In a world where a Cold War mentality still grips the minds and souls of its inhabitants, where the timeline of history follows a different path, three nations with differing ideologies battle it out for supremacy over Neriomus. It is a world where solar flares and the ensuing interference has caused mass confusion and anarchy, where war became a global phenomenon, resulting in a fundamental shift in the world's political climate as we know it today. With global communication and traditional instruments of war rendered useless, new means by which to do battle were developed resulting in Mechs, or in this case, Hounds.

So, we have an interesting story, but what about the gameplay? Within Chromehounds players have the ability to assemble there own unique Hounds from a huge pool of component parts including weapons, legs, armour etc, and participate in a semi-MMO style persistent online battle for supremacy. Players should note though, that the single player experience only serves as preparation for the online experience provided via Xbox Live. Think of it as the entrée before the main course, an introduction to what awaits players if they choose to persist. Persistence is the key as the developers of Chromehounds, From Software, have changed the single-player experience from being the dominant force in the game, to serving as a mere training tool for the online portion of the game.

Hot Squad lovin

The single-player mode revolves around six story arcs, each consisting of around half a dozen missions. In each of the mission's, you play as a mercenary bound to serving one of the three warring nations. Within the story's, you'll get to experience six types of Hounds, each geared towards a specific role: Soldier, Defender, Scout, Sniper, Heavy Gunner and Commander. After the initial training mission, players will be taken on an un-interesting journey through a flaccid story, held up by terrible narration, and quite boring locations. Each of the three nations, the Kingdom of Sal Kar, Republic of Morskoj and the Democratic Republic of Tarakia, are essentially puppet regimes flavoured by the Middle East, the Soviet's and the Americans.

As a new member of Rafzakael, a shadowy mercenary organisation willing to work for whoever pays the most, players will be forced to slog through an intense barrage of propaganda spewed forth by each of the three nations. The plot weaves its way through the lives of the hero found within each nation's story arc, trying to pull the players heart strings into siding with each country's tumultuousness history, present trouble's, and future aspirations... very cliché stuff I know. Even the music had a goose-stepping quality to it. Yes, I'm sounding harsh, but the truth of the mater is, if the single player experience was the total sum of the game, I'd easily give it a three out of ten and simply call it quits. Thankfully, the game isn't about the single player mode, it's about the multi-player, so five hundred words or so into it, here's where the actual review of the game starts funnily enough.

Player's persistent enough to have completed the 10 hour or so journey through mediocrity have the ability to carry across the Hound parts won on completion of each single player mission into the multiplayer arena. What exactly does that mean? Somehow, Chromehounds becomes the equivalent of a junk yard, with players hording every piece of equipment given, granting players the ability to fashion a Hound of their choice. Players with no imagination or willingness to fashion their own Hound can purchase pre-completed Hounds for a price. But let's not get ahead of ourselves, as the multiplayer component of Chromehounds is much more of a complex beast than at first realised Players will immediately be faced with a few hurdles when attempting to connect online. Being forced to save your progress every time you connect online, as well as fighting past a tactical report of each nation's progress through the war, doesn't make for a friendly first encounter (kind of gets more annoying the more you play). The tactical map that fills up the screen as you log in is the first indication of how each of the three nations are faring. The goal of the Neroimus war is quite simple: each nation strives to take over the other two nation's capital territories. Flags indicate which nation holds what parcel of land, with explosion animations about the flag showing where the most hotly contested land battles are being fought. At this point in time, it's fairly obvious that Chromehounds requires a squad or clan membership to participate in the Neroimus war, but those not willing to join a squad just yet are able to play online via a free battle mode, slugging it out with other players or computer controlled Hounds. Although these battles have no bearing on the persistent Neroimus war, it does give a good introduction to the whole online part of the game. Choosing to side myself with the Soviet styled Morskoj nation, I select an option that brings down a list of which squads are recruiting for new members. Searching for the right squad took some time, as most have differing requirements for membership, such as the type of Hound you specialise in, to what online rank you have.

An imposing sight

With a bit of persistence I finally settled upon a friendly sounding squad by the name of MAD COWZ, a group consisting of nine members. Feeling quite the noob, I linked up with a chap who didn't mind giving me a brief run down of what to expect in the upcoming battles and most importantly of all, showing me how to make my own Hound. Going through a small number of sub-menus, we hit a staging area with a mini-map indicating the objectives and where HQ's for both sides were located. It's also the point where you are able to change Hounds to suit the type of map about to be played, as well as waiting for enemy players to join in. Thus ensuring a decent match to come, rather than fighting alone against the AI.

With the map loaded, players will immediately notice the huge maps and the hulking monstrosities of the Hounds themselves. It's certainly not the fastest online game I've ever played, as it takes time for players of both sides to line up, evaluate their opponent's types of Hounds and the available surrounding cover. With a timer ticking down, it's not long before horns are locked with both sides struggling to avoid incoming fire, while still trying to place decent shots that will see the enemy Hounds either run away in fright, or erupt in a satisfying explosion. Damage given or taken is easily spotted, with sparks, smoke and explosion's indicating the condition of the enemy, as well as the condition of your own Hound. Since Hounds are made up of component parts, each with differing attributes, repeatedly hitting the enemy in the same location (much easier said than done) will be visually obvious, giving players a fair indication of the status of the enemy. Trees topple when struck, rivers churn when crossed, weapons and their associated sounds and visual effects (especially when changing magnifications) are great. Explosion's are also visually satisfying with decent weather effects and variation between night and day maps ... all of these elements add up to a visually impressive Xbox Live experience.

Heavy Gunner doing some heavy damage

Visuals aside, combat within the game is a slow but intense affair. Players might be put off with the slow build up of the battle, with placement on the map usually carrying more sway than a direct approach. This may eventuate into a waiting game, with both sides either sneaking up and avoiding all attention to their locations so as to destroy the enemy HQ rather than risk direct confrontation. Choosing the right Hound corresponding to your playing style equates to the level of enjoyment. It's as simple as that. Having a diverse spread of Hounds to play with is recommended for Chromehounds, but I preferred playing as a sniper in the end, loving the tense build up ending in long range death by yours truly.

Winning, as well as losing, has the obvious consequences. Faction points are given or taken away from nations contesting each section of the battlefield. Flags sway back and forth until one nation finally gains enough dominance to wrest control of the flags, with the enemy capital being the final target. To be successful, you need a decent squad filled with experienced members. In my case, I was fortunate enough to have stumbled upon a moderately successful group. Of course you'll either keep being poor, or be comfortably rich after wining most of the battles, as Chromehounds awards success with money as well as the chance to climb ranks. You can never have enough mud-sucking Private's about, so I was quite comfortable being that rank for the entire playing period.

Being a squad-based game, you'd be correct in assuming that communicating with fellow squad members is central to success. Within Chromehounds though, you have to work for it. Structures called COMBAS towers are scattered about the place, forming the prospective communication network of each map. All towers start as neutral, but once captured by simply standing next to them for a few seconds, a circular communication bubble appears on the squad members maps representing the total area they may communicate within. It's a simple concept, one which may, tactically speaking, work both for and against each squad. Once captured, COMBAS towers have the players respective countries flags waving about. Now working with Chromehounds incredibly long viewing distance, Hounds equipped with sniper cannons or even players with sharp eyes may plan attacks by the next COMBAS tower the enemy may capture. Accordingly, the other side may plan their attacks through watching their own COMBAS tower suddenly disappearing from the network, indicating enemies are about.

Farms need tough security these days

Realising how badly my sniper Hound was set up after losing the first match, I quickly ducked into the garage, disassembled my Hound, and started afresh. Going through my extensive list of parts won over from the single-player game, it was very obvious I had to hit the online store. This is the bit where poor Chromehound players low on the dollar may throw a tanty at not being able to afford the best and latest parts, continuously updated and made available to all players via an in-game shop.

The selection of parts is enormous, with emphasis placed on weapons. Mines, missiles, shotguns, cannons, heavy weapons, light weapons ... short of a nuclear bomb, it's available. With stats coming out of every orifice, particularly when it came to maximum weight and energy, cooling capacity and armour, I finally decided upon a blend of front-line soldier and sniper capabilities. After losing the next two battles, I again chose to make another Hound. This just highlights the incredible customisation potential within Chromehounds. It's enough to make a mechanic out of everybody. Simply put, it's a huge but satisfying jigsaw puzzle with hundreds of creative (in my case, not so effective) ways to make a Hound. The Hound assembly process was not in the least bit intimidating, as it might have easily been, so top points to the developers for the streamlined approach.

Chromehounds aspires to reach all types of players, whether you like mechs or not. Those searching for the single player experience best avoid this title, but if you're after a satisfying online Xbox Live game, then I'd recommend it. Its slow build up, dizzying array of customisation and constantly changing battle landscape makes the Xbox 360 a good console to own. As the Chromehounds site states, 'hunt as a pack, or die as a dog' ... sums it up quite nicely.