Chromehounds Preview

by Praetor

Big robots and stuff that goes boom. By my reckoning that’s two of the three things which are most often on your average red-blooded lads mind. SEGA’s upcoming Xbox 360 exclusive game Chromehounds looks to have both in abundance.

The game is set in a near future alternative Earth. A not so pleasant place where the Berlin Wall never fell, solar flares cause chaos and World War 3 recently finished. In the chaotic aftermath mercenary groups with the backings of massive corporations do battle on a planet where the remnants of the U.S.S.R, Western Europe, China and America glower at each other from behind big guns. 

The tools of war are called Hounds. Coming in all sorts of shapes and sizes, these great mech-like machines are covered in armour and bristling with weapons. Hounds essentially come in six varieties. Soldiers are the balanced units and usually mix it up in the front lines. Lightly armed Snipers hang back with powerful long ranged cannons which can zoom in close enough to see individual gears on the target to be. Defenders are the most well armoured, the downside being their lack of speed. Scouts are the complete opposite, but play a vital role in gauging the strength of enemy forces and locating artillery targets. Which brings in the Heavy Gunner, wielding over the top weaponry these monstrosities can make goo out of the poor fellow who’s just been ‘painted’ by a scout. Last we have the Tactical Commander, you can probably tell from the name that he’s the guy who calls the shots and to help him out with this he’s got all sorts of fancy communication and sensory gadgets to play with.  

The single player portion of the game is made up of six mini-campaigns. That’s one for each of the different Hound classes. Each of the campaigns in turn has six missions, which, by the time you’re done should have given you enough know-how to take it to your friends online. Completion of the various single player missions also unlocks parts and weapons.

That’s where things start to get really interesting. You see it’s the Hound you build for yourself in your home garage which you’re going to want to unleash on the world of Xbox Live. Try to jump straight into an online match and you’ll find yourself with little more than a pair of legs and not even the equivalent of a pea shooter. In this the single player campaigns act not just as training levels, but as an essential stop-over to earn death dealing goodness. This garage customization is something which will appeal directly to the long suffering fans of games like MechWarrior.

That’s not MechAssault I’m talking about.

I mean the MechWarrior’s which saw great multi-ton killing machines doing battle on the PC. A franchise which made the leap to the Xbox, but in a much more user-friendly fashion that left behind the option to equip your machine as it suited you. Chromehounds has all this and more. Essentially the player gets a free reign in designing their own unique Hound. Dictating the likes of how it moves (hovercraft, treads, wheels, two legs etc), adding accessories, how many weapons it has and where they get placed. It’s not a system that can be abused either. Real physics has to be taken into account so, tempting though it may sound, loading up your Hound with as much weaponry as it can carry will result in a machine which will move like a slug.   

It’s the multiplayer aspect which has gotten me the most keyed up for Chromehounds however. In an age where we’re used to getting about a dozen multiplayer maps to battle it out on, Chromehounds will have a hundred and fifteen! The game will support clans of up to twenty players and to add some meaning to your online efforts there’s an AI controlled persistent world you and your ‘countrymen’ can attempt to dominate.

In game battles occur between two teams of six players. The aim is not just to kill the members of the other side, but to capture territories and COMBAS towers. These towers are particularly important as they act as great connecting radio relays. Move out of their range and you won’t be able to hear the chatter of your team-mates. Online this means you don’t hear nada out of your headset. This is bad seeing as from all we’ve seen thus far working together with your allies with a variety of different Hound classes isn’t just great fun, but necessary for victory.

If you’re keen on mech-combat then Chromehounds will be the game for you. For more information be sure to check out the official Chromehounds website at http://www.sega.com/gamesite/chromehounds. See you online!