Chromehounds Part 1
So, I picked up Chromehounds, since Aaron decided to get a 360, and I lust for mech combat.
I’ve completed all but the final single player mission, which I haven’t even looked at yet. More on that later.
It’s from… uhh… From Software, the guys behind the Armored Core line. There’s definitely some similarities, but it’s more of an underlying philosophy than anything specific.
Points of similarity-
Customizable mechs
General control scheme is very similar
Overall look of the models
It diverges pretty wildly though. AC has always been a fast moving game, with a very ninja robot feel. Even the slow mechs could boost along at pretty high speeds. This game feels more like a conventional armored column. Combat is intense, but not terribly fast in any sense. Even the fast machines feel more like jeeps than, say, a spaceborne rocket. Pretty much everything is earthbound, though there’s a component to let you hover for a few seconds, it isn’t anything like the boosters in AC.
There’s a ton of intelligence gathering and disruption options. Mechs only get a radar image of very close targets that are on the move, except for the commander, who can see any unit positions within the network area you control. Missions can happen at night, and unlike most games that can mean damned near pitch black. You have a headlight you can turn on, but all that really does is mark you as desperate or retarded. To this end, you can equip a flare launching mortar, or nightvision.
The flares are awesome. Not only do they show off the studly lighting effects, but targets within the flare radius will show up on your radar, and the flares are up long enough to actually be useful.
The nightvision is also great, but obviously only helps out one guy. Also, like real nightvision, it isn’t really as useful as, say, a small sun illuminating the hostiles.
The maps have COMBAS towers, which create the network area. Units outside of the area lose communications, and towers are captured by standing next to them for 10 seconds. The commander equips a portable version, enabling them to keep the shit together. There are also jammers, so your scouts can play hell with the enemy line.
Blah blah blah, I fucking love the game. The single player is just training, and a way to get parts, before you go online and, presumably, get your ass handed to you over and over. The parts are what keeps me from that final mission. See, and S rank gives you more parts, so I’m redoing every mission I didn’t already get an S in.
More after I’ve drank enough to go online.