GEARS of WAR

[dave is ok]

This game is the second best stealth game released this year.

[Chux]

DAVE LETS PLAY CO-OP PLS. RIGHT NOW.

[Anal Kaboom]

True, but other games (read: Splinter Cell) have given crouching added stealth functionality. But since this game is the furthest thing from stealth, I suppose it makes sense that one would only need to crouch behind cover or when running like hell to more cover.

The only thing i would say the hit detection is a little off on the cover when your doing the roadie run. Other than that this game is perfect.

[Rem]

Today I got the 360 and this, and my purchase has been more than vindicated. This is seriously GOTY material no doubt about it.

[Ste-Von]

Damn I can't wait to get this, but I promised myself I wouldn't buy any more games until I finish what I have. Hell, I just beat Call of Duty 2 and I bought it almost a year ago. Is the special edition worth buying or should I save the $10?

[Bacon McShig]

Some encouraging words from Mark Rein:

The reaction to Gears of War has been better-than-outstanding. We’re extremely happy that everyone seems to love the game! More Gears of War multiplayer content and functionality is on the way.

It has become pretty clear to us all that Gears of War will undoubtedly be the biggest selling game in Epic’s 15-year history. With a game that has such a wide appeal it is also clear to me that we’re touching a lot console gamers who have never experienced what it is like to buy a game made by Epic Games.

Console customers, for the most part, are used to buying a game and that being, pretty much, the end of what they can expect for that game. That’s not how Epic Games works. We have a long-term history of supporting our games well after release. Since the very first Unreal Tournament game we have had a track record of excellent post-release support.

We’re going to support Gears of War and we’re going to make improvements and enhancements for it.

Right now we don’t have an exact release plan for this but we’re absolutely listening to you, our customers. Keep posting in this forum. Let us know if you find any problems. Let us know what you love and what you don’t love about the game. We’ll do out best to keep you happy playing Gears of War for years to come!

Every opinion counts. All we ask in return is that you be courteous with each other and keep on topic.

[BioMechanic]

Just beat it solo on Hardcore, after beating it on Hardcore co-op this weekend - some final thoughts:

I'm glad it wasn't longer because the gameplay - as good as it was - never evolved. Dare I say it, but it gradually became repetitive. Pop out, shoot. Flank, shoot. Well-done, with ridiculous production, but the gameplay never matched it.

You could use the same strategies in act 5 as you did in act 1, and the gunplay itself had no real strategy - no enemy had particular weaknesses. Position=victory, every time.

Every boss in the game was seriously underwhelming. The Corpser "fight" was just silly. I wanted to have to maneuver around some kind of massive, towering boss and take it apart piece by piece before it destroyed all my cover (sort of like SotC but more intense), and the gameplay design was set up perfectly for something like that. Disappointing that it never happened. Guess I'll have to wait for Lost Planet, eh?

Exploding Wretches will forever suck.

Reavers were just lame. And ripped from Panzer Dragoon.

Three Berserker encounters was two too many. The first time was awesome. The next two were just annoying. An encounter with one of them AND some other enemies at the same time would have been ridiculously cool and opened up some nice strategy.

The nighttime level was by far the best in the game because there was something else going on other than the covering and firing.

I wanted more combat vs Seeders.

Gears has possibly the best third-person camera I've ever seen.

How is it that Cole was so full of personality but Marcus was just a hunk of meat?

The game started off at a very high level of tension coupled with an amazing adrenalin rush, but it lost meaning over the course of the acts because the game never did anything else. The gameplay didn't ebb and flow - it just stayed blaring at the same level. For current release comparison purposes, I think FEAR does a much better job of pacing and breaking up the action in a logical manner (not to mention it's far scarier, at least for me).

The cave level was a nice change of pace design-wise, and there should have been more of this. The train looked fantastic but it was basically more of the same. I really wanted to assault the Locust stronghold, at least for a change of scenery, but no dice.

In spite of all this, Gears is the first game I've beaten twice within a week of its release. I normally don't have the time for that kind of thing, but the game was too freakin good.

I really hope Epic changes things up for the sequel. Some variety in the gameplay and level design (a Far Cry-type forest level would have been incredible, for example) would push the franchise over the top. There's quite a bit of room for improvement here.

[g0zen]

Reavers were just lame. And ripped from Panzer Dragoon.

I could see your Starship Troopers and Pitch Black criticisms, but this one is really reaching.

The game started off at a very high level of tension coupled with an amazing adrenalin rush, but it lost meaning over the course of the acts because the game never did anything else. The gameplay didn't ebb and flow - it just stayed blaring at the same level. For current release comparison purposes, I think FEAR does a much better job of pacing and breaking up the action in a logical manner (not to mention it's far scarier, at least for me).

I think you're giving FEAR a little too much credit. I rented it expecting the world and it turned out to be more formulaic than GoW has for me, and Gears has a FAR better selection of enemies. Also, as to your criticism that the game never changed too dramatically, I'd like to know of a shooter that does. FEAR didn't, neither HALO did (even when it switched characters), I just don't really think it's a fair slam on GoW to say that it doesn't do something completely new and innovative every chapter.

I think the way it implemented fantastic production, amazing Foley work (easily the best a game has ever had), first good use of cover (and this is even considering kill.switch, which while having a good idea was a one trick pony and did absolutely nothing interesting with the mechanic after the first 10 minutes of gameplay), a really well-balanced weapons set (if you take the time to actually learn the weaknesses and strengths, there is no god gun in GoW), and multiplayer both competitive and co-op that runs smooth as silk and plays great.

I really hope Epic changes things up for the sequel. Some variety in the gameplay and level design (a Far Cry-type forest level would have been incredible, for example) would push the franchise over the top. There's quite a bit of room for improvement here.

I disagree, I think they have a winning formula on their hands. Too much tinkering with the system could easily break it, especially if they bow to outside pressure and add something like a jump button. This would ruin the very thing that makes GoW unique and special.

[dave is ok]

I dont understand the criticism. This game has the tightest controls in recent memory, the best co-op mode ever created, an ass-ton a scripted events, and although it's a shooter and doesnt make any grand attempts to be anything else it does it's part to change up the gameplay every now and then (stay out of the dark, vehicle level, protect the mansion, etc.)

Ragging on GoW and praising F.E.A.R. in the same breath is a crime against good taste.

[BioMechanic]

I could see your Starship Troopers and Pitch Black criticisms, but this one is really reaching.

Well, maybe I should have used the term 'inspired.' I don't think the similarities - flying creature mounted by gun-wielding rider are coincidence.

I'd also say the Theron Guards were inspired by the RE4 cultists - similar red coats, hissing, flaming crossbows and the Boomers were inspired by the Halo Hunters as both were oversized lumbering regular enemies with massive weapons. In a game so full of ideas taken from other sources, I don't think it's much of a stretch to see these. Heck, even the dude breaking open the door to the Fenix mansion seemed to be taken straight from the Uruk breaching the wall at Helm's Deep.

I think you're giving FEAR a little too much credit.

In terms of creepy atmosphere - a genre type I personally prefer - FEAR dances rings around Gears, which has more of an intense military atmosphere. FEAR had a much more profound emotional effect on me. I think it deserves more credit than it's getting when looked at as a whole. It's tough to compare the two games directly because they're going in different directions.

I just don't really think it's a fair slam on GoW to say that it doesn't do something completely new and innovative every chapter.

What was different about the gameplay in act 5 compared to act 1? It was the same stuff - constant combat, with not even a puzzle or two to break it up. At least in act 2, there was the environment to contend with.

and this is even considering kill.switch, which while having a good idea was a one trick pony and did absolutely nothing interesting with the mechanic after the first 10 minutes of gameplay

I argue that Gears didn't really add anything to its combat mechanic either, as good and well-tuned as it was. What disappointed me the most was there were so many opportunities for it to do just that, but it never took off. So many times I thought "all right, the shit's really gonna hit the fan now" - finally confronting the Corpser, boarding the train, seeing the dino-mech at the end of act 4, entering the caves...too bad we only got one nightfall but the game always reverted to the same stuff.

I disagree, I think they have a winning formula on their hands. Too much tinkering with the system could easily break it, especially if they bow to outside pressure and add something like a jump button. This would ruin the very thing that makes GoW unique and special.

Adding a jump button would be a terrible, terrible thing. I don't mean Epic should fiddle with the gameplay - I meant that if they made the sequel more versatile and did more with the combat (real boss battles, more varied combat scenarios and levels, better vehicle sections, more creative enemy types), the gameplay would match the production. I don't intend to bash Gears - I just think the gameplay and design could have used some variety.