The House has waited patiently for a
decent Xbox Mech game to follow Mechassault. Mech 2 didn't make it, but
this game looks like it will.
The mighty ChromeHounds, sounds like a good reason to
get a 360.
Chrome Hounds Links
Official Vendor Site
XBox Site
Build a
Hound Online
Walkthrough
Review
at IGN and GameSpy
Video:
Gameplay
Trailers
X05: Chromehounds Footage
TGS 2005
Chromehounds Cheats
and
at CCG
GameSpot:
Chromehounds,1
review,
8 previews,
14 news stories,
198 screenshots
Game Rankings
ChromeHounds: First Looks
Reviewed by miami monkeys
This game is not
good, not great, but possibly Legendary!
Before we start lets look at this, you know how
Mech 1 pretty much is
better than Mech 2 in everything but graphics? Yeah, ChromeHounds is
better than Mech 1 in every aspect. In my opinion, Mech 1 is
garbage, (yes, GARBAGE) compared to this game. This game fixes everything
that was wrong with both Mech 1 and as well as Mech 2.
First, my favorite part the war
In comparison to the Mechassualt 2 conquest it is perfect. There is no
switching of factions every 5 secs to cheat (you can only switch once
every 2 weeks or when a war season ends), you can play against the
computer if you cant find anybody to play with (many people may think
this unfair at first but you do not receive as much money or merit for
completing a mission against computers). The different factions all have
different parts that you can buy to improve your mech. As well there are
different "special parts" were are given out in a lottery, these special
parts are either prototypes or are captured parts. Another cool feature
is the war updates, when ever something important happens, it is posted
there, these can range from where you are being attacked, where we need
help, you can even get your name on there for everybody to see if you
contribute lots of help in capturing a area or make a donation to your
country. You can also enter the war as a whole squad or clan, and change
your mech from in the lobby to one of the unlimited setups you can make.
Another thing they have added is no matter when you lose or win, you
have to pay for your repair bill and buy all of the ammo you just used,
so if you win you use some of the money you made to pay for that, but if
you lose you start loosing money, and this can start piling on really
quickly if you are losing alot. From completing missions you also get
points towards your rank, you start at rookie and move up. There is a
lot more than even what i said, but lets move on.
Squads
These are your basic clan units, whenever you go online in chromehounds
you enter the main lobby, this is your clan lobby where everybody in the
clan can talk, buy parts, go on missions, ect . It can basically be used
as a 20 person chat room if needed. As well from completeing missions
your earn Renown, which boosts your squads rank. You also have your
squad colors which can be applied to your mech, as well as a emblem that
can also be put on.
From here you can also check out every other person whose online in your
squads mech, money and other various things about them, there is also a
trade area where you can trade parts to other players in your squad. In
order to do well, you pretty much NEED a squad.
The Actual fighting and Mechs
The fighting is extremely balanced, its not like mechassault where only
a few things are viable to actually use, every class is almost necessary
to win against a good opponent. All of the weapons are very balanced as
well, as the more power=more weight, so less of them your mech can carry
and slower it moves. In order to talk (with out a commander nearby) you
have to capture the various combas stations around the map, which are
basically big radio towers that a have an area in which you can talk and
see enemies on the map. Most of the time the objective is to destroy the
enemy headquarters, or base, you must first determine which base is
theirs as there are decoys and then, you must destroy it. An alternate
method of winning is destroying all of the enemy mechs. The balance in
this game is fantastic, a team of all Heavy Gunners ( the biggest mechs
attack wise but EXTREMELY slow moving and with very hard to aim weapons)
would easily be defeated by a team with variation. Another thing to
mention is that unlike what most of you are used to who haven't played
other mech games, there are no weapons that "lock on" there a limited
few, heavy heat seeking missiles but that's it. The extreme variation
needed to win leads to much more strategy being used. In my opinion,
mech requires some strategy, but its very limited. In this game a quick
thinking commander is necessary in order to direct the heavy gunners
where to aim there cannons at, the soldiers need to flank ect. where the
sniper should go. The scouts job is to grab the many combas stations and
well...scout for enemies lol, he then reports to the snipers and
commanders on their location and what kind of mechs are approaching. The
defender (my personal favorite so far
 )
is a heavily armored, pretty much tank who defends lol, he stations him
self close to the snipers commanders and the base because he is pretty
slow moving.
With almost unlimited availability for different mech types and lots of
different game types and maps, this game is looking to be a very good
one. I recommend, no almost should force all of you to get a 360 and buy
this game RIGHT NOW. I am not kidding when I say this game makes mech
look like garbage, I know you guys will have a great time over here so
hurry up and get it already!!!!!!!!
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