Gaming Nexus: Can you describe the Hound customization in the game? How many different combinations are possible? Will the various chassis be limited by weight or number of hardpoints or both? Justin Lambros: HOUND customization is truly immense in the game.Players don't have to stick to one of the six different role types; they can create any number of hybrid classes. All parts are available once unlocked, so the number of possible combinations is in the millions. There are a number of different chassis to work with: 2-legs, 4-legs, tank treads, four wheels, and hovercraft. And from there you can add any number of weapons, armor, and accessories - just as long as your generator can power it and the chassis can carry the weight. There is a set number of hard points on the various core pieces (chassis, cockpits, etc.), but many weapons are based on a hexagonal structure and will allow for multiple arrangements of weapons. And there are spacer parts that allow for nearly any combination of weapons to work.
Gaming Nexus: How many and what kinds of weapons will gamers be able to use? Will gamers have to manage weapons heat? What kind of accessories will games be able to tirck their Hounds out with?Justin Lambros: HOUNDs can feature a huge variety of weapons including assault rifles, shotguns, sniper rifles, machineguns, cannons, howitzers, mortars, rockets, missile launchers, mines, and even blades for close-quarters combat. And HOUND heat will have to be managed, but there are accessories to reduce the heat of high-powered parts. The accessories have just as many options, from missile countermeasures, land mine detectors, radar jammers, nightvision, infrared, armor plating, and a variety of spacer parts to make sure nearly any combination of parts can be equipped.
Gaming Nexus: Giant fighting robots with high powered weapons tend to make a mess of their surroundings; will the environments in the game take damage as the game progresses?Justin Lambros: The environments are nearly entirely destructible,except for a few elements that are key to gameplay like communication towers. But any building, tree, or vehicle you come across in the game will blow up if enough firepower is unleashed upon it. And there are great particle effects that really bring this destruction to life, including leaves flying up when a tree is knocked down, smoke billowing from a downed building, or water splashing when a bridge is taken out. You'll also be able to track down the combat from the footprints and treads left by the HOUNDs throughout the level.
Gaming Nexus: Will you be able to target and destroy specific parts of an enemy Hound (i.e. taking out the legs of a walker type of Hound)?Justin Lambros: Yes, each part of the HOUND has its own hit point bar. And you can target them all individually. So, to take out a sniper you can target his high-powered rifle and destroy it, making him much less of a threat, or you can aim for the legs of a scout, greatly reducing his movement speed. Targeting the cockpit will take out the HOUND entirely.
Gaming Nexus: What kind of multiplayer support will be in the game? What kind of clan support will be built into the game? How will you be able to challenge other clans in the game? Will there be clan ladders in the game? Has there been any thought to providing new mechs chassis and components after the game launches?Justin Lambros: Chromehounds features very robust online gameplay including all of the standard match types you'd expect from an online shooter (deathmatch, capture the flag, team battles, checkpoint battles, etc.), but it also includes an expansive persistent online mode called the Neroimus War. This is where squads of up to 20 players align themselves with one of three countries in a giant game like Risk as they wage war to take control of this fictionalized part of Eastern Europe. There will be expansive squad stats and rankings along with other community building features like lotteries, elections, and news briefs to keep you up-to-date on what's been happening in Neroimus while you've been offline. And there will be many new HOUND parts available on Xbox Marketplace after the game releases. Stay tuned for more information on that.
Thank you for allowing me to talk about Chromehounds. Be on the lookout for it July 11!
We'd like to thank Justin for taking time out of his busy schedule to talk to us about Chromehounds. As he says, be on the lookout for it on July 11th for the Xbox 360.
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