Gears of War 2

[#HBC | marshy]

Published by: Microsoft Game Studios
Developed by: Epic Games
System: Xbox 360
Genre: Third-person Shooter/Action
Release date: November 7, 2008

For those who don't know, Gears of War is the bloodiest shooting game on the consoles right now and is known for the online play. It's 5 on 5, no vehicles, no running and gunning, just taking your time gathering weapons and taking it in for, as lead designer Cliffy B has said, "stop and pop" gameplay, with an occasional moment of panic when you get flanked by a madman with a chainsaw to your face or a shotgun blow to your stomach. The sequel to the popular Xbox 360 game was just announced at GDC '08, along with a teaser and a tech demo of an updated Unreal Engine.

Unreal Engine Tech Demo

GDC 08 Teaser/1st Official Trailer

And, although this doesn't show what to expect in the game like the previous two do, it has Cliffy B using a real life lancer, which is always awesome.

GDC 08 Press Conference Announcement

Taking a look at the tech demo, it looks like destructible environments will play a part, which will be fun in those situations when you think you're safe hiding in the back of the pickup truck or behind those sandbags, only to find yourself exposed.

A biggie, with all of those locusts swarming the screen, I guess it's a possibility that there may be bigger fights than 4 on 4, or (at least, finally) maybe a deathmatch mode, or possibly both. I kinda doubt it though, I'm only teasing you.

Another thing, I don't expect this to come out November like he says, the first game had a lot of patches put in, and the game is still somewhat unbalanced and buggy. It has certainly gotten better since it originally appeared though and the updated engine looks promising, so who knows.

Also, that meat cube is the 2nd most amazing cube to appear in gaming, the first being Portal's companion cube.

 

[Cashed]

Epic really needs to show other developers how to use UE3 to its full potential. That tech demo is amazing, then you look at all the games that are coming out this gen running on UE3 and most of them look terrible, the two exceptions being Bioshock and Mass Effect, but even Mass Effect had texture pop-in problems. The updated engine looks fantastic, water effects like they've included are overlooked way too often in video games, in fact, it was one of the things in the first Gears that I really noticed, especially on the multiplayer level with water flowing through it. The meat cube looked absolutely disgusting and I can't wait to see what they'll do with physics like that, same for the mercury glob.

The single player in the first Gears definitely didn't disappoint, I'd say that's the reason to own the game. I didn't really dig the multiplayer, but I usually don't when there aren't any respawns. Hopefully they add some more gametypes for noobs like myself who think it's ridiculous that when I die, I'm out. And while the campaign was good, I'm hoping this one is longer. The original was beatable in like, five hours? Pretty weak.

I believe they'll keep true to their release date, they've been working on the game for years already, they've got this engine that they know in absolute ins and outs of and they've got experience developing for the 360. If they miss the release, Microsoft will be all up in their grill, as this is the 360's biggest title of 2008 now. Fable 2 probably had that title before, but it's definitely Gears 2 now.

 

[The Mad Hatter]

I bet Gears 2 will be out before UT3 (for the 360 of course). The first game was awesome and the second will be even better.

 

[OnyxVulpine]

Looks great, if all those new features and things being worked on will really make a difference I hope that they will put it to good use and make us know that it was worth it.

-Onyx

 

[Grining_Ghoul]

Wow, that tech demo was some good stuff! Your right, if the UE3 is capable of that, then why the hell aren't the developers utlizing its full potential?

:3

 

[F8AL]

Countering chainsaws? Only noobs complain when they get chainsawed in Gears because they fall for it and they suck at the game. I still play Gears of War on live occasionally.

Anyways, Gears of War 2 looks sweet.

 

[Cashed]

You can counter chainsaws now? Wha? I read that there's likely going to be chainsaw duels (which will probably only remind me of Sword clashes from Halo 3) and if there are, it makes sense. If two people revving their chainsaws run at eachother the person with the better connection shouldn't win, it should go into some duel mechanic.

 

[F8AL]

You can counter chainsaws now? Wha? I read that there's likely going to be chainsaw duels (which will probably only remind me of Sword clashes from Halo 3) and if there are, it makes sense. If two people revving their chainsaws run at eachother the person with the better connection shouldn't win, it should go into some duel mechanic.

Well it hasn't been announced yet but I'm assuming that you can counter chainsaws in Gears 2. And I never knew that the person with a better connection would win if both players ran towards each other with their chainsaws revved up! God, that's stupid!

 

[#HBC | marshy]

I agree, the tech demo was awesome and I'm really looking forward to seeing it fully utilized in the game.

As for the campaign, I loved the way they did it in the first game. Designed in 10-15 minute scenes, the frequent checkpoints was a relief as I didn't feel like I was forced to trudge through things with the consequence of starting over from a long time like I do with many other games. And how long the campaign takes depends on what difficulty you're playing on and if you're on co-op or not. I liked it so much that I chose to beat it on insane, but I don't remember how long it took, I usually never played campaign for too long at one time.

I didn't really dig the multiplayer, but I usually don't when there aren't any respawns. Hopefully they add some more gametypes for noobs like myself who think it's ridiculous that when I die, I'm out.

It must've been a good while since you last played, they released Annex (basically king of the hill with respawns) this past September(?), but still, it's not like people ran out to buy the game after hearing about it. While I love the one and done system they have, I realize that it turned a lot of people away from the game, because that's one of the most common complaints about the multiplayer. They should simply add Warzone and Execution with respawns (Assassination wouldn't make sense with respawns, since you're trying to keep one of your members from dying the whole time).

Also, I can't believe I overlooked the chainsaw duel in the trailer, and I can't believe that I actually thought it was a stupid idea to put it in the game at first after reading your guys' posts, 'Who would ever charge at each other with chainsaws?' and then I remembered the times when my friends and I tried to do just that out of curiosity, so what does that say about me, huh? Just hope it isn't button mashing any of the face buttons, my A is so soft from tapping and holding it so much (didn't even say it ).

 

[Cashed]

Yeah, I sold Gears a few months after it came out. The campaign was fun, but since I didn't dig the multiplayer I got rid of it.

 

[Cookiez]

^ Same here. After a few weeks the multiplayer got stale :O

 

[F8AL]

I don't see why people hate the multiplayer in Gears, sure it has it's fair share of problems but if you look past them, it's a great game! Sometimes I like to play a lil third person instead of first person shooters!

 

[COD3PWNER]

^they never said that they hated it, it just got boring. I agree with Cashed and Cookiez, the multiplayer got old and annoying that everytime you killed someone they accused you of glitching or something.

 

[gangstajuice656]

i heard it's going to be a good game!!

 

[gangstajuice656]

sorry for double posting!! Im really sorry!...

 

[#HBC | marshy]

No, there are no second chances in Gears.

Rev your lancers everyone.




As for the silly arguments brought up in Live games, I think all online games should have the quick mute button that Halo 3 has (the shut up button you know, when you press back and scroll down to their name and mute them). Far too many people overlook the mute option in other peoples' profiles.

 

[F8AL]

Hopefully in Gears 2 they won't allow the hosts to kick players when they own them. Almost everytime I take out their entire team or kill the host, they kick me then i give them -rep for being a bad sport.

 

[Cashed]

I really think ranked Matchmaking should be like Halo 2 and 3 in all games. Nobody should have any say in what they want to play (sans a veto) except the gametype, Annex, Extermination, etc, which you would choose in the menu before initiating your search, just like in Halo when you pick Team Slayer, Team Objective, etc. This leaves the host as only the connection host, he can't kick anybody, he can't decide what the match is going be, etc.

 

[#HBC | marshy]

Now F8AL/Cashed/whoever else knows how to play Halo well, please correct me if I'm wrong, as I only play Halo 3 occasionally with friends on custom games and none of us care to get competitive in it, but aren't the Halo weapons fairly balanced?

I'm wondering because what happens far too often in Gears is that in maps with the boomshot (rocket launcher), the majority of the players go after said weapon and the whole game is a fight over that one weapon. Meanwhile, I'll be picking up the torque or sniper (long range weapons) and right after I turn around to scout the area and find some cover, have some idiot shoot a rocket at my feet and down me, shove his groin in my face, smoke tag me, pick up an easy win, then have them thinking they're the **** at this game because they know how to use the weapon with the largest blast radius in the game (that's saying a lot too! Though sometimes it's great when they taunt you and let you back up only to be blown to bits though). It's fun to do when just fooling around in custom/player matches, but it has no place in ranked matches because that is not, how Gears calls it, "trueskill". I'm talking about the boomshot, not the taunts.

The thing that Halo has going on is the bubble shields, vehicles, armor, and other equipment where you actually have a chance against the bigger weapons. The "big" weapons in Gears are hammer of dawn (giant laser that's slow to activate) and boomshot, though torque and sniper can very often be deadlier, depending on the situation, but those are always fair game. Keeping that in mind, it makes sense that Halo have big weapons since there is so much going on at any point in time, but Gears is different because it takes place in small environments since it's 3 on 3 or 4 on 4 in ranked matches.

So, assuming I'm right about the Halo games having more balanced weapons, I don't think the system Cashed described would work as well in Gears as it does in Halo. Hell, my friends and I refuse to play ranked matches on maps with boom (though I love to do it along with teamkills on player matches) and prefer to play maps more focused on torque/sniper/grenades like War Machine and Canals, among others.

Can anyone confirm this?

 

[F8AL]

Now F8AL/Cashed/whoever else knows how to play Halo well, please correct me if I'm wrong, as I only play Halo 3 occasionally with friends on custom games and none of us care to get competitive in it, but aren't the Halo weapons fairly balanced?

I'm wondering because what happens far too often in Gears is that in maps with the boomshot (rocket launcher), the majority of the players go after said weapon and the whole game is a fight over that one weapon. Meanwhile, I'll be picking up the torque or sniper (long range weapons) and right after I turn around to scout the area and find some cover, have some idiot shoot a rocket at my feet and down me, shove his groin in my face, smoke tag me, pick up an easy win, then have them thinking they're the **** at this game because they know how to use the weapon with the largest blast radius in the game (that's saying a lot too! Though sometimes it's great when they taunt you and let you back up only to be blown to bits though). It's fun to do when just fooling around in custom/player matches, but it has no place in ranked matches because that is not, how Gears calls it, "trueskill". I'm talking about the boomshot, not the taunts.

The thing that Halo has going on is the bubble shields, vehicles, armor, and other equipment where you actually have a chance against the bigger weapons. The "big" weapons in Gears are hammer of dawn (giant laser that's slow to activate) and boomshot, though torque and sniper can very often be deadlier, depending on the situation, but those are always fair game. Keeping that in mind, it makes sense that Halo have big weapons since there is so much going on at any point in time, but Gears is different because it takes place in small environments since it's 3 on 3 or 4 on 4 in ranked matches.

So, assuming I'm right about the Halo games having more balanced weapons, I don't think the system Cashed described would work as well in Gears as it does in Halo. Hell, my friends and I refuse to play ranked matches on maps with boom (though I love to do it along with teamkills on player matches) and prefer to play maps more focused on torque/sniper/grenades like War Machine and Canals, among others.

Can anyone confirm this?

I only play unranked games in Gears. I really hate it when the down you with the active sniper rifle shot (to the upper body area) and then they wait till you get up (execution only) then they down you again because it gives them more downs and thus, more points. One way to counter this is to stay down and not get up and tell a teammate to sneak up and kill them.

And inside Gears, ppl always rush the sniper or boomshot, its a well known fact (when im playing Gridlock, I wait by the middle stairs (sniper spawn) or the boomshot then when they move in to grab it, i run in and kill them and steal the weapon.

Inside Halo 3, I notice that ppl always rush the power weapons (shotty,sniper,rockets,sword etc. and the power ups - OS and Camo) just make sure to rush them first with your teammates (i.e. in the Pit, rush the camo first and have your teammates distract the opponents where the rockets spawn and then run in and give them covering fire, just make sure that you get the camo first because they can grab it before you can!)

Since the host can change weapons in unranked games, if they replace with boomshot, it means that they have no skill. Just quit the game and move on.

In the end, in my opinion, both games have unbalanced weapons. It's all up to you to rush them and grab them first.

PS: What's your GT? We gotta play Gears man, I own at that game. The hosts like to kick me alot because I take out their entire team or I kill the host.

 

[#HBC | marshy]

Inside Halo 3, I notice that ppl always rush the power weapons (shotty,sniper,rockets,sword etc. and the power ups - OS and Camo) just make sure to rush them first with your teammates (i.e. in the Pit, rush the camo first and have your teammates distract the opponents where the rockets spawn and then run in and give them covering fire, just make sure that you get the camo first because they can grab it before you can!)

Notice all the weapons you named as power weapons, in Gears, the power weapons to go after are the snipe, torque, and boomshot (usually). The first two are completely fair as they take skill to use and make sense in a game like this. Boomshot, on the other hand, is just ridiculous in a game where it's just two groups of 3 or 4 fighting each other without vehicles. Makes sense in campaign when you're fighting the locusts, but is just out of place in ranked.

And inside Gears, ppl always rush the sniper or boomshot, its a well known fact (when im playing Gridlock, I wait by the middle stairs (sniper spawn) or the boomshot then when they move in to grab it, i run in and kill them and steal the weapon.

Since the host can change weapons in unranked games, if they replace with boomshot, it means that they have no skill. Just quit the game and move on.

I think we're talking about two entirely different worlds here, I only play ranked, and you only unranked. I wasn't asking for advice in either game, the point was that Gears shouldn't have everyone fighting over that one weapon which is way overpowered. I already avoid the situation by playing ranked where you can't weapon swap and playing on maps that don't have boomshot.

 

[F8AL]

So I just downloaded and viewed the Gears of War 2 game-play trailer and it looks pretty good. The graphics are the same IMO but the option to hold a locust hostage looks fun. The whole chain-saw duels kinda look lame because from what I saw in the video, you just bash 'b' the fastest, this means that someone like me (who's really good at button bashing games) will win every chain-saw battle online.

 

[PXG]

I bet SWF is the only site where I won't see any Killzone 2 and Gears 2 comparisons.

I saw the 1up video that was leaked a few minutes early last night. The visuals were as expected. I mean, come on. How can they really improve upon Gears' visuals in less than two years. That game STILL one of the best looking console games. The gameplay video shows improved character and gun models, textures, AA and most of all, frame rate. I was really impressed on how well the game ran, while so much stuff was going on in such a vast area. Epic stated themselves that the gameplay and the experience was their main focus for this game instead of wowing people with their tech.

Now, a lot of sites are doing dumb comparisons with Killzone 2. Its needless to say that Killzone 2 has the best visuals EVER in a console game. Period. What Killzone 2 has over Gears are the lighting and particle effects (the volumetric smoke and dust look incredible) . But what makes KZ2 looks SO good are the animations. PS3 games overall seem to have better quality animations and performance than 360 games. But KZ2 ****s all over every other game. Everything moves the way it should. However, it just doesn't look that fun. Gears 2 looks like one helluva ride, while KZ2 just looks nice. I really hope Killzone turns out good, and not like Crysis, which was JUST a really nice looking game.

I own all three consoles. I know I am going to have a lot to play. But, I am huge Gears fan, so this game takes priorty over the other ones on my "want list".

 

[SynikaL]

Doesn't seem to be too many fresh gears in this old war.


-Kimo

 

[Job]

Just hope there are not as many glitches like in GoW 1. Even with patches and updates, there was just another way to do the same glitches.

 

[F8AL]

Just hope there are not as many glitches like in GoW 1. Even with patches and updates, there was just another way to do the same glitches.

Yeah there were ALOT of glitches in GoW. (i.e. crab-walking)

Spoiler

EDIT: So now it's been confirmed that instead of the chain-saw duels being random like GoW 1, it will be like a mini-game where the player who bashes the "b" button the most wins. So stupid, glad that I'm good at button bashing games (Mario Party) so I should win every chain-saw duel. Oh and Carmine is also back too it's been confirmed even through he got shot in his head in GoW 1 (thats why he's my favorite cog character in multiplayer). And the squad control thing has been axed as well.

 

[Kirin]

Gears of War 2 looks amazing.

Originally, my friends and I all played Gears 1 when it came out. Although I didn't own a 360 back then, whenever I went to parties we'd all play Gears and I would play with them. Unfortunately, not owning a 360 and never having played Gears before except at these parties, I sucked at it. They had all the weapon spawn locations memorized and were basically just better at strategizing because they knew the maps.

Since then I bought a 360 and playing Gears is a load of fun. Ever since Brawl came out, we've been playing more of that, but if we ever get 4 or so tvs together we hook them up and play 4v4 Gears multiplayer. So much fun.

Now Gears of War 2, the new tech effects they are implementing look amazing, and the gameplay video I saw made it look even better, with the huge battles going on all at once. The new weapons look good as well, and you can now do 5v5 multiplayer. Also, they HAVE implemented a match-making system. Overall, this looks like the original Gears, but with everything added that people wanted from the first game.

On a last side note, I don't think the Boomer is too powerful. It only comes with two shots, and it's actually hard to get a clear shot off on someone unless you are very skilled with it. You can easily overtake someone with the Boomer by just baiting them into firing it then sidestepping the blast or jumping to cover. The thing I hate more is camping with the active sniper, like said before.

 

[F8AL]

The thing I hate more is camping with the active sniper, like said before.

Whenever someone downs me with an active sniper shot, I just lay down there and die because almost everytime I get up (in execution cause in warzone i just tell my allies to leave me there to die and try to sneak up in back of him and kill him then they may revive me) they active shot me and i get downed again. i dont wanna give them anymore points so i just lay there and either bleed out and die or they come up close and curb stomp/melee/headshot me.

 

[#HBC | marshy]

Whenever someone downs me with an active sniper shot, I just lay down there and die because almost everytime I get up (in execution cause in warzone i just tell my allies to leave me there to die and try to sneak up in back of him and kill him then they may revive me) they active shot me and i get downed again. i dont wanna give them anymore points so i just lay there and either bleed out and die or they come up close and curb stomp/melee/headshot me.

You automatically get up in Execution, tapping the button just makes it faster. They'd still get points for curb stomping you or shooting your head to dog poo.

Rofl Pwny reminded me of the new multiplayer gametypes, so here's the link.

The new death animations will be fun, and the thought of seeing someone's face as they see me with their dead body in my arm is pretty cool. Likewise, I'd probably laugh if I was forced to watch some guy throwing my body around in spectator mode. Chainsaw duels seem decent, it's a lot better than it just being random like it was in the first one, or however they did it. There's also some subtle improvements, such as not exposing your gun when near a corner, which will especially help out snipers and torque bow users.

http://img208.imageshack.us/img208/8391/digi0006cz9.jpg

Adding to the all-races-and-ethnicities-must-be-represented crew of Delta Squad, we have a guy from the Hawaiian Islands. The other is sporting a miner's beard and wearing a cowboy hat. Meh.

As for the new gametypes, Wingman, which is basically Halo's Multi Team, will probably be my favorite new mode, it might even beat out execution!

 

[F8AL]

Spoiler

Meatflag

sounds like a good multiplayer gametype.

EDIT: New Multiplayer Info!!!!! Links below!!!

http://www.joystiq.com/2008/06/25/gears-of-war-2-leaked-beta-footage/
http://kotaku.com/5019711/everything-you-always-wanted-to-know-about-gears-of-war-2-multiplayer

 

[Mr.GAW]

Just for the record, Gears is 5 on 5 multiplayer. I noticed it still says 4 v 4 in the OP.

 

[Cashed]

Fixed the release date on the original post, too.

 

[F8AL]

There will be an option to turn off bad words and blood/gore in Gears of War 2 now.

http://www.joystiq.com/2008/08/05/gears-of-war-2-to-feature-optional-gore-filter/
http://kotaku.com/5033595/gears-of-war-2-without-bad-words-blood

 

[K64]

There will be an option to turn off bad words and blood/gore in Gears of War 2 now.

http://www.joystiq.com/2008/08/05/gears-of-war-2-to-feature-optional-gore-filter/
http://kotaku.com/5033595/gears-of-war-2-without-bad-words-blood

You're serious right? That's GREAT!!

 

[cheap_josh]

I'm gonna buy this, I preordered it.
I never played GoW1 though.

 

[Mr.GAW]

You're serious right? That's GREAT!!

Just so you know there was an extreme content filter in the first one as well.

 

[F8AL]

I'm gonna buy this, I preordered it.
I never played GoW1 though.

You should check it out! They just released a new version of the game which includes all of the DLC maps and some other stuff (they're all free now on XBL, mind you) and people still play the game online.

Just so you know there was an extreme content filter in the first one as well.

Oh? I never knew that since the extreme content is what I think made the game good in the first place. I remember hearing my friends talk about the chain-sawing in GoW and this made me buy the game lol.

 

[#HBC | marshy]

Just noticed that a new thread was made for this. People overlooked my baby

This game did not disappoint. The campaign is improved, and horde mode is probably the most fun I've had in a multiplayer game, with 5 players anyway. Online feels a lot different from the first one, but not in a bad way. I love both of 'em.

Oh, and even the trailer is awesome.

So how does everybody like it so far?

 

[Cashed]

This game is amazing. Not just the campaign (which I still haven't finished, but I'm up to Act 2 Chapter 6), but the multiplayer as well, which I've actually been playing for the most part. Remember I didn't enjoy multiplayer in the first Gears at all. Horde is just... so good. Every FPS/TPS needs a mode like this (If Halo had a mode where you could fight endless waves of enemies, oh god, I'd never stop playing that). Regular multiplayer is enjoyable now as well, though I think I'll be playing Horde for a long time.

 

[-Wolfy-]

Wow I finished the Hardcore campaign with my bud last night, and we played ALOT of horde and multiplayer this week. SO good. The campaign was just really well done I think. I won't spoil anything, but I really, really enjoy the story for Gears and this did not disappoint.

Spoiler

YES! MYSTERIOUS ADAM FENIX MESSAGE AT THE END FOR A POSSIBLE OPEN ENDING! NEED MORE GEARS STORYLINE