Graphics and multiplayer
Graphically, Chrome Hounds looks superb. The initial cut scene bodes well, with photo realistic environments, fancy explosions, and supremely detailed mechs, and levels are finely detailed. The ‘Hounds’ are by far the highlight, the metal shimmers when it catches the light and every nut and bolt appears to be have been manually applied, but the environments are dreary. Huge landscapes spread as far as the eye can see, but you will notice a fair bit of repetition in the design. Once you’ve seen one section of snowbound mountain or barren grassland you’ve seen them all.
The explosions are, for the most part, visually exciting, but occasionally buildings don’t blow up in the spectacular way that many will crave – most buildings tend to fall in a heap rather than exploding in different directions.
Despite some of the repetitive environments, Chrome Hounds is a great deal of fun and has enough variety in it to keep you ploughing through the single player campaign right till the end. Whilst mech fans may be unimpressed with the simplicity of the controls, the beauty of the tactical play really comes into force in online multiplayer mode.
Click for larger imageIf you’re willing to invest some time into the multiplayer aspect of Chrome Hounds it’s an extremely rewarding and engaging experience. You’ll need the patience of a saint to navigate through the numerous sections and sub-sections, but ultimately the rewards are there for the taking. By rewards I mean the satisfaction of learning an often overwhelming game, nailing it, and then taking your beautifully constructed powerhouse of a Hound onto the battlefield.
Click for larger imageChrome Hounds has one of the most concise, easy to read and comprehensible manuals that I’ve read for a game that boasts so many options and without it you’ll be lost, I learnt the hard way. I jumped straight online, I often prefer to dive straight into multiplayer and read the manual afterwards, and was invited into to a U.S led clan. I attempted to build my Hound, thinking I’d done a pretty good job for my first attempt and jumped into a battle with five teammates. The leader of the clan commanded me to move to a certain point on the map, so I ambled up the designated hill-top to a high point ideal for sniping. As I spotted another Hound in the distance I took aim and then realised that I hadn’t equipped any weapons! It was kind of embarrassing to tell the team who had so kindly invited me into their clan that I was in fact a retard who didn't know what he was doing. I spent the rest of the game acting as an unarmed decoy, totally useless, and red-faced. I could almost hear the belly laughs coming from deep inside the enemy mechs as they took it in turns to crush the living soul out of my sorry piece of scrap metal. Needless to say I let the team down, we lost and as a result the whole team lost the vital coinage needed to build better Hounds.
