Gears of War..ahh looks soo good
tigersmith
Join Date: 2004-11-11 Member: 32749Members, Constellation, Reinforced - Supporter
Join Date: 2004-11-11 Member: 32749Members, Constellation, Reinforced - Supporter
in Off-Topic
<div class="IPBDescription">GOTY?</div>Just to let everyone know. Gears of War..must buy for you 360 owners. Its has a very good chance on getting Game of the year or 360 game of the year. Gameplay is fantastic, Graphics(Unreal 3 Engine..GODLY)
Epic Games has hit the spot again. With another great game. And I cant wait till Unreal 2007 and Huxley which is also using this engine.
Epic Games has hit the spot again. With another great game. And I cant wait till Unreal 2007 and Huxley which is also using this engine.
Comments
Yeeeah...Washington didn't get theirs today. See, were a part of the nationwide <a href="http://www.kotaku.com/gaming/gears-of-war/gears-of-war-shipments-miss-a-few-cities-213386.php" target="_blank">delays</a>.
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What are you talking about? I watched my local Best Buy both find them in the warehouse and hand out every copy while I was waiting in the checkout line this morning.
What are you talking about? I watched my local Best Buy both find them in the warehouse and hand out every copy while I was waiting in the checkout line this morning. <!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
yea i guess some stores did not get them, But I have mine right here in my lap.
What are you talking about? I watched my local Best Buy both find them in the warehouse and hand out every copy while I was waiting in the checkout line this morning.
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Where IS the Best Buy around here? I can't find one to save my life.
But both Gamestop and EBGames haven't gotten any of their orders at all.
What happened to your website!?!?
!____!
I would sell my soul to get my hands on this game ;___;
What happened to your website!?!?
!____!
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lol you heard of it before?
Im currenly coding a new download system
Where IS the Best Buy around here? I can't find one to save my life.
But both Gamestop and EBGames haven't gotten any of their orders at all.
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It's in Bellevue, a few blocks from the library (assuming you've been to the library).
That said, I watched the 12 multiplayer gameplay videos that were released before this came out. It looks very pretty, yes, but with a console controller you can't hit the broad side of a barn. The player would sneak up behind two enemies and open up with a shotgun, and he'd miss all his shots. The two guys would see him and return fire with their machineguns, and they'd all miss. Then all involved dove for cover to reload. It's basically hilarious and sad at the same time.
In another video, the guy has his back against a wall, and on the other side of the wall there's an enemy. They both edge towards the doorway and jump out at the same time. They're about three feet apart and they both fire, AND THEY BOTH MISS. Then they went back behind each side of the wall. Eventually I think the guy killed the other one with a chainsaw, but really, it's ridiculous. I'll stick with the PC and my mouse and keyboard when it comes to shooters.
... but we also have a giant plasma screen in the game room at work, with a 360 and GoW ... sitting there... calling to me... must.... resist....
It's in Bellevue, a few blocks from the library (assuming you've been to the library).
That said, I watched the 12 multiplayer gameplay videos that were released before this came out. It looks very pretty, yes, but with a console controller you can't hit the broad side of a barn. The player would sneak up behind two enemies and open up with a shotgun, and he'd miss all his shots. The two guys would see him and return fire with their machineguns, and they'd all miss. Then all involved dove for cover to reload. It's basically hilarious and sad at the same time.
In another video, the guy has his back against a wall, and on the other side of the wall there's an enemy. They both edge towards the doorway and jump out at the same time. They're about three feet apart and they both fire, AND THEY BOTH MISS. Then they went back behind each side of the wall. Eventually I think the guy killed the other one with a chainsaw, but really, it's ridiculous. I'll stick with the PC and my mouse and keyboard when it comes to shooters.
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They probably sucked. I'm doing fine, even up close. <3
Edit: On that note, my name here matches my XBox live name, hit me up with a friend's list and we can Co-Op it.
Edit 2: Might as well give my impressions:
Holy crap this game is awesome. The only reason I'm not playing, is I've got a raid scheduled. Or I'd go play some more. DAMN this thing is fun once you get the controls down. Co-Op is done near perfect, as anyone can join at any time if you set it up right, or, any personal friends of yours can join in on a private co-op, midway through anything! The only problem with it, is if they quit, it shuts the co-op down, but luckily the netcode is sweet.
There are a few bad spots in the entire game with the cover system, but once you get used to it you'll know whats what. I've found so far 2 bugs- one only happened once, where my chainsaw cut a friendly in half(not actually possible). The other time, in co-op, a car we were pushing got stuck(act 2, the 'stay in the light' part). A restart fixed that one(complete restart- as in, quit co-op and begin again. Just dying and going again didn't- I'm guessing it was our blood on the ground from where we had bled to death that kept it like that).
The weapons are fun. The Lancer(aka, main machine gun with the chainsaw bayonet) is a nice, accurate, high clip rate and determinate damage weapon(aka: if you shoot in the chest it doesn't hurt much, but in the face and 3 shots kill on Hardcore mode).
Really, all it takes to enjoy this game is getting used to the controls. Once you've got that, its a ton of fun.
Oh: I have not given much time to the non-coop multiplay yet. I'll comment on it later.
Enjoying it so far, killing stuff with chainsaws is fun.
My gamertag is ANeMzero should anyone want to add me. I kinda want to try co-op, the computer Dom is retarded D:
Though i do remember playing a game a couple of years ago, called kill.switch, that also emphasized cover heavily; but it was sloppy. GOW is smooth as butter, when it comes to the controls.
Ghero2 is also fun, but its just Ghero1 with more songs; nothing new.
Just started playing on Casual and as of 30 seconds ago, I just killed my first berserker <img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/biggrin-fix.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":D" border="0" alt="biggrin-fix.gif" />
Enjoying it so far, killing stuff with chainsaws is fun.
My gamertag is ANeMzero should anyone want to add me. I kinda want to try co-op, the computer Dom is retarded D:
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Be on tomorrow. I have it all off, til night.
On a semi-related note, does anyone know if there's truth to the claim that all new Xbox Live Silver accounts get one free month of Gold service? I'm not talking about the very first account you make on the 360, which comes with a free trial; I'm asking about any new accounts I make after that.
I'm getting it this weekend. It'll be the first game I'll have for my 360, which I've had since August.
On a semi-related note, does anyone know if there's truth to the claim that all new Xbox Live Silver accounts get one free month of Gold service? I'm not talking about the very first account you make on the 360, which comes with a free trial; I'm asking about any new accounts I make after that.
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As far as I've heard it's only the first free month that you get with the 360.
Also, online co-op is definite win. Especially with a good (read: better than me) partner. The netcode seems to be pure awesome, as we managed to get a fair ways before my current connection woes (my connection has been topping out at a whole 50kb/s down lately <img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/sad-fix.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":(" border="0" alt="sad-fix.gif" /> ) caused any real issues.. and that was only during the short driving portion of Act2.
P.S.: Sorry for ditching you Quaun, my connection cut out twice in 5 minutes and then just went dead for the night.
Played up to Act 4 with a friend on Split-screen mode earlier today. It actually works out pretty good. Usually when I'm playing stuff split screen there'll be lots of slowdown, or it'll scale back the graphics.. Also, this may simply be because of my newly obtained HDTV, but most split screen games, regardless of the size of the (non-HD)TV, ended with everything looking squished and blurry and near impossible to see. Hell, even with HD and widescreen off Gears seems to still have a longer range of clarity than I recall any other game I've played having. I mean, I can play it without having to squint to try and see anything. This is a definite plus.
Also, online co-op is definite win. Especially with a good (read: better than me) partner. The netcode seems to be pure awesome, as we managed to get a fair ways before my current connection woes (my connection has been topping out at a whole 50kb/s down lately <img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/sad-fix.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":(" border="0" alt="sad-fix.gif" /> ) caused any real issues.. and that was only during the short driving portion of Act2.
P.S.: Sorry for ditching you Quaun, my connection cut out twice in 5 minutes and then just went dead for the night.
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You think I'm good? Jeez, I'm terrible compared to some of these guys in versus. Jeaminy Christmas I've never had my ###### handed to me so completely.
But yeah, ANeM is right: Online Coop is so amazingly awesome, that the game is just elevated to a whole nother level. Other than a few parts that are stupid(the vehicle scene IS NOT FUN. Niether is THE RAIL SHOOTING), every part of it is visceral, brutal, and just plain awesome. I'm gonna probably do Act 5 again with ANeM tomorrow as an Achievement bugged out on me(Killing final boss on Hardcore difficulty).
Damn that game is awesome.
Most importantly though are the "fun" and "immersive" categories. You'll feel like you're in a movie. You forget you're just sitting there playing a game.
It's the cream of the crop of the shooter genre. It excels in <i>every</i> category.
Most importantly though are the "fun" and "immersive" categories. You'll feel like you're in a movie. You forget you're just sitting there playing a game.
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Quite. And the controls are rather good. And the enemy AI is pretty good(not the best, but good), the battles are set up in a way that make them a ton of fun, all the weapons are a ton of fun, so yeah.
...its not exactly "Just another shooter", either. Its all about cover and placement. Its fast, its frantic, its frenetic, its yelling "######!" at the top of your lungs into your microphone when a sniper shot just barely misses your head good.
What's so great about the game anyway? No, I haven't played it, but it looks like just another shooter.
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That's kind of like saying Half-Life 2 is just another shooter. Sure, it is, but it does it super duper well.
HL2 has plenty of things going for it; physics, AI (turned out to be hype but the point remains), and continuation to hl1.
Is GOW linear?
Does it add anything to the shooter genre besides phat visuals?
Are the characters memorable?
Are the weapons your typical shotgun/machinegun/pistol combos?
*edit*
Why do all my replies start with "Not trying to troll.."
Am I trolling? <img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/sad-fix.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":(" border="0" alt="sad-fix.gif" />
Not trying to troll or anything ( I own no consoles so fu) but none of you really convinced me.
HL2 has plenty of things going for it; physics, AI (turned out to be hype but the point remains), and continuation to hl1.
Is GOW linear?
Does it add anything to the shooter genre besides phat visuals?
Are the characters memorable?
Are the weapons your typical shotgun/machinegun/pistol combos?
*edit*
Why do all my replies start with "Not trying to troll.."
Am I trolling? <img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/sad-fix.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":(" border="0" alt="sad-fix.gif" />
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I'll try to answer these questions in as much of a non-biased way for fact that I've spent the majority of the last couple days playing the damn game.
GOW is linear. You will always start and end at the same place. There is however usually some kind of fork in the road during most acts. You still end up at the same place regardless of your choice, but in most cases you'll find the two paths play quite differently from each other.
GOW doesn't quite add anything, but it does refine a number of things other shooters (console shooters specifically) have tried. It puts a high focus on its cover system, which applies to nearly ever surface in the game, and generally works near flawlessly.
It also uses a contextual interface that allows for a wide variety of actions with the limited buttons afforded by the controller and is fairly easy to use once you get used to it. When I die in GOW, its not generally because the contextual actions popped up the wrong option for what I wanted to do.. its usually because it did exactly what I wanted to do, and it just so happens that what I wanted to do was stupid.
One thing it does add is the active reload system, which is kinda cool. Basically all it does is allow you to shorten reloading times by hitting the reload button at the right time while reloading. Hitting it at the exact right time will even give you a damage bonus on your shots. Missing however will cause the reload to take even longer. You can also just choose to not hit the button at all during the reload and it'll just take its normal amount of time, but thats no fun <img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/tounge.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":p" border="0" alt="tounge.gif" />
The characters.. yeah. Okay. You got me on this one. They aren't that memorable. I mean, they are interesting and all that, but there really isn't a whole lot in the way of character development that I saw. Heck, there is hardly even a defined antagonist.
The entire Locust army makes up the antagonist, with General RAAM slightly higher, cause he kills some peoples.. But that doesn't count, because throughout the game everything kills just about everyone in your squad 6 different times. Only difference is RAAM does it in cutscenes.
As for the protagonist, well.. I'd say the only difference between Marcus at the beginning of the game and Marcus at the end of the game is that Marcus at the beginning of the game is in prison.. for a whole 5 seconds.
About half the weapons in GOW are simply stock weapons. Shotgun, Revolver, Semi-auto pistol, Rocket launcher, burst fire rifle, sniper rifle. But there are still ones that stand out, maybe not by being wholly unique weapons, but adding something interesting to the formula. The full-auto rifle is the most obvious example, with a chainsaw bayonet attached under it which means that even if you're tired of generic fully-auto rifles in every damn game, you'll never put down this one. Grenades are another example. Sure, mechanics wise you'll probably mostly just use them as you would any other grenade. However the design and implementation, along with the ability to run up and 'tag' enemies proves to make them a step above the plain old grenades of other games. Theres also the Torque Bow, which is kind of a mixture of the crossbow and the gauss gun, with explosives and the Hammer of the Dawn, which allows you to call down massive death lasers from aerial satellites with near surgical precision.. Its probably been done before, but hell its hasn't been done enough if you ask me.
So, no. GOW isn't super innovative. It uses a lot of stuff thats been done before, the difference is that its going into more depth with the ideas, reworking them and getting them right. It does a good job of fleshing out ideas and putting an emphasis on things that other games may have had, but only added as an afterthought. Its a little short content wise, but that works out fine. The content that is in there is top notch, and the AI and difficulty of the game make sure that you won't be flying through it any time soon. You'll be dying a lot, but chances are you'll enjoy seeing in what ways it can make you die next. The characters aren't memorable, but the battles definitely are.
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Honestly, in GOW's defence, flagship games rarely are the pinnacle of innovation. Usually marketing goes for lowest-common-denominator-explosions-and-reflections. It works, so I suppose you can't blame them. The game sounds fun nevertheless.
I like the visual style. Most games have the cookie-cutter Hollywood feel to them, while GOW seems grittier, WH40k-ish. More games need good art-direction.
It's not really anything new. The gameplay isn't extremely creative or different in any way; it really combines mechanics of several games. But Gears does this very well. The cover system is really smooth, and you while you can regenerate health when not being hit, you can die quickly enough that there's still a tactical element. It really feels like a faster-paced, sci-fi version of Rainbow-Six.
The characters are definitely not memorable. I'd probably account for this in the fact that it's really built to be played with others, not for a great single player experience. That's not to say multiplayer games can't have good stories or characters; I just get the feeling that Gears is meant to be played with others more than it's meant to be played for the plot.
That being said, I've still enjoyed the single-player experience I've had so far, despite linearity and lack of a great plot. I'd like to get online, though. If anyone wants to play, send me a friend request to <b>Ninjetic</b>. I'll be on later today, when I get back to the dorms (my 360 can't connect to live on my home connection right now, for some reason). I just made the account, and I'd love to play the game with non-random people.
I do like how you said that when you died, it's not because you could not do what you wanted, but because what you chose to do was a mistake. Kind of the opposite of what happens to me when I fade...
Seems like a cool game that I'd love to try.
Not trying to troll or anything ( I own no consoles so fu) but none of you really convinced me.
HL2 has plenty of things going for it; physics, AI (turned out to be hype but the point remains), and continuation to hl1.
Is GOW linear?
Does it add anything to the shooter genre besides phat visuals?
Are the characters memorable?
Are the weapons your typical shotgun/machinegun/pistol combos?
*edit*
Why do all my replies start with "Not trying to troll.."
Am I trolling? <img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/sad-fix.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":(" border="0" alt="sad-fix.gif" />
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Not to derail this thread (completely), I would like to point out that the mentioned 'good points' of HL2 are a bit flawed. I'd like to point out at this time that I haven't, and probably wont for a while, played GoW (personally, I thought the E3 movies and hype made it look really kind of boring and generic, but reviews and my cousin's prodding have broadened my interest).
Physics - many games had physics before HL2. Some of them source-y some of them not so much. Painkiller, Doom 3, Max Payne 2...all of them had some kind of decent physics system. You could argue that HL2 is the most refined...but then that's like saying Halo's vehicle integration into a FPS is the most refined (that is, it's arguable).
AI - as you stated...if it's hype it's not really a feature. Personally I think Halo has some of the best AI, not because it's necessarily the smartest, but because it's the funnest to play against. I'm sure that'll be taken by some game in the near future (possibly GoW whenever I play it...or something else). I was very much hoping for AI like that early E3 demonstration...oh, how very sad...
Continuation of HL1 - Well, being a sequel doesn't really qualify a game for anything. I could go on naming games that had sequels...but we'd be here a long time.
Now, actual HL2 innovation:
Water - arguably the best water in a game up to that point. Sure, some games had some nice looking water (Morrowind's looks pretty good), but it's the first one I know of with realistic reflections, refractions and distortions. I'm pretty sure some other game had all this at some point before HL2...but HL2 still does it best for me.
Gravity Gun - as far as I know HL2 was the first game to have a weapon to pick up anything and to throw it anywhere. After playing the game I'd have to say it's kind of gimmicky (it doesn't really add to the story or become the only thing you use or anything)...but it is still pretty original.
Modular game engine - ...not really related to HL2, but still neat.
A lot of HL2's cool amenities were graphical upgrades. Bouncing cables, 3d sky boxes, water, translucency, better outdoor environment (compared to HL anyway)...none of them are what I'd call innovative, but they do make the game better. I don't think innovation is going to be a big part of FPS games anymore. There's just not much left to 'innovate' anyway. Personally, I think the reloading system sounds really cool, and is something that should have been introduced a long time ago (but there's probably a game has had it before). Innovation is no longer a measure of an 'innovative game', innovation is now 'how well does this game fit together'. Unfortunately this has led to a very generic feel to many FPS. What seperates FEAR, Call of Duty, Doom, Quake, Unreal, MoH, HL, and any other modern FPS besides weapons models and environment? Not very much, really. And now that that really huge tangent is out of the way, let us continue...
Does it have any really memorable moments - those are the good parts. Halo has the crash and search for survivors moment for me (along with the flood). HL has the evil military. Doom 3 has the aspect it can be turned off (okay, okay, bad rip). AvP had the hissing smoke and the impending threat of alien attack in a hostile environment where you're thinking 'God, I've only got this little rifle seperating me from whatever is going to be 50 feet ahead' in the first marine level. Are there any cool 'I can't believe I have to/get to do this' moments? You know, the ones that are good, not "woohoo, I get to climb through 4 levels of identical architecture to grab 'the index'"-memorable.
Can you connect a standard USB mouse and keyboard to your console, or will you need to buy an overpriced console version of those?
It still baffles me that anyone would release a first person shooter exclusively for a <i>console</i>. But eh, the definition of marketing is "clueless." I mean, the default input method for consoles is the controller. The default input method for PCs is mouse and keyboard, which is vastly superior for controlling first person shooters. PC would be the obvious platform. Ugh, marketing.
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I don't see what the input method has to do with the target market. The console market is huge and it is perfectly justifiable to design for console only. There have been many successful console only FPS games in the past.
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Can you connect a standard USB mouse and keyboard to your console, or will you need to buy an overpriced console version of those?
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For the 360, you will have to buy special hardware for it. The PS3, which is far superior in terms of it's open standards, will allow you to plugin in standard PC usb equipment ( keyboards, mice, wireless adapters, memory cards - the works ). Game's developers do not have to support any interface other than the default controller. On the PS2, you could play UT with the kb and mouse, but there were other popular shooters that did not support it.
ObTopic: Yeah, gears of war definately looks like the cream of the crop except I don't think the gameplay and fun-factor has been well established yet, but it certainly does look interesting. I'll get to check it out on my brother's system.