Gears of War (X360) Discussion!

[Acepilotf14]

I finished the game the first night I got it: Oh, I hadn't played in awhile, I meant him on Insane.
Havn't even spent enoguh time on insane!

 

[Shamrock]

I finished the game the first night I got it: Oh, I hadn't played in awhile, I meant him on Insane.
Havn't even spent enoguh time on insane!

I beat it Co-op the first day it came out. Then I beat it again a couple days later on hard. We started on insane, but it was boring.

 

[Moto]

PROBLEM

I have a problem with my copy of Gears of War. I have gotten to the beginning of Chapter 4. I turned the console off after I had gotten to Chapter 4 last night. When I went to load my current game, I picked the casual setting and it went to the load screen as usual, but it quickly returned me to the difficulty settings. I've tried to load it from the beginning of Chapter 4, but the same thing happens. I've cleaned my disk, restarted the console, etc. but nothing works. I don't want to play it over from the beginning again and I don't even know if that will work. Has anyone had this problem and know how to fix it? Thanks.

 

[Sparta]

Wow, this game is waaaaay better with co-op, me and my brother are suprisingly good teamworkers. (I was usually the bait to lure the gunfire while he took out Troikas..)

Yeah, its amazingly fun when you're working with someone who will actually follow you and work with you as a proper team. Me and mate were playing the first act yesterday just to show him what the game was like, and its so much more fun when people actually listen to each other and stick together, instead of running forth and dying instantly.

 

[Leviticus]

After playing a lot of multiplayer over the last few days, I've started to appreciate a few glaring problems with it. The largest and most detrimental to the over all balance of the game is lag; some weapons suck because of it, while others are too powerful in the hands of the host player. The magnum, for example, is too unreliable, while the Lancer and Hammerburst are more or less forgotten. It is impossible to hit roadie runners making their way to the map weapon spots with the Lancer or Hammerburst, and after they've obtained those weapons you are just screwed.

Medium range firefights in general just don't happen enough, and that is a focal point of the single player game. The cover system was more or less designed for medium ranged, tactical firefights, yet in multiplayer it is only used as a way to move faster or stealth up to longshotters with the pistol (Shoot - Melee), grenades(Overpowered), or Shotgun (If you are host). As of now 85% of the gameplay takes place at either a long or close distance. Occasionally I'll get into some fun lancer or hammerburst fights, but those still rarely end in kills considering the Lancer's terrible damage and lag. Over all, I'de say that the lancer needs a damage boost to accomodate for lag and perhaps make the multiplayer play a little more like the singleplayer, with an emphasis on flanks and suppressing fire with the occasional shotgun or chainsaw blitz. Consistantly close range fights should occur in Execution only.

Oh, and the game really needs a capture-and-hold game type or something. I think the gameplay would lend itself to that well. Three varieities of deathmatch is still just deathmatch.

 

[knut]

I don't know; I sort've agree, esp. on how the game can be very one sided when people just rush the good weapons and camp somewhere. I just curse when I see the sniper has been taken in the first few seconds by a mate - it just pisses me off to no end when your moving up through cover and you get your head blown off from nowhere. Not fun at all. However, in the games I've played, which has now been a total of 3 sittings, all of which me and my mates cycled through the entire maps, I've had tons of fun and very little lag*.

I've had loads of situations where I've been pinned down by machine gun fire and the like. Where it is a bad thing, it still looks cool using the camera to search over the map and see these little figures slowly moving up to cover to flank me. I won't go into how my matches are, but I'm honestly loving MP. A gripe of mine would be I wish it was more than 4 v 4. I'd prefer 8 v 8 personally, cause when theres me and 3 of my mates online, then another comes online, it's pretty sad to see him go on another team on his own. Of course, we could just mix ourselves up, but the last few ames we've played we have DESTROYED pretty much everyone because we know each other well enough to yell, curse and taunt in a freindly manner plus we use proper teamwork - whereas when I've gone on a team of random people it's just been ''mill around, run around, shoot some bullets, see who dies first, forget tactics'' and it's been disapointing. This could be contered if all 7 of my GOW-owning freinds came online, then we could have some awesome 4 v 4, but it's rare to see more than 5 of us online for the most part, which is fair enough.

* I've had no problem with lag on both GOW and BF2:MC, which has been excellent, and then as soon as I go on Halo 2 for old times sake I get lag. Pathetic.

 

[Leviticus]

I suppose it wouldn't be fair to criticise Gears of War's gameplay all too much when all I've played are quick matches with random people. Perhaps in a more organized setting, and with a skilled Lancer player, the weapon could be utilized more. I've noticed that in fights in which two players are using the lancer against one, that player is going to die very quickly.

Don't misunderstand me about the lag, though. I just recently noticed it, as it is very, very subtle. I'm not talking about anything gamebreaking or even noticable by someone not playing. At first I actually just thought the shotgun was a completely random weapon, but later realized it was a delay. That delay makes hitting moving targets -and most targets are going to be moving unless they have a good weapon- extremely difficult. I dare you to try to frag a roadie runner with the lancer unless you are host. It is simply too hard to hit a player, even one that completely disregards cover in favor of holding A. Instead, players tend to, like you said, grab a Longshot and camp out. One thing that is very effective, and perhaps too effective, is staying behind cover, blindshotting the sniper round for a PAR, and then rushing an opposing player. The PAR round will kill in one body shot, effectively making the longshot the most powerful weapon in the game at any range.

Any way I look at it, though, Gears of War is a five star game. I've had more fun with it than I've had in years on the PC. Multiplayer is an absolute blast and does involve a great deal of skill. What I'm a little disappointed with, and I use that word lightly, is the amount of tactics that goes into your typical game.

 

[Warbie]

Lag varies from host to host. As soon as a match starts fire your weapon and see how long it takes to hit the floor. I usually jump around untill I find a host that's close enough for lag to be negligible - and at least as good as any pc fps. The host will always have an advantage, but that's always been the case with online shooters.

 

[knut]

See, with the shotgun I'm starting to have the same problem as Halo 2 - I just can't. damn. use. it. If I come into close quaters with someone, and I get the first shot off which is a headshot, they still end it winning. I only ever use it for finishing people off If I'm a hurry to end 'em and get away.

What's all you're favourite maps, anyway? I'm best at the Mansion level, because everytime I play I flank around the outside of the house whilst both teams are inside battling it our over the landing and come up behind them, chainsaw in hand. I took out the entire team the other day singlehandily. Very proud of that, I was.

I also like the Canal (is it that?) level, because again, it's so easy to get on their flanks and scare the shit outta them. The Tyro Station level is good because there's always some kickass combat in the garage under the railway, and I like the rooftops level aswell. I was on yesterday and they killed all my team so it was just me, with the Lancer and the Longshot, with my back to a wall on the far side of the level watching their three remaining guys sweep the level. It was proper Metal Gear/Splinter Cell stuff, so it was goddamn tense. I managed to get two of them, one by just running at and chainsawing and the other I just took down with the Lancer.

Quick Edit: Does anyone else play as Hoffman? I play as him and on a few occasions my chainsaw has jammed, which is really annoying when I'm running at the enemy, completly confident, only to end up harmlessly circling them in an odd manner with a broken chainsaw. Very annoying.

 

[Leviticus]

I absolutely love Fuel Depot and Clocktower. The layout on those two really encourages teamwork, and I've had some great firefights. For me while playing shooters its more satisfying to coordinate wins with a team than just getting them solo (Although pistol headshots will never get old). Gears of War actually has some brilliant level design. It is, as far as I know, impossible for one player to secure all of his flanks at all times. It is never really effective to camp a single spot for very long, as you'll be vulnerable very soon to anyone who knows the map. That being said, my least favorite map is probably Gridlock. It is just too simple, and often degenerates into a big orgy in the middle of the map over the grenades and longshot. Whoever gets either weapon is pretty much guaranteed a kill.

Ooooh, I also love Escalation. It totally reminds me of UT99 Assault mode. Playing top is always so nerve racking as you try to secure the middle section and then cut off any advance. It always happens though, and the map is a satisfying mix of longrage, medium range, and close range combat. I wish more maps were unsymmetrical like it. Actually, I wish a game mode was based around that. Kind of like a mini-Assault, 4v4 Gears of War style.

Edit: Mansion is also really good. I actually like that Gears of War doesn't have very many maps, just good ones. In shooters, it typically occurs that two or three maps get played many, many more times than others, and those maps are totally picked apart and mastered by players and clans. In Gears of War, pretty much every single map is strong, so hopefully instead of two or three long time favorites there will be five or six. I also like that 4v4 is the maximum number of players. To me, games like Battlefield 2 make the shooter genre too impersonal. Instances where one player kills 3-4 are so common that they are not impressive, just frustrating for everyone but the person making them. My favorite Counter-Strike Source games are typically 4v4. The fewer players, the more each kill means, and the less frustrating it is to get killed, because those kills feel personal, and grudges and rivalries happen inside of games.

I actually hope with the new multiplayer content that comes a 2v2 specific gametype comes out, but I wouldn't hold my breath.

 

[Bad^Hat]

Quick Edit: Does anyone else play as Hoffman? I play as him and on a few occasions my chainsaw has jammed, which is really annoying when I'm running at the enemy, completly confident, only to end up harmlessly circling them in an odd manner with a broken chainsaw. Very annoying.

I've had something like this occur a couple times. Once recently was very very frustrating. I started revving and ran at a guy, didn't get shot to stun me out of it, but it just stopped for some reason. The guy turns, sees me and has the time to rev up his and chainsaw me while I'm standing there like an idiot, even though my gun's out and in the ready position. What?!

Yeah... this game can either be very fun or very frustrating. It partly depends on lag, and partly on luck. But a big part is the round-based gameplay in MP, waiting is a huge buzz-killer. In something like CS or DoD it's not so noticeable, but this is meant to be fast, frantic, brutal gameplay, and the rounds really break it up unless you're constantly in the last couple alive. It's especially aggravating when the last two will go about trying to hide from one another -_-

 

[Warbie]

I actually like that Gears of War doesn't have very many maps, just good ones.

Agreed. There may only be 6-7 maps, but the standard is far higher than you usually find in a fps - which often have 2 or 3 worth playing.

See, with the shotgun I'm starting to have the same problem as Halo 2 - I just can't.

The trick with the shotgun is to fire on the move without aiming. Once you're familiar with where the center of the screen is you can charge about gibbing people all over the place. It's by far the most deadly and effective weapon in GoW - especially in elimination mode. The only times I aim with the weapon are when the enemy is short/middle distance away, any other time it's best to get close and blow some limbs off.

 

[Aenama]

Agreed. There may only be 6-7 maps, but the standard is far higher than you usually find in a fps - which often have 2 or 3 worth playing.



The trick with the shotgun is to fire on the move without aiming. Once you're familiar with where the center of the screen is you can charge about gibbing people all over the place. It's by far the most deadly and effective weapon in GoW - especially in elimination mode. The only times I aim with the weapon are when the enemy is short/middle distance away, any other time it's best to get close and blow some limbs off.

UT2044 has many maps that are worth playing imo.

 

[knut]

Yeah... this game can either be very fun or very frustrating. It partly depends on lag, and partly on luck. But a big part is the round-based gameplay in MP, waiting is a huge buzz-killer. In something like CS or DoD it's not so noticeable, but this is meant to be fast, frantic, brutal gameplay, and the rounds really break it up unless you're constantly in the last couple alive. It's especially aggravating when the last two will go about trying to hide from one another -_-

Aye, I agree. I'm having tons of fun, but I'm also getting pissed off too. As for the rounds/match thing, I don't see why it doesn't include both a pregame lobby like Halo 2 (which is genius for when you have freinds online) and a server listing or a custom game mode where you can search for parties that have a certain amount of players or are a certain level. It's so none-user freindly when you have to sit around waiting for people to join, and when someone does join it's precisely that; just one person, until 10 minutes goes by and another will join. It's just so... awkward, and I don't see why this game doesn't include either of those features.

I did pretty well with the shotgun earlier on that high-low level with the stairs. Nailed two guys in the face as they ran for the high ground. Hold the high-ground when defending, and when attacking hold the low ground and let them reveal themselves as they advance.

Had some great rounds earlier with a whole server of freinds. On Gridlock I'd run for the Boomshot with my mate whilst my other two freinds went for the sniper. I'd get to the Boomshot, wait around the corner and wait for someone to pick it up then bam! Chainsaw to the gut. I'd grab it, stay in cover, then I'd use my mate, who would be across from the arch that holds the Boom behind a car, to be my eyes as he'd fire at where the enemy were on the balcony, I'd see the bullets hitting the area then I'd jump out and fire at that exact spot. Was awesome.

 

[Raxxman]

The hiding is due to a lack of objectives.

MP does feel very slapped together, While it's a fair amount of fun, I found it got very old after a few hours.

Sticking to coop.

 

[Leviticus]

UT2044 has many maps that are worth playing imo.

I agree. So did UT99 (Although I remember Deck16 getting a significant amount of play), but those are both Epic games and designed explicitly for the multiplayer game, so I think they are a worthy exception.

In retrospect I can't help but wish a little that Gears of War had been designed around the multiplayer a little more. The singleplayer was a blast, sure, but as far as lasting appeal goes 2-3 more gametypes would've done wonders. I really wish there was one that took the roadie-rush-the-Longshot aspect out.

Edit: Speaking of the UTs, however, word on the street is UT2k7 will be on the 360. I really can't be happier if it is, as it would probably send my PC into cardiac arrest and it looks like a real jump foward in the series.

 

[Iced_Eagle]

I got this game a day or two ago for $40 at Circuit City (thanks to price matching to Target).

It has it's really awesome moments, but then it's really really shitty moments.

For example, I was playing through singleplayer and got about half-way into the second act. Then a friend called and asked if I could help him go through the campagin with co-op... Naturally I said of course. Well we started at the beginning and he was Fenix and I was Dom. We got all the way up the start of Act 4 when we decided to go to bed... Well, I hop on this morning expecting to start off exactly where we left it but of course that wasn't meant to be. It only saves your campaign if you are Marcus Fenix and not Dom... So now I have to go back through and beat the Act's which I already beat yesterday. Really really annoying cause it unlocks achievements that I beat them and everything, but it won't save them for me.

Also MP is pretty fun once you are in a game, but their whole behind the scenes MP sucks. They should've made it more like Halo 2 MP... They should have first of all had a party system and that's been publicized. Second, they should actually give rankings to players... Right now it's totally hit or miss if you end up with good players. Sometimes you have kick-ass people who totally wipe the floor on your team, and then you get the people who suck. It is not a level playing field. If they assigned rankings like in Halo2's MP, where it matches people with similar rankings together, then it would be so much better so then you stand a chance cause it's not like you would be playing with the world's best Gears player.

Either way, it's a really sweet game...

Add me to your friends list if you want to play!

Gamertag: briguy992

 

[Colonel Sanders]

There is Chapter select that allows you to play through levels you've already beaten. So while you might have to play through one chapter again, you don't have to start the game over.

 

[knut]

Nnnnnnngh. Online it's so fun yet so frustrating. Like un-even teams, when the people on the other team are my mates' freinds who are really good at the game. And one-sided numbered teams - it is incredibly hard to fight back when you're against two people as, --and here comes a major gripe I'm seeing-- most levels only seem to have two ways to go; the high way, or the low way, usually. Not accurate, but yeah. And for the most part, you get two people going both ways, so when you run into them and they have you in their sights with two Lancer's your are down in seconds.

I'm starting to feel things are more 'clunky' when it comes to aiming and moving, esp. in first person. If someone flanks you with the shotgun it's just a matter of who was in first-person mode first, which is usually the flanker as they advance to your prone position. And if it is you, then sometimes you can't move your crosshair in time because your in the cover system and the aiming within each part of cover is limited, esp. to your direct left or right.

I don't know. I really like it, and I'm having loads of fun, but it's also pissing me off to no ends. What I really want is just a serious ranked game where everyone is on the same level as me at combat, but alas, it seems to be too hard to do what most other blockbuster online games do, which is a really quite disapointing and worrying.

 

[Warbie]

If someone flanks you with the shotgun it's just a matter of who was in first-person mode first

You'll find that most decent players aren't going in to first person mode at all with the shotgun, unless they have an easy shot against a still target who doesn't know they're there.

 

[Tollbooth Willie]

Woo hoo, thread still going!

I won't be able to play for a while, my mom's become of of those insane people who think M rated games will screw me up. Funny, she's let me play this stuff since I was 5, yet she's trying to keep me away when I'm about to turn 15. :dozey:

 

[Moto]

Nobody can help me?

 

[knut]

You'll find that most decent players aren't going in to first person mode at all with the shotgun, unless they have an easy shot against a still target who doesn't know they're there.

Yeah, I did it today myself today actually. I also took someones head off whilst using it in blind fire. Winner!

But anyway, I had some awesome rounds on it tonight with 5 mates! Seriously, the teams were even, which made me realise how much the maps can change how you play. In games like Halo and BF2, I can go anyway on anymap and do well (usually), whereas on this most the levels really do throw out all the ideas from the map before and challenge you to do something new. I love it.

So with this in mind, it really shone that the teams were even because the scores were constantly changing on every map. On Gridlock, we, the Locust, completly dominated, winning the round with only one defeat, but the COG took us down a few times and the game fell into 1 v 1' or 2 v 1. The same again on Canals, only we did better, but on Clock Tower it all turned around for us, and then we got DESTROYED (caps for empathis) on Elevation, is it? The one with the stairs. Yeah, that game was pretty tense, usually ending in our sniper slowly getting advanced on. Fuel Depot was pretty good, but we had to end half way cuz people were going to bed.

But all in all, when the teams are fair, it is one hell of a game.

 

[B_MAN]

played it from start to finish today for the first time.....
AWESOME GAME, very impressed
almost makes me want to buy a 360

 

[Combine Hybrid]

Go chainsaw yo' self.

http://www.gametrailers.com/umwatcher.php?id=31224

 

[BabyHeadCrab]

Go chainsaw yo' self.

http://www.gametrailers.com/umwatcher.php?id=31224

Ha-ha I had no idea you could chainsaw yourself in GoW, I'll have to try that when I find my copy :|

 

[Asknoone]

I want this game so bad.

 

[B_MAN]

I've played hours and hours of this game at work. I LOVE it. Seriously, it makes me want to buy an Xbox 360.

umm where the hell do you work??
i wish i could play games at work

 

[Acepilotf14]

I lvoed it, but I lost it. D:

 

[Shamrock]

I traded it in for store credit.

 

[destrukt]

2 new maps are coming on Jan 11 !

http://3dnewsnet.com/gow_new_maps.htm

 

[AmishSlayer]

That hasn't been confirmed though. I'm still skeptical because Epic didn't say anything about it.

 

[3ssence]

I bought the game, played half way through it, loved it, and decided to wait until after christmas to finish it because i was waiting to get my hdtv back in my bedroom ! (none of my housemates had their own tv), and now i have my tv back, with the added bonus of a 5.1 setup post-christmas, i plan to finish the game and get into the multiplayer.

 

[destrukt]

It's been confirmed by CliffyB and he mentioned there will be an auto-update prior to downloading the new content which will hopefully fix some issues.

http://forums.epicgames.com/showthread.php?p=24742948#post24742948
http://forums.epicgames.com/showthread.php?p=24742907#post24742907

 

[destrukt]

Patch details:

The patch includes quite a number of fixes and tweaks. Here's Rein's full break-down:

• Fixed aspect ratio distortion when using VGA cable with 4:3 displays at resolutions higher than 640x480
• Fixed voice issue with new players joining Player Match games in progress
• Players can now get the Achievement for "Dish Best Served Cold" when using Troika turret to kill RAAM
• Fixed rare situation where host could loop countdown and never start match
• Fixed rare situation where players could get stuck after chainsawing in multiplayer
• Reduced Grenade Tag melee distance
• Enabled "Strict" NAT check on host to prevent possible connection issues
• Optimized server browser queries to return results more quickly and prevent scroll bars from hiding quality of service icons
• Reduced number of possible revives in Execution to match Warzone
• Removed host name from Ranked match server browser
• Disabled security cameras in Ranked matches
• Ranked matches now require balanced teams (3v3 or 4v4)
• Increased penalty for quitting a Ranked match to -50 points
• Added additional cheat detection code
• Additional housekeeping updates

 

[Acepilotf14]

Whoa, people can use the turret to kill RAAM? Jesus, I always got killed by the Krill when I tried to use it.. lol.
Anyway, Anyone know where my GoW could be?...
DID YOU STEAL IT?

 

[AmishSlayer]

Patch details:

The patch includes quite a number of fixes and tweaks. Here's Rein's full break-down:

? Fixed voice issue with new players joining Player Match games in progress

? Reduced Grenade Tag melee distance

THANK GOD.

Grenade tags are the most unbalanced thing in the game. I still think they could use more risk to the player using them. Force them to arm the grenade before they tag you so if they don't get the tag, they blow themselves up if they don't throw it. Or better yet, make grenades have FF on them so you can't lob it in a pack of allies to stun/kill a pack of enemies.

 

[Stigmata]

Woo hoo, thread still going!

I won't be able to play for a while, my mom's become of of those insane people who think M rated games will screw me up. Funny, she's let me play this stuff since I was 5, yet she's trying to keep me away when I'm about to turn 15. :dozey:

Your mom is now retarded.

No offense.

 

[Tollbooth Willie]

No offense taken.

Funny thing is, I busted her out about me not being able to play violent games, but I can watch this kind of shit on tv. All she could do is say "I'm not arguing with you about this" and hang up the phone on me.

Ridiculous, I say.

 

[hungryduck]

No offense taken.

Funny thing is, I busted her out about me not being able to play violent games, but I can watch this kind of shit on tv. All she could do is say "I'm not arguing with you about this" and hang up the phone on me.

Ridiculous, I say.

don't worry, it will pass as you get older - or go to college