Chromehounds is a game loaded with potential; but it takes some serious dedication to truly enjoy what's on offer.
The game comes complete with 40 single player missions, each one lasting no more than 10 minutes. Within these missions, you'll assume the role of a pilot operating a huge, walking battle tank known as a Hounds. These mechs span a variety of classes, called Roll Types, allowing you to choose a specific style of play that suits you; from sniping and recon, to more gung-ho, guns blazing approaches.
Each class is given it's own series of missions which carry you through the various functions and tactics you'll need to take advantage of to be successful with a certain type of mech. The single player portion of the game feels much like a glorified tutorial, with massively repetitive missions guiding you through a storyline which has very little depth to it. Basically, you are a mercenary caught up in a war between several, fictional nations. You go from place to place, carrying out objectives which rarely go beyond "defend this", "blow up that".
Indeed, the single player campaigns are little more than a distraction when compared with the online mode, which really represents the bulk of the game. The major down-side here is that you must play through all 40 missions in order to aquire parts to create a decent mech; otherwise, you'll find that your basic creation cant really compete in the online world.
Immediately, you're required to spend a significant amount of time playing through something you'd rather not bother with, in order to play and enjoy the online experience. This is just one of many moments in the game which feels more like a chore than a piece of entertainment.
Online modes do not discriminate between the hounds you play with, so if you enter the online battle using a basic hound with basic parts, you're often thrown into a game against player with mechs twice your size, with firepower that dwarves what little armaments are available to you. This isn't the only matchmaking problem, as i often found myself being thrown into games against people who carry tags of "Professional +" when i had no more than "Rookie". You could be playing your very first game, against an opponant playing his 500th.
Again, you find an obstacle preventing you from truly enjoying the game, as you force yourself through games where you cant really compete at all, simply to earn some cash and improve your Hound. It takes a lot of patience to keep playing, and some serious hope that there's fun to be had - which there is. If you're one for quick thrills and early trade-ins, Chromehounds is definately not for you.
Should you be dedicated enough to endure the punishment of the early online sorties, there is light at the end of the tunnel. When you finally create a Hound with some serious firepower, there's serious fun to be had as you blast away at other mechs in huge, open environments. Games can be tense and exciting, especially when playing last-man-standing, with two damaged mechs left in the game.
But as you play, you're going to have to build and improve your mech. This is where the Garage function comes into practice, and it's wonderfully done. There are literally millions of combinations for you to experiement with in order to create a mech which truly suits your playing style. The only down-side is the massive wealth of parts on offer, compared with the tiny amount of parts you're supplied with at the start. It really doesn't make any sense to be so restrictive and leave beginners with so little to work with. After you earn some cash and buy yourself some new hardware, creating the perfect hound is really a whole game in itself.
Overall, Chromehounds is a game with potential to be brilliant, but it shoots itself in the foot at every turn. You'll be faced with a long, tedious task to endure before you finally earn a mech which can compete in the online battle ground. The dedication is only really worth it if you're a big fan of mech games, and dont mind having to put in some serious work before you can unlock a game's potential.
Chromehounds is a great game, but it's horribly inaccessible it's difficult to recommend to anyone other than the hardcore mech fans, who are few and far between.