ShareThisBy JUSTIN HOEGER
("Chromehounds." 3 stars. Publisher: Sega. System: Microsoft Xbox 360. Price: $59.99. Age rating: Teen )
From "MechAssault" to "Front Mission" to "Steel Battalion," the baddest machines on the battlefield are the ones with two legs.
Now the war machines of "Chromehounds" have entered the mix. They're big, lumbering machines bristling with weapons. The game is made by the folks behind the "Armored Core" fighting robot series, but these robots have a different feel from those games' quick and sprightly machines.
"Chromehounds" plays like a cross between the recent "MechAssault" series and the 1995 PC game "MechWarrior 2." The game also has some kinks and wrinkles _ hopefully some can be straightened out with a patch or in a sequel. It is flawed, but compelling nonetheless.
The story is at once complicated and immaterial _ suffice to say that "Chromehounds" takes place in an alternate universe where, in the aftermath of World War III, battles are waged by enormous weapons platforms called Hounds that outclass anything else on the field. Massive solar flares have scrambled long-range communications.
The war in question is being fought between the three nations of the fictional Neroimus region. Players take on the role of a mercenary fighting in the area's conflicts.
There are two distinct ways to play the game. The single-player campaign is the first _ actually, it's more of a glorified training session. The real meat of the game is in online play _ so much so that it's probably not worth it for gamers who can't or don't play online to play "Chromehounds."
The single-player game consists of six sets of missions, each dedicated to familiarizing a player with a specific role type, or RT. These are rough categories that each Hound falls into depending on its equipment and capabilities. They aren't hard and fast classes; each Hound is rated on a chart that shows how suitable it is for a particular role.
In general, Soldier RTs are suited for frontline combat; Snipers attack from afar with accurate rifles; Heavy Gunners attack from even farther away with artillery strikes; Scouts are quick and ideal for capturing COMPAS towers, structures that allow for short-range communications and radar; Tactics Commanders, which use specialized equipment to coordinate and direct squad movement, and create a localized effect similar to COMPAS towers; and Defenders, which stick close by Heavy Gunners and Tactics Commanders to guard them from harm.
The missions are fairly straightforward, but the objectives are often obtuse and players may fail a mission for no easily discernable reason. They're not much fun. But completing them unlocks parts and weapons for use online in the real game: the online Neroimus War.
In this mode, players can join or create a squad of up to 20 players, select a nation to side with and fight against other players over pieces of territory. Communication and coordination are key _ only a Tactics Commander can detect enemy units, and only units within COMPAS range can talk to each other. Of course, that's assuming a large-scale six-on-six battle; some skirmishes can be one-on-one.
Winning missions online earns funds, which can be used to buy new parts once the costs of the mission are taken out. Beware, though _ losing a mission incurs a hefty price and no reward, and rookie players can find themselves in the red very quickly and unable to buy new equipment until they're no longer in debt. Thankfully, there are no-risk missions against the computer that can earn players enough to get back in the black.
Each hound requires a mobility base _ two-legged, four-legged, tracked, wheeled or hover-equipped _ and a cockpit. From there it's the player's choice as to what weapons, power generators, extra armor and other equipment will be used; construction is limited by cost, power consumption and weight.
"Chromehounds" looks quite nice in places, and not so good in others. The Hounds look terrific _ they're huge, well-animated and bristling with weapons. Custom paint jobs and decals are easy to apply. But they fade out behind explosions when defeated instead of shattering into bits as one might expect, and the environments are vast but somewhat low on detail. The sound effects are thunderous and well-done, but plug in an iPod or load up a custom soundtrack to replace the scanty and unmemorable music.
