Chromehounds (Xbox 360)

Manufacturer: Sega of America Part number: 68004

$28.99 - $29.95 at 2 online stores

CNET Editor rating:
3.5 stars Very good
Average user rating: 3.0 stars out of 4 reviews

More product information:: Editors' review; User reviews; Specifications; Manufacturer info

Description:: Chromehounds brings intense multiplayer HOUND combat to the Xbox 360 for the first time ever. In this massive global conflict, three nations with opposing political views have erupted in an all-out war. From the cockpit of a giant metal "HOUND", you must power your tower of heavy artillery through giant war zones while backing five others on your squad and dodging the firepower of six other live players via Xbox Live. One team member will be elected Tactics Commander and lead the team through the fray via voice commands. You are responsible for arming and customizing your massive mechanized weapon, but overload it and you won't get very far. Your teams' successful completion of missions will open up valuable new items that will bring you all that much closer to victory. Chromehounds also offers numerous single-player missions, plus training modes for team combat and HOUND control familiarization.

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CNET editors' review

Reviewed by Greg Kasavin
Review date: 07/13/06
Release date: 07/11/06

In an alternate-reality version of the present day, three nations with conflicting ideologies and shared borders are locked in a violent struggle, waging war against one another using massive tanklike combat vehicles known as hounds. In Chromehounds, you'll not only get to build your own hound based using a large variety of different parts and weapons, you'll get to pilot it in some impressive-looking battles, and you'll even get involved in a persistent online struggle for supremacy between the warring states. It's important to note that the single-player portion of Chromehounds serves merely as training for the online component, in which players from around the world may form squads, engage in missions or skirmish against each other or computer-controlled enemies, and buy and sell all kinds of different hound parts. This online component is naturally time-consuming and caters to a relatively hardcore crowd, one that's willing to schedule playing time and coordinate in battle. But if you're willing to make that investment, Chromehounds can be a richly rewarding experience.

No fancy railguns or laser beams here. The stars of the show in Chromehounds are the mech equivalent of '70s muscle cars.

Developer From Software is no stranger to mech simulations, having worked on the long-running Armored Core series for many years now. Chromehounds is similar to that series in certain respects, especially in how the mechs you can build in this game don't all walk on two legs; some have tank treads, some look like mechanical spiders, some are wheeled, and some are hovercraft. The alternate-reality present-day setting of Chromehounds also gives the vehicle design in this game a rather distinctive identity--this isn't your typically clichéd futuristic warfare with all sorts of crazy plasma guns and monotonous female computer voices. Instead, the mechs in this game have a gritty, low-tech feel to them, as if in an alternate version of the future, bombers and fighter jets simply didn't exist (they're strangely absent from this game) so humankind just kept building bigger, deadlier tanks. What's particularly noteworthy about the hounds is the hexagonal frames of most of their weapons. If one long-range cannon or heavy machine gun isn't good enough for you, the hex shape of these types of guns lets you cluster several of them together, multiplying your firepower.

Chromehounds is a deep game, which you might expect from a mech simulation, but the action out on the battlefield is surprisingly simple for the most part. Typically, you just drive around while using a compass and a tactical map to guide you, then point and shoot at your targets, cycling between different slower-firing weapons. It's easy to pick up and start playing the combat portion of the game, though in one quirk, you must frequently switch between the standard behind-the-mech view to a first-person aiming view. Your weapon view has a fixed level of magnification depending on which weapon is currently at the ready, so long-range rifles automatically let you see targets from farther away, while a shotgun won't help you spot a mech bombarding you with a heavy mortar from miles away.

You can visibly tell as your opponents take damage, and overall, the visuals of combat look great, especially in HD. Details like the sleek effect of switching to and from weapon view, how trees shed leaves or tip over when caught in crossfire, and the intensely white-hot tracers of machine gun fire all help make Chromehounds by far one of the best-looking mech games to date. Some of the scenery appears very plain--all hills and tress and such--but there are some nice-looking urban environments and impressive weather effects to be found as well. The city maps are particularly entertaining because no building can withstand much of your firepower before collapsing in a heap of dust and rubble; which not only looks cool, but also is tactically significant. The game's audio is characterized by booming, bass-heavy footsteps (if your hound has legs), the creaking of machinery, and weapon fire that sounds fittingly powerful. It sounds like a tank battle, and it fits Chromehounds very well.

Your options when building your hound are satisfyingly extensive. In terms of weapons, you've got plenty to choose from, including missile launchers, mortars, howitzers, rifles, rocket arrays, and even close-combat weapons designed to puncture enemy armor. While the hound-assembly process initially looks intimidating, it's pretty easy to feel your way through it and get comfortable in about an hour. Your mech just needs a base, a cockpit, and a generator, and the game lets you easily snap these pieces together almost like a jigsaw puzzle. Then you start adding guns and things, paying close attention to your maximum energy supply and weight limit. This becomes an intuitive process. If you want a speedy little roller skate mech, suitable for quickly scouting out your enemy's position, you shouldn't expect to be able to mount six long-range cannons on it (you might be able to squeeze in one or two, though). It's yours to decide which weapons go where, and you need to decide whether to conserve a little extra weight to add armor plating, or to make it lighter on its feet by not packing your hound to the gills with guns. The interface could have been a little easier to use in some spots, but overall, the mech-building portion of Chromehounds is a very well done, fun, and interesting part of the game.

You can easily spend hours building the perfect hound. Just remember that the perfect hound has to serve as part of a team.

Ironically, you can go through the entire single-player experience of Chromehounds without ever setting foot in the hound-assembly garage. This is one of the several reasons why the single-player portion of the game is pretty disappointing and not worth the price of admission taken on its own. You don't even get to see some of the best-looking environments in the game during this portion. For what it's worth, Chromehounds' single-player mode at least is up front about the fact that it's really just a series of story-driven training missions and combat scenarios designed to familiarize you with different hound roles. There are six discrete "role types" in the game: soldier, sniper, defender, scout, heavy gunner, and commander. If anything, the game is a little misleading at first to suggest that these are rigidly defined roles. In reality, you define your hound's role by virtue of the parts you use to build it; you don't need to create a highly specialized hound if you don't want to.

(Originally posted on CNET Reviews)

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Average user rating: 3.0 stars out of 4 reviews

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9 stars

Excelent replay value for Xbox live members

by tangentstar on October 28, 2006

Pros: Supior On-line play. Very good graphics and physics. Almost infinite possibilities for costomizing your hound. Excellent attention to detail.

Cons: Single player story is shallow. Extremely difficult to collect all 1000 gamerpoints. Some connection issues with the servers.

Summary: Overall a excellent game. The online multiplayer is incredible.

Audio/Video performance:
-on Sony 50" SXRD and Sony 800 watt 5.1 dream system
Graphics on this game are very

...

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Summary: Overall a excellent game. The online multiplayer is incredible.

Audio/Video performance:
-on Sony 50" SXRD and Sony 800 watt 5.1 dream system
Graphics on this game are very nice. Done in a photo-realistic style with excellent (possibly the best to date) lighting. Massive maps result in lower quality geometry of the terrian, (this isn't a problem just noticeable) the draw distance of the geometry is very high. Very rarely will you see the terrian draw limit (its also way beyond the range of any weapon). One reason I speculate for the less complez terrian geometry is to keep the detail equal regaurdless of distance. For example if you hide behind a hill from a snipe, both see the same hill regaurdless of distance.
Another very nice effect of the game is the atmospheric effects on most maps there will be a haze to ranged objects. Weather is also very nicely done. The maps that are in blizzard conditions are incredible. Visibility appears to drop to about 30 feet and you have no back up (thermo vision doesn't function in the cold).
Fire, explosions, dust, and smoke all look very nice, i was blown away by the realism of the effects when i first saw the game.
The downside to these effects is when you encounter a hound with a large amount of explosive weapons, when he attacks you it can drop your frame rate. for example if a hound has 4, 3 shot mortors when he fires you get 12 explosion over about a 1 second interval. (don't worry reload time is 5 secs) Your frame rate will drop so low for that time and after that there is soo much smoke that you ussually wont even get a shot off.
Detail in objects is incredible. Sometimes when you are a foot solider (after your hound is destroyed in 2-6 player games) you'll just want to go explore the terrian. You'll find highly detailed buildings and objects with very high detail textures.

Biggest graphical let down was the water, which looks very nice until something touches it. water movement is only average... It would be so nice to see a hound with these giant legs push huge waves foward with him. Weapon impacts look fine.

Audio effects are excellent and very sharp. Several different (but similar)sounds for every action...so it's give a realistic audio effect. I don't find myself listening back to the surround speakers that much, although 3D surround is present, it's not that important to gameplay.

Music in this game is a drag. The main theme is very well writen but repeats about every 15 secs. (this drives some crazy but never bothered me) overall the music fails to add to the experience of the game. Marty O'Donell and Halo sure set the bar high.

Gameplay:
-Single player: I've heard it said that single player is strictly for training, and I agree. Single player is slow, lacks intensity and the story is too polictical to get interested in. The single player takes youu through all of the hound role types and teaches you the basics of most weapons and stratagie. But it does serve its purpose well. I absolutely can't stand getting online and finding a new kid that has never played single player, because they are so uneducated. They expect you to teach them in thirty seconds, when if they'd go play single player for an hour they would be so much better off.
The parts that are awarded can only be obtained through the story mode and no where else. Most of the time they lack durability and power, but sometimes they do come in handy under special circumstances.

Online play- is quite frankly unrivialed to date. As soon as you start figuring out how to play people and defeat them you realize that this game is very heavily dependant on stratagie. But this is were the game gets complex. When you build a hound there is so many things you have to take into account. Stratagy, speed, durability, firepower and so on. This game has an incredible amount of parts to choose from.

The human "noobish" weapons and stratagies often go in cycles. Here is a list of the most encountered types of "noobish" hounds.
-Double doubles- two double barrel extremely powerful, long range heavy cannons. kills by splash damage (takes out weapons) heat, and smoke at close range. large radius spash damage simplifies aiming, also splash damge will knock your hound around. (throws off your aim)
-Heat seakers, short range fairly rapid reloading weapons that fire heat seeking missiles. requires little aiming and often built in two or three weapon units. kills by heat, smoke and small splash damage.
-Base destroyers, hounds with a sole purpose of destroying the enemy base to win. Hounds are very fast, and carry light weight weapons for destroying a base (usually pilers/pairing blades. hounds are easy to kill if found, but can destroy a base quickly.
When fighting, online the best time you may ever have is on a match versus humans. You will have and incredible time, but be prepared to loose, very rairly will you have a hound and a strategy that will beat every enemy. CPU opponents are alright. Most offer little challenge and reward you with little merit (points towards your ranking). Although CPU skill increases with rank, it is more dependant on the grade of the squad you are in. In a legend squad (highest rank) computers behave a lot more like novice humans, which have very high aiming skills. The AI is very well done, although even at this level the merit reard is little.
One thing on xbox live is the chromehounds servers seem to be picky about connections. On chromehounds you'll encounter a lot more problems with failing to connect to a certian player. Ussually not that big of deal unless there a situation like that in a squad.

I have enjoyed this game very much (logged more than 250 hrs) and would highly recommend it to anyone who is willing to take their time and learn the game, if they do they will enjoy it. On that note i would not recommend this game for younger individuals...(prepubescent) for the high level of thinking required for strategy and hound design. They would play just not nearly as long as someone who can understand the concepts fully. The multiplayer fully outways the single player. If you don't have XBL; get it, or don't buy this game.
Updated
It's November now, months after the release of CH. About two weeks ago I noticed that the special parts of Morskoj were all gone.(country) (these are more powerful, advanced parts, that were slowly released over time, and in extremly limited quantities.) Literally the country ran out of special parts to release. Now, all countries have run out of these special parts. This isn't that big of deal, but it does relieve the tension of squad members fight for raffle tickets to attempt to win these special parts.

Speaking of squads...
I lost mine... mainly due to the release of several high class games at the same time... Everybody is always playing these new games so i have no squad members to play with.

I had failed to acknowledge how important squads are, and they are. Squads bring a human element to the game, find a good one because you will be with these guys through victory and defeat. They will give you advice on your hound, and help you think of solutions to your problem building your hound.

So after 260 hours on ChromeHounds, I have finally put it down. Was it worth sixty american dollars? Absolutely. I will still play CH casually but never in the way I used to. It's funny this is almost like a good bye for me.
Updated
It's November now, months after the release of CH. About two weeks ago I noticed that the special parts of Morskoj were all gone.(country) (these are more powerful, advanced parts, that were slowly released over time, and in extremly limited quantities.) Literally the country ran out of special parts to release. Now, all countries have run out of these special parts. This isn't that big of deal, but it does relieve the tension of squad members fight for raffle tickets to attempt to win these special parts.

Speaking of squads...
I lost mine... mainly due to the release of several high class games at the same time... Everybody is always playing these new games so i have no squad members to play with.

I had failed to acknowledge how important squads are, and they are. Squads bring a human element to the game, find a good one because you will be with these guys through victory and defeat. They will give you advice on your hound, and help you think of solutions to your problem building your hound.

So after 260 hours on ChromeHounds, I have finally put it down. Was it worth sixty american dollars? Absolutely. I will still play CH casually but never in the way I used to. It's funny this is almost like a good bye for me.
Updated
It's November now, months after the release of CH. About two weeks ago I noticed that the special parts of Morskoj were all gone.(country) (these are more powerful, advanced parts, that were slowly released over time, and in extremly limited quantities.) Literally the country ran out of special parts to release. Now, all countries have run out of these special parts. This isn't that big of deal, but it does relieve the tension of squad members fight for raffle tickets to attempt to win these special parts.

Speaking of squads...
I lost mine... mainly due to the release of several high class games at the same time... Everybody is always playing these new games so i have no squad members to play with.

I had failed to acknowledge how important squads are, and they are. Squads bring a human element to the game, find a good one because you will be with these guys through victory and defeat. They will give you advice on your hound, and help you think of solutions to your problem building your hound.

So after 260 hours on ChromeHounds, I have finally put it down. Was it worth sixty american dollars? Absolutely. I will still play CH casually but never in the way I used to. It's funny this is almost like a good bye for me.

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1 out of 1 users found this user opinion helpful.
8 stars

The most fun I have had in a mech game since Mech Warrior on the SNES!

by baldbunny619 on September 10, 2006

Pros: Physics and Visuals are AWESOME

Cons: Only way to quit a mission is to restart the XBOX 360 or kill certain teammates.

Summary: I am stuck in Iraq, so I have only played the Story Mode, but the Free Play Mode has given it insane replayability so far as I figure out how ...

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Summary: I am stuck in Iraq, so I have only played the Story Mode, but the Free Play Mode has given it insane replayability so far as I figure out how to get a Superior rating in each and every mission in order to get all of the unlockable parts. The game is as satisfying in Single Player sometimes as the Armored Core Series is in PvP.

I APPRECIATE that anything short of a hound disappears when it is DESTROYED, as I am hitting it with enough firepower to do so, and I have played mech games where the IMMOBILE hulk of a defeated enemy prevented me from reaching mission objectives and obstructed my aiming and field of fire while I was still taking hits from beyond it. A map marker for the TC RT for defeated allied ACVs and Hounds and Enemy Hounds is plenty of rememberance for me.

If the multiplayer experience manages to live up to the message boards glowing posts, I will have to change my rating to a ten. Even if it somehow sux for me in multiplayer, I feel this game easily merits and 8. I have logged more time on this game than Final Fantasy III, and it has managed to make me ignore Oblivion for two weeks.

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7 stars

Good Online Game

by bmike818 on July 14, 2006

Pros: Very deep customization and online

Cons: single player is too simple

Summary: Chrome Hounds is a good game. Little things keep it from being great. The HUD systems takes time to get used too. If you had 5 minutes with this game ...

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Summary: Chrome Hounds is a good game. Little things keep it from being great. The HUD systems takes time to get used too. If you had 5 minutes with this game you would not be able to fully rate it. You must give it atleast 20 minutes to grow on you. I just bought this game and could not put it down for hours. Mechs are slow especially the heavy ones. Awesome mech reactions when missiles are shot around you, your screen gets juggled around from the blast. This is a simulation game. will update this review as I play the game.... so far so good, online rocks.
Updated
I am changing my rating from 7 to 8.9. This game is really good. What it lacks, it lacks for a reason. Each RT(role types) is individualized for a specific role. You must use a scout mech for speedy recon. After spending over 20 hours this weekend on this game, I must say it's like playing chess. You have to coordinate your pieces before the attack. If this was a sports car it would be a "Cobra." Its a pure mech game with no luxury ammenities.

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1 stars

1, but I only played for 5 minutes.

by Vthumb on September 9, 2006

Pros: I have no idea

Cons: desolving objects.

Summary: When you destroy something, it just vanishes. There is no sign of damage and there are no remains left behind. When shooting a tank for example, it may take 1 ...

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Summary: When you destroy something, it just vanishes. There is no sign of damage and there are no remains left behind. When shooting a tank for example, it may take 1 or 2 shots, depending on how close how accurate and what weapon is being used. Sometimes you shoot the tank once and 2 seconds later it just vanishes. If you do shoot it once and it was not enough, 2 seconds later it won't vanish.

This is absolutely the dumbest thing I have ever seen in any video game, and I have seen many games and many dumb things. I would have gotten a refund if I had purchased it, but fortunately it was only a rental, so it went back into the mailbox, 10 minutes after opening it.

This game is not worth the time of turning on the Xbox and the game developers should be humiliated.

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0 out of 1 users found this user opinion helpful.