Beautiful, mechanized flaming death. That's about all I have to say about that. I love mech games - from the early days of Battletech to today. The thrill of climbing up into the cockpit and going hound to hound in Chromehounds is sure not to disappoint even the more die-hard mech fans. Purists may call it arcadey, just because there are no dice to roll or jump-jets, but it delivers on tactical and squad-based gaming.

The game is beautiful on a nice system. The mechs are extremely detailed and show the obvious lion's share of the art assets. I would have liked to have seen a little more attention given to the landscape and the static assets, but with everything being destructible, I can easily see the care and effort that went into the graphics of this game.

The music isn't what you play a game like this for. I had to concentrate to hear it over the volley of incoming rocket and mortar fire. There was nothing there to take you out of the immersion of being strapped to tons of metal. The sound effects were well done and spot on. I loved the sound of incoming rounds as they ricochet off the chassis.

Climb aboard your hound and join the pack as you go hunting in Chromehounds. The single player option in the game takes you through seven missions through each "RT" or role type. The first mission under each of the six different role types was, of course, the tutorial of what your hound could do and what it was for. The six different RT's are: Soldier, Sniper, Defender, Scout, Heavy Gunner and Tactics Commander. Each RT has a specific role on the field as you can see, but on top of that, each Hound RT has hundreds of combinations and configurations of everything including weapons, chassis and mobility. It is up you to find combinations that make you successful in your role. Build your hound for success or fall by the hand of your opponents. The only problem I had with single player came from the repetitive gameplay with weak A. I. opponents. This was quickly covered by an extensive storyline.

Xbox Live is where all the cool stuff happens. Round up five other friends, form your own pack and take on the world. Take sides and join the "Neroimus War". First up, though, is to join or create a squad. Choose your emblem and color. Start a recorded history of your successes and failures on the field of battle. You can trade components and weapons with members of your team. Once you are engaged in the war, the current events in the world affect you directly. You are going to need money to pay for the fuel, ammunition, and repairs for your squad. You can choose to take individual missions to try and recoup funding after losing battles and resources. The stronger your nation, the better the rewards and earnings. These solo missions will have no direct affect on the overall war that rages on.

On the surface, Chromehounds is a very simple game. Put the enemy in your cross hair and pull the trigger. But just one more step forward and this game proves to be a very complex and in-depth strategy game that relies heavily on individuals to become very good at there respective roles to survive. You are going to spend a lot of time configuring your hound. In the game, the person who has the most properly configured hound for the task at hands wins. You may have some difficulty finding pilots to hook up with at first.

The first in-game mechanic that jumps out in Chromehounds has to be its extremely customizable vehicle system. The menu system is a straightforward plug and play item selection that is very intuitive. I had no trouble getting a hound constructed to head online. They also have full hounds for sale online if you find you are not as into the customization. There is a great monetary reward system that allows you to progress in the online play of Chromehounds. Lastly, the simple yet rich team cooperative play is a dynamic mixture of personal skill and proper tactical hound selection.

This game has been out for a few weeks now, and there are some mixed reviews from a few places that say it is too simple to be considered a good game. I am here to say that the play online is anything but easy and simple. It does, however, rely on your ability to hook up with others and play nice, and many have trouble with that. If you do not have Live, you will not get everything that this game has to offer. The single player mode isn't strong enough alone for this game to be a great single player game. The magic is online and well worth it. See you there... between the crosshairs!