Title: Chromehounds

Date: 07.19.2006

Genre: Mech Action

Platform: Xbox 360

Developer: From Software

Publisher: Sega

This game is incredible, let’s just get that straight. Many of the reviews you are seeing say it's slow and shallow. That is WRONG!

First off, the sole purpose of this game is to play online. The offline missions exist only to teach you to play a certain class of mech. Once you get online you can join a squad of 20 people (like a clan) and begin participating with up to teams of six for the Neroimus War, a persistent war that lasts two real months before it is reset. Three nations will battle for supremacy over territories on the map, and player victories or defeats in these battles against each other will decide who controls what territories. Gaining more territories and donating money to your nation will help your nation by making more mech parts available to everyone, whether developed by the nation themselves or captured from the enemy.

The customization is the deepest of any mech game I've seen. Take Armored Core and make it even more ridiculous. There is a huge selection of different parts, plus you can attach these parts to any of your other parts, allowing for a more complete customized mech by allowing you to choose how and where weapons and parts are placed. And when you are hit by an enemy shell, the damage is location specific, meaning that hit parts will get damaged and can be destroyed, so mech design is important.

Also, weapons can be "chained" together in one of four slots. There are four weapons slots you can use, and in each of those slots there are four weapon spaces. You select the weapon slots in battle and every weapon you assign to that slot will fire when you pull the trigger, allowing for some very interesting set ups and strategies for keeping consistent fire or for changing strategies.

Teamwork is a key ingredient in this game. Some people say everything moves too slow, but once you and your team are caught in the middle of a firefight, your perspective of what adrenaline pumping through your body really feels like while change entirely. Online matches are intense and tactics are essential. If you just rush ahead yourself you'll die fast. If you aren't smart about how you position yourself you'll be taken advantage of. Communicating and working together on the battlefield are very important, and add great amounts of depth and nuance to the fight. Another great feature is that even if there isn't anyone online during the Neroimus War, you and your squad can choose to fight computer enemies, meaning that you won't have to wait for the action if you don't want to. However, human opponents are more interesting to fight and more satisfying to beat.

To further make this game set apart from others, there is the fact that this game is mostly based around multiplayer rather than singleplayer. The singleplayer campaign is pretty rough and mostly is only a tutorial to help you get your feet wet with the game. If you don't have Xbox Live, you will not enjoy this game and will not even be able to get every part to build your mech.

The game achieves what it sets out to achieve very well; customization is well thought out, the online war is fun and engaging and doesn't feel tacked on or gimmicky at all, the mech action is slow but strategic and thoughtful and teamplay is absolutely crucial. At the same time though, not all gamers will enjoy these things, because the game is a bit more difficult to just pick up and play than most action games, and the fact that to get all you want out of the game requires you not only to go online but also to join a squad, which are in-game clans. Also, the lack of a crosshair in third person (Except for the camera which some have much difficulty using) will absolutely kill the game for some less skilled gamers.

You need to play it to realize how great it truly is. If you're a mech fan, you'll be sold instantly. Just buy it, seriously. If you aren't you may become one after this game. Either way, don't listen to poor reviews saying things about it being slow or shoddily made. Chromehounds is totally unique and masterfully crafted. Once you play it, you'll know.

Game Score

8.9

Reviewed By: Contributed