Chromehounds (Xbox 360)

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Explosions illuminate the environment

The Mechs (sorry, Hounds) certainly don't help matters. While they look big and powerful, stalking one carrying anything more than a light machine gun across a vast desert can take almost all of the 15-minute mission time. Even the Scouts, with their four wheels and lower weight, only move a fraction faster, and a slight incline can bring them to a near halt. Did I forget to mention, despite previous subtle hints, not once in the game are the vehicles referred to as Mechs, despite the fact that's what they clearly are and nobody, NOBODY, calls them Hounds online. Is there some sort of copyright thing going on or does that particular noun scare the marketing folk, who would rather baffle the public into buying an obscurely titled game than pigeonhole it into a niche genre?

Anyway, building your own 'Hound' is remarkably easy once you get the hang of the in-game garage and certainly prove more fun, and powerful, than borrowing a pre-designed one. While my early efforts looked not dissimilar to Number 5 from Short Circuit, complete with guns facing in the wrong direction (not too handy on the battlefield), gradually you learn how to create a less-than-lean mean killing machine. Everything is customisable and upgradeable and, apart from worrying about weight restrictions, once you have earned enough cash by completing missions there is no limit to what you can build.

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While the offline modes have hardly been earning many plaudits among players, Chromehounds has been steadily building a pretty strong Xbox Live following - though it's the Americans who seem to have embraced it the most warmly. I found it nearly impossible to find a single Brit on any of the servers, while armies of Texans (I think) kept threatening to "bonk me in the..." - well, you figure it out - for firing at them. Still, I did meet some friendly American folk to play a few rounds with and everyone was keen to help out any baffled nOObs joining the fray.

It's certainly hard to fault the game's Live ambitions. An entire war is taking place and you have to pick a faction before taking part in skirmishes to conquer the Risk-style map. The conflicts can last days, or longer, and regular news flashes pop-up asking players to lend their support to a new objective. Sadly, getting involved is a chore as you have to either create your own squad or apply to join an existing one, during which you have to wait for a response that - in some cases - will never come.

The ambitious online mode is hard to get into

For the less serious player, there are quicker options like Deathmatch and Capture the Flag, in both ranked and unranked matches. Ironically, despite the scope of the main online campaign, it's here that the most pleasure can be found. Unlike most multiplayer titles, taking down an enemy is really hard work and a successful kill is a genuine cause for celebration. There are still serious problems, though, like the endless wait before matches start, the long trundle from your spawn point to the action, and a lack of players (ten is the most I've seen at once). Perhaps this highlights Chromehounds' main failing: its sense of scale. Why give players an enormous battlefield when only a few of them can play at once, meaning the majority of the round is spent ambling around a vast desert or woodland looking for something to do.

Visually, the game definitely falls into the not quite next-gen category. The Hounds look and move pretty impressively and the explosions are suitably, well, explosive, but the maps are bland, flat terrain reminiscent of the first Conflict Desert Storm, or any Delta Force title. There are also severe vertical sync problems whenever you turn, which admittedly seems to be a common 360 glitch. Sound wise, there is a stirring yet repetitive orchestral score, but the constant clanking of metal and whirring of engines can get quite irritating after prolonged play.

A lot was expected from veteran Mech game developer From Software, of Armoured Core fame, but Chromehounds is ultimately an ambitious failure that sounds great on paper but proves to be a tediously slow, uninvolving experience for anyone less than a hardcore giant robot fan. It's simply another 360 title that doesn't have enough metal (sorry, mettle) to justify its next gen status and price.

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