Genre: Mecha Shooter
Publisher: SEGA
Developer: From Software
Release Date: September 2006

Most games incorporate online, FPS-style multiplayer in one of two ways. Either the multiplayer feels like a separate game entirely that just happens to be related to whatever the single-player campaign is, or it becomes obvious that the multiplayer is the real game and the single-player exists largely to prepare players for going online. After playing Chromehounds online, it's hard not to view it as the latter type of game. While the Chromehounds single-player campaign is entertaining enough, multiplayer is where the game shines. In addition to the online multiplayer, Chromehounds has a variety of other online game modes that offer a bit more in the way of lasting appeal than the single-player experience.

This is the sort of game that, in the current state of the industry, could really only exist on PC or the the X360. The controls make it feel a bit more suited to the 360; there's immediacy to controlling your HOUND with the 360 game pad that a traditional mouse/keyboard control scheme on PC might lack. The simple controls certainly make Chromehounds an extremely easy game for even novice players to pick up and begin enjoyably playing online matches. The most skilled players will win most consistently, not least because their HOUNDs are likely to have access to better parts than a n00b's will, but a clever novice can, at the very least, get in a few enjoyable frags before getting exploded.

The Chromehounds multiplayer demo focused on the PvP aspects of the game, both in free-for-all death matches and bouts that pitted teams of HOUNDs against each other. Journalists from outlets ranging from GamesRadar to 1up.com, along with a few representatives from Sega to make sure no one went unpwned for long, met online in their own custom-designed HOUNDs to do battle with each other.

The performance differences that resulted from customization became apparently painfully fast in the massive deathmatch that started the bout. Units that opted from jointed legs were nimble dodges, able to cover lots of ground quickly, but could be easily paralyzed by severe damage to their hip and knee joints. Units that moved using tank-treads could soak huge amounts of damage, but had few options in a firefight besides doing so. Tread units also moved more slowly than units with jointed legs, which could make a huge difference in maps where spawn points ended up being far from the action. Units that could hover propulsion enjoyed better land speed and could move more easily over rough terrain than tanks, but still lacked the dodging ability of units with jointed limbs. Units that opted for jointed limbs could use a more stable, sturdier four-legged base, or opt for a speedier but more easily damaged bipedal base.

What RT you're playing determined what movement parts and weapons you can equip to your HOUND. Defenders can't equip hovercraft bases, but can choose between tank treads or the two kinds of jointed limbs, for example. Likewise, a Defender is likely to be a unit reliant on rifles and missiles, while Soldiers can get access to rapid-fire machines that will quickly chew through light armor. Interestingly, no single RT dominated the free-for-all deathmatch, and succeeding in the team bouts didn't necessarily require a team that incorporated a wide variety of RTs. What was required was an ability to know how those particular RTs should be working together. Generally, a fast unit from an RT like the Scout should take point, drawing enemy fire to allow the slower, more powerful fighters behind it to get into position and begin attacking enemies while they are unawares. Exploiting terrain was also a must. Snipes could take advantage of high or hard to reach areas to set up offensive barrages, but Soldiers and Defenders rapidly render themselves useless by trying such tactics. In close-up firefights, it behooved slow units to stay on level or slightly elevated terrain, while speedy units did best by luring enemies into terrain they couldn't easily move around in.

There are some interesting tricks you can pull off in multiplayer that don't really apply to single-player bouts. In maps with uneven terrain, it's possible for a unit with tank treads to actually pin a jointed-limb unit up against the side of steep slopes or walls. Obviously, this results in a pretty much instantaneous kill. Tall walking units like Soldiers can, by the same token, actually use their machine guns to attack an enemy's weapon systems. The game represents this by causing your first-person camera to go to static when you select the damaged weapon system. You can't fire that weapon anymore, your ammunition stops regenerating automatically (as it otherwise always does in multiplayer), and you can't go into first-person view while having that weapon highlighted. It is perfectly possible for a clever enough opponent to shoot out all of an opponent's weapon systems, thereby leaving that unit completely unable to do damage to others. The only thing you can do in this situation is hope somebody kills you so you respawn with your weapon systems intact, but skilled opponents will go out of their way not to do this. It's primarily units like the Defender and Heavy Gunner that are vulnerable to this tactic, since their weapon systems tend to be completely exposed and mounted on top of their bodies.

Our single-player preview left discussion of the graphics and music for the multi-player mode, because it's here that both really make a difference. What you can see and hear is enormously important to tracking your enemy's positions. While draw distances are very long in this game, offering some truly spectacular views of the scenery and groups of HOUNDs skirmishing in the distance, you can't identify a unit as friendly or enemy until you're relatively close to them. Most units, in fact, have weapons that are effective over a much longer range than your identification range. This means that in some maps, if you think you can identify your enemies from a very long way away, you can actually try pelting enemy units from the tops of near-inaccessible mountaintops. Of course, it's just as likely that you'll fire on a friendly unit.

You can't harm your own units with friendly fire in this game, but the sound of the explosions would announce your ally's presence to every other unit in the area. Sound travels over realistically far distances in Chromehounds, and you'll usually hear battles long before you see them. There's little music in Chromehounds, since like most primarily multiplayer games, it's really designed to be played with a custom playlist going in the background.

From Software seems to be making up for this by working overtime with the graphics. Chromehounds is easily one of the most beautiful games yet released for the 360. Battlefields, while empty of things like people or animals, are full of beautiful natural details and well-rendered buildings. Individual HOUNDs are breathtaking to watch in motion, conveying a genuine sense of scale and weight despite a lack of anything to really compare them to but the background buildings. Their movement animations are fascinating to watch, yet not so slow that it bogs down the action of a fight.

Basically, if you own an Xbox 360 like the idea of blowing things up with a giant robot, or particularly the idea of blowing up other people's giant robots, Chromehounds is a must-own. It may very well be one of the first true system-sellers for the 360, since right now it isn't set for release on any other platform, and Xbox Live is the only venue where you can experience its intense multiplayer. Once on Live, you can play through an extended multiplayer online campaign called the Neroimus War, amass money in Individual Missions by defeating computer enemies, join squads for team battles, or just try to swap HOUND parts with a buddy. The multiplayer PvP games are all pretty standard FPS fare – Capture or Keep the Flag, a King of the Mountain variant, and lots of games that boil down to "kill all the guys on the other team" or just "kill all the guys." The customizability of the HOUNDs keeps things interesting, as does the different way all of the RTs handle. It's enough to keep a mech-lover blowing the hell out of other mech-lovers for months to come.