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[SickBoy]

You don't understand a gentle flow curve of difficulty? That games crescendo at their most challenging, not at their weakest? That after you learn mechanics, the game should not abandon them right at the pitch for something unrelated?

I am not beyond mixing it up. Nobody is saying that they should not have special segments which require lateral thinking, or unfamiliar gameplay elements. That's part of the game. But when you spend an entire game building up a set of specific gameplay skills, and the difficultly gently increases (as it ALWAYS should - easiest comes first, hardest comes last), you don't fucking toss that shit out the window at the last possible moment for some hollow do-nothing end segment.

Generally speaking, I understand increasing difficulty and that it's the way almost all games do things, but I don't think that's the way it MUST be. I play games for the ride and a modest challenge and I'm not offended as a gamer if I'm not banging my head into the wall at the end of the game. I'm at the point in my life where I can't even try to pretend to be hardcore, especially with the huge backlog I've got.

On Gears specifically, I'd have preferred the game if it was *all* the core stuff. But as far as the stuff that went outside that box, the last segment (before the boss) was probably the most fun of the bunch. And I think Crabcakes nailed it. To me it was akin to "you've beaten the game, now take control of this mildly challenging cutscene (I say mildly assuming it's possible to die).

I wonder if you hold the same criticism for Halo, the original MGS or MGS4 for throwing their core gameplay out the window at the end?

 

[Amir0x]

the thing is SickBoy, if the game is done right and the difficulty curve increases properly you WON'T be banging your head against the wall. Because your adapted and increased skill level, that cames from an entire game worth of learning gameplay mechanics, will meet the added challenge.

That's the whole point of having an appropriate curve of difficulty.

 

[Aladuf]

it's not the hb vs. lancer duels i'm talking about (of course hb would win), it's mainly the loss of the chainsaw that's the killer for me. i mean chainsawing is pretty much overpowered and so easy to do and rack up kills with so losing that feature is a big downgrade, imo. i dunno...

Oh alright, I gotcha. And you're pretty much right, there's only a small amount of time where the HB's melee take down the saw, so the chainsaw is pretty crucial in this MP so far.

 

[Memphis Reigns]

bummer. no matchmaking feature for live guests?

 

[bj00rn_]

Been playing the campaign, the game have been such a great experience - Until the moment with the lake with the thing in it shows up... OH MY GOD, IT'S SUDDENLY FULL OF BUGS! DEAD x 1000...! WTF. Patch...? Cliff???

 

[Kydd BlaZe]

Ugh...the multiplayer this time around is horrendous. Not feeling the new changes at all. The net code is still terrible and the matchmaking is a fucking joke...=/

After about a week of non-stop play, i've decided to never touch the multiplayer again until a patch arrives. I find it to be much more frustrating than the original, which already had its plethora of issues. The campaign, co-op, and horde are awesome though, and make up for the shitty multiplayer.

/rant

 

[The Librarian]

I think part of the plan was to create an epic ending experience. Don't know if they succeeded on that front, but I didn't think it was some deeply insulting atrocity against gamers.

The ending to Gears 2 was memorable to say the least.

Edit:

Are you serious? The HB is crazy effective, anytime you've got a 1 HB vs. 1 Lancer, the HB will tear the guy with the Lancer apart. I use both on and off all the time just because of my preference at the time and I'd say both are pretty even in terms of perks (HB has power and a dangerous melee... Lancer has the speed of the shots but they're weaker and the chainsaw).

edit: although if you did use the HB a lot in Gears 1, I can understand why you'd be less attracted to it now

Agreed. I <3 the HB, but not as much as the lancer.

 

[SickBoy]

the thing is SickBoy, if the game is done right and the difficulty curve increases properly you WON'T be banging your head against the wall. Because your adapted and increased skill level, that cames from an entire game worth of learning gameplay mechanics, will meet the added challenge.

That's the whole point of having an appropriate curve of difficulty.

True that (which I think illustrates the point that so few games ratchet up the difficulty in the right way).

Anyhow, I just want to be clear that I'm not saying that the ending was the perfect, only way for Gears 2 to end. Just that I was fine with it...

 

[kaizoku]

the thing is SickBoy, if the game is done right and the difficulty curve increases properly you WON'T be banging your head against the wall. Because your adapted and increased skill level, that cames from an entire game worth of learning gameplay mechanics, will meet the added challenge.

That's the whole point of having an appropriate curve of difficulty.

I agree, I am all for the developers giving you some kind of cherry on top at the end, that whole section to me felt almost like the credits. It was like the outtakes in Jackie Chan films.

BUT I also felt that they gave me that at the expense of a real climax. Which does kind of annoy me because the whole bit before it felt like it was leading up to a big ass crescendo. I'm trying to wonder if we got the climax and the brumak really was the little bonus at the end, but there really wasn't.

They demonstrated in horde mode that they could've made a segment where you are really scrambling and pulling off awesome stuff to get through. But a lot of the endgame involved picking enemies off from really far away behind huge barriers where you are pretty damn safe.

Which is in stark contrast to gears 1, where you're in a narrow train carriage and you're required to switch weapons, duck in and out of cover and all sorts. In Gears 2, all you have to really think about is where to get the best shot, very rarely does an enemy get close to you.

RAAM also did a great job of making you give everything you've got and making you feel rather vulnerable/naked. You're jumping over cover, doing shotgun blindfires, blindthrowing grenades, pumping him wih all the ammo you have. I can't think of one campaign moment in gears 2 which asked anywhere near that much of me, in fact the only bits I died in were boss fights and vehicle/set piece sections, maybe the odd lucky boomshot hit me, but for the most part it was a stroll where I was safely hidden away from enemies.

Maybe my opinion will change after a run through on insane.

 

[Sailor]

Are you serious? The HB is crazy effective, anytime you've got a 1 HB vs. 1 Lancer, the HB will tear the guy with the Lancer apart. I use both on and off all the time just because of my preference at the time and I'd say both are pretty even in terms of perks (HB has power and a dangerous melee... Lancer has the speed of the shots but they're weaker and the chainsaw).

Really? How do you use the HB effectively? (tapping the trigger/holding it...zooming in/zooming out?) And what's so special about it's melee? Feels the same as any other gun's :\

 

[Aladuf]

Ugh...the multiplayer this time around is horrendous. Not feeling the new changes at all. The net code is still terrible and the matchmaking is a fucking joke...=/

After about a week of non-stop play, i've decided to never touch the multiplayer again until a patch arrives. I find it to be much more frustrating than the original, which already had its plethora of issues. The campaign, co-op, and horde are awesome though, and make up for the shitty multiplayer.

/rant

I get what you're saying about all of the additions driving you crazy and up until a couple of days ago I was getting very frustrated at the MP too. The other day when I was in a match on Canals and I ended up going 13-4 which was great but I was still getting so pissed off at stupid shit.. that's when I realized that I have been way too overexposed to Gears 2 since last week. So I went out and bought a couple of games, I've played them a bunch and whenever I play Gears after that I have had no frustrations. Last night's matches were frustrating for me only because just about everybody in my party was bitching about something and it started to drive me crazy. :/

I don't deny that MP needs a pretty good amount of patches but still, the good far outweighs the bad imo.

 

[dark10x]

While we're talking about Gears 1 and 2 there is one other major difference between the two that I noticed (after playing them back to back). Perhaps this didn't register for anyone else, but it really hit home after going back to Gears 1.

Basically, Gears 2 focused almost entirely on long range battles with occasional short range encounters and rare mid-range focused battles. Gears 1, on the other hand, focused heavily on mid-range battles with short range mixed in and somewhat less common long range battles.

The weapons, for the most part, aren't the most accurate arsenal ever to grace a game and the enemies soak up a decent number of shots. Prior to the release of Gears 1 I was concerned that this would have a negative impact on the experience, yet at the typical range in Gears 1, your weapons were just the right distance away from the enemies to feel as if you were doing significant damage. It was satisfying to open fire on the grubs. With Gears 2, I felt as if the enemies were generally kept at a much greater distance which rendered standard weapons like the Lancer less enjoyable as your targets were smiply smaller on screen (due to their distance). There was simply more ground between you and your foes. When close range combat ensued, however, it often involved either smaller enemies (wretches) or one of the larger enemies that seemed to soak up a lot of damage without showing any (making them feel like bullet sponges).

Furthermore, Gears 1 simply offers more of the stop and pop scenarios. There is simply a greater volume of cover available which allows for more wall to wall antics (moving out of cover into roadie run and back into cover). I felt as if this was reduced significant in Gears 2. The roadie run in Gears 2 often feels like a way to cover the larger playing area.

I'm curious if this had occured to anyone else. I'm NOT slamming Gears of War 2, however, so please don't respond if that's what you're planning to address.

 

[Aladuf]

Really? How do you use the HB effectively? (tapping the trigger/holding it...zooming in/zooming out?) And what's so special about it's melee? Feels the same as any other gun's :\

I tap the trigger like crazy and always have it seem zoomed in. The melee feels so special because it seems like it's one of the couple weapons that can drop the chainsaw if it's partially revved.

 

[Gary Whitta]

Finally cleared all 50 waves on Day One last night with the help of some fellow GAFers. Totally brilliant experience, was exhausted and pumped by the end of it. Killed the final Locust with a pistol headshot, which felt suitably dramatic.

 

[Tieno]

Finished the campaign (got the game in the mail yesterday) and rather conflicted on it. They improved on a lot of stuff, especially the presentation (achievements progress, warbook etc) and the dramatic direction of the cutscenes, which is up there with the best in the industry. The 'hard' scenes were done surprisingly well and in character with the game, especially for a game. Love the squad interaction, it's great and funny. Dialogue is great, I don't know why people bag on it so much, do they realize what kind of game this is? Do you need philosophic ramblings in order for dialogue to be good? No, it needs to true to the game. It was always on key and delivered well.

I do feel that in pursuit of 'varied' gameplay and 'epic' encounters there wasn't enough of the core gameplay I loved so much in Gears 1. The gun battles in tight environment with regular Locusts (anything from reavers and up is a no no). The intimate combat, as Cliff likes to call it, wasn't in the quantity I would have liked. I hardly had to use the shotgun, which was the weapon for intimate combat in Gears1, because I usually was so far away or in situations where I had to do something different. Now, the actual combat scenarios they give you where you can do some close up shooting and maneuvering around cover are definitely a step up and more imaginative from Gears 1, quality was improved. But I fucking hate you people who always want more 'epic=more enemies on screen'. Which means they have to zoom out and Gears is at its best zoomed in. edit: seems like dark10x noticed the same thing as me. Agree with you there. I've been thinking this a lot while playing the game

The palette cleansers were hit and miss and caused lot of frustration for me on hardcore. Either due to bad controls, too hard or mix of both. They don't need to be hard, they need to be fun. The brumak rodeo was actually good, just give the player an overpowered tool for a short time and let him go nuts.

I also like that cliff added some of my suggestions, like the collectibles, B Carmine and the juice reference. Good job, man!

Don't think I'll replay this game as much as the first one due to my criticisms.

Now on to Horde.

 

[Snowden]

/rant

You used to be one of those really good shotgun spammers, huh?

 

[TDG]

Ugh...the multiplayer this time around is horrendous. Not feeling the new changes at all. The net code is still terrible and the matchmaking is a fucking joke...=/

After about a week of non-stop play, i've decided to never touch the multiplayer again until a patch arrives. I find it to be much more frustrating than the original, which already had its plethora of issues. The campaign, co-op, and horde are awesome though, and make up for the shitty multiplayer.

/rant

I agree 100%.

 

[PjotrStroganov]

Yup, I also missed the close quarters gameplay of part 1. It also seems that there was much less opportunity to flank the enemy. The game as a whole was an awesome experience but I would have liked to fight some more of those epic standoff battles from part 1.

 

[Tieno]

It's like I've gone to game development elementary, where everyone is developing games on Coleco Vision and it's a bold new frontier of crazy!

You don't understand a gentle flow curve of difficulty? That games crescendo at their most challenging, not at their weakest? That after you learn mechanics, the game should not abandon them right at the pitch for something unrelated?

I am not beyond mixing it up. Nobody is saying that they should not have special segments which require lateral thinking, or unfamiliar gameplay elements. That's part of the game. But when you spend an entire game building up a set of specific gameplay skills, and the difficultly gently increases (as it ALWAYS should - easiest comes first, hardest comes last), you don't fucking toss that shit out the window at the last possible moment for some hollow do-nothing end segment. That's like getting sucked off by Monica Bellucci, only to have her switched off for Lili Taylor near your climax. I'd go flaccid quicker than you could say "SWEET UGLY CHRIST"

I can respect an argument that says it's fun, even if I don't think it is. But at least this thread has taught me once again why the majority of GAFers talk about games, and don't make them.

Come on, a game isn't like research some paper where you have to include a conclusion to all the stuff you wrote about before. You just have to give a proper ending in whatever way possible. Halo 1 and 3 had a kickass ending with the warthog run. Exhilarating and fun. I do agree with your idea of difficulty curve, not with how this always should lead to that ending, though it's of course good that towards the end there are situations where they mix a lot of the learned gameplay skills.

 

[Future PhaZe]

I'm actually really into the multiplayer now. My only complaints (as far as base mechanics) are mines and the huge range of stun grenades.

I'm not sure that Epic shouldn't have just made ink grenades the new stun grenades. Something that drops you down as well as serves as a poisonous area of effect.

I actually prefer the new shotgun. There are still annoyances of course that need to be fixed like the shotgun not hitting guys at times or the chainsaw sucking guys in or just the various lag issues in the game though.

Epic really has dropped the ball concerning lag though. I've heard it might be an issue on Microsofts end, but really there isn't any excuse to have such a laggy experience especially when you hope to challenge some very clean online experiences like in Halo 3/CoD4. Considering that the number 1 complaint of Gears 1 over shotguns or anything else was lag, its really inexcusable.

 

[Doc Evils]

I can't believe what a terrible ending this game has.

 

[dark10x]

But I fucking hate you people who always want more 'epic=more enemies on screen'. Which means they have to zoom out and Gears is at its best zoomed in.

I'm also glad to see that someone else noticed this.

 

[The Librarian]

Ugh...the multiplayer this time around is horrendous. Not feeling the new changes at all. The net code is still terrible and the matchmaking is a fucking joke...=/

After about a week of non-stop play, i've decided to never touch the multiplayer again until a patch arrives. I find it to be much more frustrating than the original, which already had its plethora of issues. The campaign, co-op, and horde are awesome though, and make up for the shitty multiplayer.

/rant

If you get in a party with 4 other people, and head in to matchmaking, Gears 2 multiplayer is FANTASTIC. I am not having any trouble at all finding a match by myself either, so Gears 2 mm>>>>>Gears 1 for me. It isn't horrendous at all.

 

[Amir0x]

Fuuuck matchmaking is impossible, anyone just wanna start up a game of Horde? :lol

 

[Tieno]

I'm also glad to see that someone else noticed this.

yeah, it's similar to those people you rail on for wanting sandbox in every game.

It's like small enemy count and linearity are an insult.

 

[ThirdEngine]

I'm hoping for a patch soon after the release of NXE.

 

[soldat7]

A quick shout-out to Epic for the option to toggle Language and Gore On/Off. These options let me play the game while my wife is around.

 

[Vustadumas]

If you get in a party with 4 other people, and head in to matchmaking, Gears 2 multiplayer is FANTASTIC. I am not having any trouble at all finding a match by myself either, so Gears 2 mm>>>>>Gears 1 for me. It isn't horrendous at all.

Gears 2 MP isn't horrendous... it's fucking way worse than that. It's a travesty. I partied up with some Gaf'ers for a few hours last night. For the life of me, I can not figure out why it changed so much. Characters have no weight to them anymore, they skate across the ground like they're on ice. Shotgun has no power or feel to it, and the gore doesn't even feel right. Not to mention that Gear1 MP not only plays a billion times better, it looks better too.

WTF happened, Epic??? I haven't been this let down or frustrated by a game in my life. Well, with the exception of Mario Kart's since MK64.

Patch Gears1 MP into Gears2. =P

 

[X26]

The slow matchmaking is the least of my problems with the MP. The MP is the opposite of what I like about gears, it places less emphasis on cover, tactics, and teamwork and more on power weapon whoring and grenade tagging.

I know they're never going to disable wall tagging, fix the stun nade, or diminish the prevalence of power weapons...so my outlook on the games longevity for myself is pretty grim. If not for those few things, this would probably be the best MP game ever for me. Honestly don't know what epic was thinking with some of the decisions they made

 

[DeadFalling]

Gears 2 MP isn't horrendous... it's fucking way worse than that. It's a travesty. I partied up with some Gaf'ers for a few hours last night. For the life of me, I can not figure out why it changed so much. Characters have no weight to them anymore, they skate across the ground like they're on ice. Shotgun has no power or feel to it, and the gore doesn't even feel right. Not to mention that Gear1 MP not only plays a billion times better, it looks better too.

WTF happened, Epic??? I haven't been this let down or frustrated by a game in my life. Well, with the exception of Mario Kart's since MK64.

Patch Gears1 MP into Gears2. =P

What in the WORLD are you talking about? I've had 3 or 4 sessions of all-nighters so far and haven't encountered any of that in ANY games. (Only been playing Wingman btw)

 

[xxjuicesxx]

My concerns with MM

-Switching from a private room and collecting players then switching to the choose map and start game you have to all connect again and it takes 45 seconds each screen. You should just be able to jump from those screens without reconnecting.
-Sometimes my weapons don't seem to the damage they should do, but that might be me being a noob
-Not being able to quit? WTF?
-No guest allowing playlists? WTF?

 

[kaizoku]

Fuuuck matchmaking is impossible, anyone just wanna start up a game of Horde? :lol

I do, whats your GT?

mines kaizoku7

Just had a game of wingman, my random partner leaves after 20 seconds, and one other team keeps running to the mortar on Jacinto and spamming it.

What a horrible weapon the mortar is for MP, especially on a map like Jacinto, this has got to be my first major complaint, once that team got the mortar, there was nothing the rest of us could do. There was no weapon available to take them out, there was loads of obstacles in between us and them so the sniper couldn't get a clear shot, if you don't have the sniper, good luck picking it up where they can clearly see you. Hammer of dawn requires you to get a visual and then a few seconds to get it going, by then you've got mortar fire raining down on you, and even if you're under a roof, you still die if you're not far in enough.

stupidly imbalanced, rubbish gameplay and no counter strategy other than to wait until they run out of ammo or come out of hiding? Really? Thats not very gears like.

In old gears it felt like every power weapon had a weakness or risk or another power weapon to counter it.

we need to get back to having regular gaf games where we customise weapons, I remember after a few months on gears 1 a lot of the games I played would have all weapon spots be snipers/torque bows and those were awesome fun.

 

[Amir0x]

Amitr0n

let's try to get something going. If you wanna join, just hit me up on XBL

 

[Frester]

Last night something glitched in Wingman and a friend and I ended up with a 3rd person on our team, who wasn't even in the pre-game lobby :lol Granted he didn't do anything and quit after the second round, still thought it was hilarious.

 

[Gig]

Holy shit at these Maulers on Horde, I don't even have time to get back up again.

Also, I am going to go back at it if any wants to play.

 

[Kill Your Masters]

Fuck! (act 5)

Spoiler

Ok I hate the chase level. Unfair shit. The second wave of rockets is too hard to stop, seriously, I hit maybe one, the others hit me, do the damage and then skorge finishes me off quickly with the turret...ugh

 

[Creamium]

Fuck! (act 5)

Spoiler

Ok I hate the chase level. Unfair shit. The second wave of rockets is too hard to stop, seriously, I hit maybe one, the others hit me, do the damage and then skorge finishes me off quickly with the turret...ugh

you can dodge rockets with the stick

 

[Kill Your Masters]

you can dodge rockets with the stick

<- :lol



Thanks.

 

[slicedking]

Ugh...the multiplayer this time around is horrendous. Not feeling the new changes at all. The net code is still terrible and the matchmaking is a fucking joke...=/

After about a week of non-stop play, i've decided to never touch the multiplayer again until a patch arrives. I find it to be much more frustrating than the original, which already had its plethora of issues. The campaign, co-op, and horde are awesome though, and make up for the shitty multiplayer.

/rant

Exactly how I feel.

 

[Haden]

I do, whats your GT?

mines kaizoku7

Sorry for ignoring msg before man was stuck into a horde game that wouldnt allow invites which kinda sucked cause someone left. I will be up for horde tonight if people are playing had some good games with Mr Mingi so far.

 

[whitehawk]

you can dodge rockets with the stick

I honestly don't understand how so many people never think of using the left stick :lol

Also, my friend said their patching the shotgun to make it shoot faster, is that true?

 

[Aladuf]

Also, my friend said their patching the shotgun to make it shoot faster, is that true?

I've heard nothing about that and tbh, the shotty is the last thing that needs a patch, especially a patch to make is faster.

 

[Kill Your Masters]

Ooook, apparently I'm not allowed to play anymore, the game won't let me. I press A to launch the campaign and nothing happens? :/ I can't even start a new campaign :lol

 

[The Librarian]

I honestly don't understand how so many people never think of using the left stick :lol

Also, my friend said their patching the shotgun to make it shoot faster, is that true?

Your friend has lied to you.

 

[kuYuri]

Has anyone had this problem?

I was playing some multiplayer with my friends, then they went away for a few, so I decided to continue my campaign. But now for some reason, my campaign won't launch at all. I try to continue my game, start from a chapter, start a brand new campaign, and nothing. It just refuses to launch campaign. I've also already turned off my 360 at least once and turned it back on and still nothing.

I'll keep trying to see if it works.

EDIT: Now my dashboard won't boot. I think I found a problem with NXE already. Or Live is messing up.

 

[Kill Your Masters]

Has anyone had this problem?

I was playing some multiplayer with my friends, then they went away for a few, so I decided to continue my campaign. But now for some reason, my campaign won't launch at all. I try to continue my game, start from a chapter, start a brand new campaign, and nothing. It just refuses to launch campaign. I've also already turned off my 360 at least once and turned it back on and still nothing.

I'll keep trying to see if it works.

Welcome to the club. Just happened to me (look above) :/

 

[manngc]

Yeap, happened to me too.

 

[kuYuri]

Phew, thank God it's not just me!

 

[Papercuts]

EDIT: Now my dashboard won't boot. I think I found a problem with NXE already. Or Live is messing up.

Most of xbox.com is down too, Live was disconnecting a lot last night also, so it's been really messed up.

Oh boy, I can't wait for the 19th. :\

 

[SwitchBladeKneegrow]

Yeap, happened to me too.

Me three....