes. Depending on what piques your interest, you can choose from six different classes: The Heavy Gunner, the Sniper, the Defender, the Soldier, the Scout, and, lastly, the Tactics Commander. Each class offers a different gameplay experience and is suited for specific duties in the field. For example, a Scout Hound serves in a reconnaissance role, and as such will need to rely more on speed and agility than its frontline counterpart, the Soldier Hound. Therefore, a typical Scout Hound will often have a hovercraft attachment for ease of movement in all terrains. It will also have a fairly low-power arsenal and limited armor, to reduce weight. Its purpose, after all, is merely to locate enemy positions, not decimate them. Such responsibilities fall to the Scout’s more heavily armored, better armed pack-mates, like the Soldier.

Every war has its frontline combatants, and such is the life of the Soldier Hound. Designed for close-quarters combat in the thick of the fray, an ideal Soldier needs to strike a fine balance between mobility and power. Heavy Gunners, on the other hand, work in a support role, laying down vollies of destruction to cover a tactical retreat or suppress an enemy position while friendly units get in position to effect a breach of the enemy lines. Offering additional support to offensive units is the Sniper Hound. Agile and light of foot, Snipers are able to move quickly between positions from which they can use long-range, high-accuracy artillery to focus on high-priority targets with little fear of reprisal. Meanwhile Defender Hounds remain well away from the frontline in what is often the most crucial role; defending strategic points from capture by enemy forces. Heavily armed and adorned with thick heavy armor plating, Defenders tend to be sluggish and are best deployed in an ambush. Finally, the Tactics Commander serves as the backbone of a given squad, feeding tactical data to the squad, making certain that the right units are in the right positions to ensure victory.

Combat in Chromehounds is designed around this intricate class system. As such it rewards the teams that bring all of the classes together and deploy them in ways that best capitalizes on their various strengths and weaknesses. The result is an incredibly immersive multiplayer experience that can easily feel overwhelming for the more casual gamers out there. If you’re willing to put the levels of time and energy into it that Chromehounds’ online campaign is designed around, you’ll find yourself very well rewarded; however, it isn’t very conducive to those players that just want to pick it up and play a quick match. Further discouragement can be found in the online menu interface. Awkward and largely counter-intuitive, this interface can make a challenge of even the simple task of joining in a multiplayer session. Combine that with occassional lag in communication between the game and the host server, and it can, at times, be maddening to the point of distraction. Despite these falterings, Chromehounds offers an incredibly unique and moving online experience, provided you have the time to invest in it.

A Tactics Commander rallies the troops

On the visual front, Chromehounds does an excellent job of utilizing the 360’s hardware in many ways. Hound models and animations are incredibly detailed, lending a great sense of believability and realism to the overall experience. Fantastic lighting effects interact beautifully with the game’s models, particularly when emanating from an exploding mech carcass. Additionally, gorgeous weather effects often lend heavy atmosphere to the Chromehounds experience. In spite of these successes, there are a number of graphical issues found in Chromehounds that challenge its successes. While scanning horizons or even moving about in your Hound, it’s hard to ignore occassional graphical tears in the background. Though relatively infrequent, it nonetheless detracts from what should be a solid visual experience. In addition, the world of Chromehounds just feels empty. Environments are about as sparsely detailed as the mission objectives are in the solo campaign. Ambient modelling, such as buildings and trees, is repetitive and lacks the stunning detail found in the towering behemoths that walk the battlefield. In the end, Chromehounds offers a grab-bag of visual elements. Simultaneously brilliant and drab, there is far too large a gap between the two extremes for a comfortable middleground to be reached.

Sadly, audio isn’t all that much of a step up from the visual side of things. The soundtrack strives to be epic and moving but is ultimately forgettable. Sound effects are far too subdued to really stand out, and they never manage to pack the kind of whollop that they should. The result is a muted experience that never really makes an effort to grab a hold of you and thrust you into the experience.

In closing, Chromehounds is a solid enough game. The more hardcore gamers out there will certainly find hours of entertainment in it. However, Chromehounds never manages to strike a balance between these gamers and their more casual counterparts who might be looking for a quick fix. Rife with potential and possibilities, the final product is an enjoyable experience that would have benefitted greatly from a few more months in development.

Final Score: Rent before purchase.

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