Chrome Hounds’ gameplay is an odd mix of simulator pacing with somewhat awkward arcade style controls. While the core gameplay is ultimately flawed and pretty boring to partake in, the online persistent world is engaging enough to look past the faults of controlling your Mech, at least for awhile. Simply put, if you don’t have XBOX Live Gold you should steer clear and if you do Chrome Hounds is at most a rental.

The first thing you’ll probably think to yourself when you start a game of Chrome Hounds is, “Wow, this is really slow.” No matter which type of Mech you choose to pilot you’ll always feel like movement around levels is way too slow. That along with the fact that it’s usually the case that the more weaponry you have on your Mech the slower it moves, and you’ve got all the ingredients for boredom. Now I guess this would be fine if the actual process of aiming, moving, and firing required a lot of micro-management thus making it a simulation type game but Chrome Hounds unfortunately has very limited controls.

The left analog moves you around, the right shoulder button cycles through four weapon setups, the right analog stick aims, and the right trigger shoots. These controls along with a few others make up the entirety of piloting a Chrome Hound. You’ll also be toggling your map on and off constantly checking for coordinates of locations you need to be heading towards and this ultimately obstructs your entire view of the gameplay for sometimes long periods of time. While there are several different “Role Types” that FROM SOFTWARE has created for players to fill, most all of them require nearly the same actions. Check the map for where to go, coordinate with other players if there are any, and attack hostiles.

The “Role Types” aren’t strictly enforced when playing online or in single matches but they are the core of the single player campaign. The Campaign is split up into six separate storylines, each of which highlights and makes you play as one of these “Role Types.” The RTs include Defenders which are used as escorts and as protection for heavy damage units and Heavy Gunners which are the big guns used for destroying HQs. Scouts are fast movers who lack any kind of good weaponry and Snipers have long distance scopes. Soldiers man the front lines and Tactics Commanders control bot units and give commands to other players. Each RT has seven pretty short missions to complete, if you don’t count the elongated travel time, which unlock assembly parts, give achievement points, and teach you the basics of how to fill each role.