A non X video game?
Ok, now I'm in uncharted territory, but before I begin my actual review, I feel like I should give some backstory. When the Xbox (original) was still out, Microsoft published something that made me hate them with a passion. I loved MechWarrior. FASA had done a good job with the franchise, and when I found out they sold some of the rights to Wizzards, I didn't think much of it at first. I read a few of the books, I played the new miniatures game before Wizkids upgraded it to a new format...but they made a video game which I hated.
MechAssault is not a mech game, its much more of an arcade game. You have no customization options, and the game in general lost it's 'grand' aspect. In the old mechwarrior games, you got the feeling you were really driving big huge walking tanks, where MechAssault felt much more like just another shooter. Then they made a second one, and while they brought back the NovaCat, they introduced getting out of your machine. (Sounds good in principal, but just makes you easier to shoot) Overall, I did not like microsoft for this.
When I heard about Chrome Hounds, and I did some research on it, I decided I could forgive Microsoft for what they did to mechwarrior. This is what cemented my wanting to buy a 360. I didn't actually get a chance to play Chrome Hounds untill a few months ago, but I loved the game. There was so much you could do with a hound, and while the online games are full of mechs that are overbalanced to one type or take advantage of a particular weapon, the people online are really cool. The game is also developed by From Software of Armored Core fame, and they managed to build a targetting system that wasn't frustrating as hell to operate :D.
Chrome Hounds takes place in a kind of Alternate future, where the cold war had a different ending, a large piece of the USSR broke off and formed "The Republic of Morskov" while the near east formed "The Kingdom of Sal Kar" and the rest of Europe basically aligned itself into the nation of "Tarakia". These three tense nations exist in a constant state of chaos and bickering. They fight with huge walking tanks called ACVs, but the next generation of ACVs are called Hounds. In Chromehounds, you drive one of these hounds, and you play as a mercenary, a witness to all these battles. There are six single player campaigns, all of them based around one 'role type' of the hounds, and if you buy this game, you should at least blast through them before you play online. You get a lot of parts and you learn a lot about how to use hounds. I also heard that a patch was released that made the story mode more enjoyable and gave you more parts (but only if you get an S rank on the mission) But it was probably released sometime before I started on the game so I didn't notice.
On live, like I said, players tend to overbalance to one type. Most people use heavy guns or sniper cannons, though there are other tactics. One is to load up on rockets and run up to people on treds, hovercraft or wheels (somewhat fast mobility parts) and shoot them in the face with rocket salvos. I saw one guy doing this who's hound was basically a hovercraft missile tower. Another tactic is to forgo armor and weapons, put three grenades on your hound, run up to people and shoot them in the back. Grenades do a lot of damage if you do a direct hit. You might expect such tactics to earn scorn, but not always, normally people can laugh about it and be good sports. I was in one game where we all decided to forgo every other weapon type and just use spash damage weapons. No grenades, no snipers, no rockets, just howitzers and cannons, it was a lot of fun! There are also some really interesting weapons like anti-hound piles (spikes, close range weapons) and bomb launchers and mine launchers that don't get used very much, normally because its not possible to get close enough. I also found there was a lot of personality in people's Hounds, people put symbols on their armor pieces, like shields from the middle ages, weapons have a pattern to them on the hound, and no two people have exactly the same paint job. Its exactly the same kind of customization that made me fall in love with mechwarrior.
In any case, I like Chomehounds and I'm going to keep playing it. If you do decide to play it, just remember, if you leave your cockpit exposed, it will be very easy to kill you in one good hit, so always armor yourself (it took me a few games to learn this.)
MechAssault is not a mech game, its much more of an arcade game. You have no customization options, and the game in general lost it's 'grand' aspect. In the old mechwarrior games, you got the feeling you were really driving big huge walking tanks, where MechAssault felt much more like just another shooter. Then they made a second one, and while they brought back the NovaCat, they introduced getting out of your machine. (Sounds good in principal, but just makes you easier to shoot) Overall, I did not like microsoft for this.
When I heard about Chrome Hounds, and I did some research on it, I decided I could forgive Microsoft for what they did to mechwarrior. This is what cemented my wanting to buy a 360. I didn't actually get a chance to play Chrome Hounds untill a few months ago, but I loved the game. There was so much you could do with a hound, and while the online games are full of mechs that are overbalanced to one type or take advantage of a particular weapon, the people online are really cool. The game is also developed by From Software of Armored Core fame, and they managed to build a targetting system that wasn't frustrating as hell to operate :D.
Chrome Hounds takes place in a kind of Alternate future, where the cold war had a different ending, a large piece of the USSR broke off and formed "The Republic of Morskov" while the near east formed "The Kingdom of Sal Kar" and the rest of Europe basically aligned itself into the nation of "Tarakia". These three tense nations exist in a constant state of chaos and bickering. They fight with huge walking tanks called ACVs, but the next generation of ACVs are called Hounds. In Chromehounds, you drive one of these hounds, and you play as a mercenary, a witness to all these battles. There are six single player campaigns, all of them based around one 'role type' of the hounds, and if you buy this game, you should at least blast through them before you play online. You get a lot of parts and you learn a lot about how to use hounds. I also heard that a patch was released that made the story mode more enjoyable and gave you more parts (but only if you get an S rank on the mission) But it was probably released sometime before I started on the game so I didn't notice.
On live, like I said, players tend to overbalance to one type. Most people use heavy guns or sniper cannons, though there are other tactics. One is to load up on rockets and run up to people on treds, hovercraft or wheels (somewhat fast mobility parts) and shoot them in the face with rocket salvos. I saw one guy doing this who's hound was basically a hovercraft missile tower. Another tactic is to forgo armor and weapons, put three grenades on your hound, run up to people and shoot them in the back. Grenades do a lot of damage if you do a direct hit. You might expect such tactics to earn scorn, but not always, normally people can laugh about it and be good sports. I was in one game where we all decided to forgo every other weapon type and just use spash damage weapons. No grenades, no snipers, no rockets, just howitzers and cannons, it was a lot of fun! There are also some really interesting weapons like anti-hound piles (spikes, close range weapons) and bomb launchers and mine launchers that don't get used very much, normally because its not possible to get close enough. I also found there was a lot of personality in people's Hounds, people put symbols on their armor pieces, like shields from the middle ages, weapons have a pattern to them on the hound, and no two people have exactly the same paint job. Its exactly the same kind of customization that made me fall in love with mechwarrior.
In any case, I like Chomehounds and I'm going to keep playing it. If you do decide to play it, just remember, if you leave your cockpit exposed, it will be very easy to kill you in one good hit, so always armor yourself (it took me a few games to learn this.)