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[Randy Lanzarote]

If I'm honest, the core gameplay - stop & pop - doesn't seem all that difficult on Hardcore. Its the vehicle sequences and boss battles that are a bitch. I rarely die outside of those cheap segments. (See Reaver on the Derrick)

I'm trying to think of times when I've died repeatedly so far, I'm at the start of Act 3 so all of these will refer to Acts 1 and 2;

Spoiler

-First Reaver attack on the Derrick. Died multiple times, which isn't a great way to start the game. Then found out that pressing RB cools the turret down a lot faster, meaning you can get off more shots. Suddenly it was easy again.
-Brumak coming out of the tunnel, first time using the mortar and it was a bitch to get the distance right. Managed it after 3/4 attempts, albeit by a very narrow margin.
-When you are underground and there are two big E-Holes with drones/tickers coming out of. I could not get a grenade to land close those holes, had to fight them all of.
-First time you encounter the Kantus at the temple/gates structure. Didn't realise that after a while the drones will piss off, I was trying to kill everything and getting shot to buggery whilst doing so.

I've died other times but those stick in my head as the times when the game started to annoy me somewhat.

 

[sinnergy]

This game really demonstrates (well EPIC are..) How utterly UE3 is under utilized in most games. This game looks stunning, some level IMHO look better than the stuff we saw from RESI 5. Some levels in Gears2 don't have that typical UE3 look any more.. it looks awesome.

I really hope UE3.5 is going to change that.

 

[Kill Your Masters]

This game really demonstrates (well EPIC are..) How utterly UE3 is under utilized in most games. This game looks stunning, some level IMHO look better than the stuff we saw from RESI 5. Some levels in Gears2 don't have that typical UE3 look any more.. it looks awesome.

I really hope UE3.5 is going to change that.

It's crazy. It's like only Epic has the magic formula for all the UE3 awesomeness. I want Mass Effect 2 to look like this. *hope* *believe*

 

[Aeon712]

Played Horde mode for the first time with 2 friends, it's freakng awesome. Really wish we had a 4th and 5th man but even with the room set to open it never found anyone to play with us. We hit the wall at wave 9 >_<.

 

[smik]

THATS IT! IM OFFICIALLY DONE

GEAR's 2 MATCHMAKING BLOWS.

Me and my online friends were discussing this in a lobby and just realised that Gears 2 will have hardly no familar community, Gears 1 you knew everyone you got to network with all your fellow country man and was always able to jump in and out of good rooms through great ping. now this is all simply gone no more randomly searching for a good ping and adding/communicating new friends and playing with similar ranged connections.

EPIC has created a HUGE PROBLEM. this is devasting for us who love playing on fair connections. We need a Status Bar. When need a REGION FILTER. We need private matches with the option to open them up to the public with a status bars.

people just want a fair connection thats all. the game is great but the lobby system is poor. i actually go into a game with people from france and Korean lol you just cannot not kill them especially when they party up. Solo players will not enjoy gears 2 in its current state period

Waiting over 10-15 for a 5 round match just isnt cutting it, it would be well worth the wait if the game wasnt laggy but no, rinse repeat this and you have alot of unhappy people playing online Horde can only last so long.

''MY QUOTE'' "A Game is only as great as the connection you play in no matter how great the gameplay is"

check post 63 for my full response
http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=339969&page=63

 

[AndresON777]

I'm glad someone else said that, I'm dying quite a bit on Hardcore (although as the game progresses I seem to be doing a bit better)

Perhaps a lot of folks who are claiming its easy played a lot of Gears online. I noticed after I started playing H3 online Heroic/Legendary became a lot easier.

Agreed. Mainly when ur just with Dom...AI Dom sucks. I try to play coop as much as I can, I just want to unlock Skorge.

Any one know how or where to score a golden lancer code?

 

[Hypertrooper]

Coop and Campaign are perfect. But i need more options in Multiplayer. Like: Only Play with the Same Language. It will be perfect and i won't lag anymore. And the Achievements are kind easier then gow1, right?

 

[drohne]

end of act 5:

Spoiler

wtfuckingf. 'no, nobody would want to fight this awesome lambent brumak -- let's just have them hold down the right trigger while the camera shakes.' and the overlong brumak riding minigame that comes just before isn't much of a finish either. why do so many games end so badly?

great stuff on the whole. not sure how i'd compare it to the first. the scripting is awfully clever, and really makes the action feel as if it's part of a larger context, but i'm not sure the core gameplay is quite as strong. i don't know. maybe i should replay gears 1 for comparison

 

[∀ Narayan]

It's crazy. It's like only Epic has the magic formula for all the UE3 awesomeness. I want Mass Effect 2 to look like this. *hope* *believe*

Mass Effect 2 will almost look as good as Gears of War 2. The game will also have a new standard running speed of 15 frames-per-second. It will have glitches galore and fuck-loads of pop-in. It's going to have a million design decisions that make no fucking sense. It will also have repetitive environments and shoddy combat. They will explain the Reapers in the shittiest way possible, and yet, the game will score in the 90% range 99% of the time.

Also, everyone will think the game is fucking brilliant and it will drive me nuts.

Hey, at least the music and art will be good. Right?

Okay, okay, okay. So, that MIGHT not happen. I'm really hoping it won't. I'm really hoping that the game will be the hottest shit to ever be shit on a plate.

Spoiler

I just gave you the most likely scenario, because I'm a super dude!

Gears of War 2 looks absolutely batshit insane, though.

God bless America.

 

[Shoogoo]

Seriously RSTEIN, get into a Horde match with us later and you'll be happy. Fun times will ensue.

What do you mean by 'us'? I'd like to play Horde with gaffers, but where do I get the names?

 

[Woo-Fu]

I don't understand the gears matchmaking complaints. Then again, I frequent a website who has 100+ dedicated 360 gamers, many of whom love gears. We fill a room, we have an amazing blast of fun.

Epic has delivered on pretty much every level. Campaign is longer, characters are more developed, story is a tiny bit better, multiplayer lobby is exponentially better, host advantage seems to be reduced.

If you liked Gears I cannot see how you would not love Gears 2. I do.

I'm finally willing to cede the FPS throne to epic, the throne that I've had ID on forever as a player of many, many q/q2/q3 mods.

...and gears isn't even FPS, it is third person, but the feel, the rush, the adrenaline is there.

my gamertag is random51. Add me if you want serious gears competition.

 

[Chinner]

Mass Effect 2 will almost look as good as Gears of War 2. The game will also have a new standard running speed of 15 frames-per-second. It will have glitches galore and fuck-loads of pop-in. It's going to have a million design decisions that make no fucking sense. It will also have repetitive environments and shoddy combat. They will explain the Reapers in the shittiest way possible, and yet, the game will score in the 90% range 99% of the time.

Also, everyone will think the game is fucking brilliant and it will drive me nuts.

Hey, at least the music and art will be good. Right?

Okay, okay, okay. So, that MIGHT not happen. I'm really hoping it won't. I'm really hoping that the game will be the hottest shit to ever be shit on a plate.

Spoiler

I just gave you the most likely scenario, because I'm a super dude!

Gears of War 2 looks absolutely batshit insane, though.

God bless America.

how adorable!

 

[Kill Your Masters]

Spoiler

I just gave you the most likely scenario, because I'm a super douche!

Fixed. ;D

 

[∀ Narayan]

Fixed. ;D

Seriously, though. I really hope Mass Effect 2 turns out well. I really do.

 

[Kill Your Masters]

J/K

Seriously, though. I really hope Mass Effect 2 turns out well. I really do.

We all do, but the first is already my favorite game of the current gen, so I have not much doubt in BioWare.

 

[FFChris]

Mass Effect 2 will almost look as good as Gears of War 2. The game will also have a new standard running speed of 15 frames-per-second. It will have glitches galore and fuck-loads of pop-in. It's going to have a million design decisions that make no fucking sense. It will also have repetitive environments and shoddy combat. They will explain the Reapers in the shittiest way possible, and yet, the game will score in the 90% range 99% of the time.

Also, everyone will think the game is fucking brilliant and it will drive me nuts.

Hey, at least the music and art will be good. Right?

Okay, okay, okay. So, that MIGHT not happen. I'm really hoping it won't. I'm really hoping that the game will be the hottest shit to ever be shit on a plate.

Spoiler

I just gave you the most likely scenario, because I'm a super dude!

Gears of War 2 looks absolutely batshit insane, though.

God bless America.

Don't worry, I agree with you. The horrible framerate, texture pop-in and glitches almost killed the game for me. Not to mention the lifts, and the inventory system. Yuck.

I want my next-gen games to be smooth. Is that too much to ask?

 

[Deleted member 30609]

end of act 5:

Spoiler

wtfuckingf. 'no, nobody would want to fight this awesome lambent brumak -- let's just have them hold down the right trigger while the camera shakes.' and the overlong brumak riding minigame that comes just before isn't much of a finish either. why do so many games end so badly?

great stuff on the whole. not sure how i'd compare it to the first. the scripting is awfully clever, and really makes the action feel as if it's part of a larger context, but i'm not sure the core gameplay is quite as strong. i don't know. maybe i should replay gears 1 for comparison

If you want your good memories of Gears 1 to not be tarnished post-Gears 2 then I suggest you never play it again.

 

[Rei_Toei]

Just finished on hardcore. Insane here I come. Some general spoilers:

Spoiler

End battle was kinda weak. I expected a lot more from fighting the mutated emulsion-Brumak then shaking-Raven/fire off Hammer of Dawn. Brumak ride before it was sweet though, and the Reaver chase and Skorge battle weren't bad either. Game delivers way more blockbuster moments then the previous ones, but the ending battle should've been a tougher nut to crack.. Raam was a bitch and I haven't defeated here till this day alone on insane.. Don't seen that happening at any point with Gears 2.

Story:

Spoiler

I totally expected more about the research facility and the Sirens. You get dropped in, find out some vague hints, exit, and it isn't really discussed/relevant anymore. I expected them to have some talk about with Hoffmann or the Prez. I mean, they're experimenting with children. Somewhere it's said that the test subjects lose hair and have abnormal fast fingernail growth. Sound Locustesque to me.

Then the queen, the Lambent Locust.. Okay, so it's called a plague. The Imulsion is maybe some sort of aware organism? Taking over the Locust? Maybe it was man-made and meant as something to fuck over the Locust, only it's a bit too succesfull. I wonder if Marcus's dead is worried about them flooding the underground system.. If the Imulsion is an organism or something, wouldn't water allow it to spread to everywhere?

But generally speaking, game pisses all over G1. Bigger, better and more bad-ass indeed. Varied environments, more characters, story, weapons. Sweet. Gears 3 can't come soon enough.

 

[Deleted member 30609]

Mass Effect 2 will almost look as good as Gears of War 2. The game will also have a new standard running speed of 15 frames-per-second. It will have glitches galore and fuck-loads of pop-in. It's going to have a million design decisions that make no fucking sense. It will also have repetitive environments and shoddy combat. They will explain the Reapers in the shittiest way possible, and yet, the game will score in the 90% range 99% of the time.

Also, everyone will think the game is fucking brilliant and it will drive me nuts.

Hey, at least the music and art will be good. Right?

Okay, okay, okay. So, that MIGHT not happen. I'm really hoping it won't. I'm really hoping that the game will be the hottest shit to ever be shit on a plate.

Spoiler

I just gave you the most likely scenario, because I'm a super dude!

Gears of War 2 looks absolutely batshit insane, though.

God bless America.

A lot of truths here.

 

[guidop]

does anyone find matchmaking to be slow?

Yes, takes me forever to find a game in horde. I've raged quit a few times because its taken too long

OK When i first typed up this message i was already in the matchmaking menu looking for a game of horde and i still haven't found a game. I'll update my reply when i do finally start a game

 

[Deleted member 30609]

Yes, takes me forever to find a game in horde. I've raged quit a few times because its taken too long

The worst thing is when you wait for ages only to join a game with lag. 'Tis a shame.

 

[Darklord]

Opinions of the online:

1. Matchmaking sucks arse.
2. No custom game option sucks arse.
3. 95% of Americans over xbox live are insanely annoying(why just americans?).
4. Chainsaw = Win. Other weapons are (almost) useless.

 

[JB1981]

they should really have a search filter for my region only matchmaking, because the international hosts result in some crazy bad lag

 

[Hypertrooper]

Opinions of the online:

1. Matchmaking sucks arse.
2. No custom game option sucks arse.
3. 95% of Americans over xbox live are insanely annoying(why just americans?).
4. Chainsaw = Win. Other weapons are (almost) useless.

I kill all my Enemys with the Shotgun. Is very easy. Okay, The Chainsaw is overpowered, the most people play only with Lancer. But the biggest problem is the Connection...

 

[Relix]

Matchmaking has been extremely fast for me since last night. Less than 1 minute from search to game. Maybe the game needs to save and detect some stuff ala Halo 3 to work better

 

[loosus]

Okay, I have never fucking played a Gears game before. My cousin got it a couple of days ago, so we jumped into co-op.

-This game is kinda hard to control to me. Lots of buttons to remember. It's smooth as butter, though, when moving around.

-Don't really like the over-the-shoulder perspective. Would much prefer first-person.

-I wish weapons and whatnot were easier to see. I guess if you play it more, it becomes more obvious, but I kept having to really look at the ground for ammo. It was really cumbersome, and it's eventually why I was running out of ammo.

-Didn't really like that, from afar, the bad guys and good guys all look the same. :lol Yes, I realize that the reticule turns red on a bad guy, but eh.

-Game looks very pretty. This one place where you're going up a mountain and there are balls of...something...raining down on you looked fucking great.

-Too many quips and talking from characters. Got kinda annoying.

Overall, it was a fun game, but I wish there was a mode to use for people who aren't usually into these kinda games, and I wish there were more customization options. Like making the ammo boxes on the ground fucking huge and obvious. :lol

 

[Darklord]

I kill all my Enemys with the Shotgun. Is very easy. Okay, The Chainsaw is overpowered, the most people play only with Lancer. But the biggest problem is the Connection...

I've been waiting...18 minutes for a game so far. This is pathetic for a company who are known for their online multiplayer games.

 

[dark10x]

great stuff on the whole. not sure how i'd compare it to the first. the scripting is awfully clever, and really makes the action feel as if it's part of a larger context, but i'm not sure the core gameplay is quite as strong. i don't know. maybe i should replay gears 1 for comparison

I feel this way as well. Gears 2 feels heavily scripted throughout, which makes a good impression, but it just feels as if there is less gameplay overall and it's not as well executed. Right from the start in Gears 1 you were given the chance to use lots of cover. I remember running from cover piece to cover piece and really getting into the groove.

To me, it feels as if they wanted to make all of these crazy scripted scenarios without providing great levels for the core mechanics.

I think it's a great campaign thus far, but I'm thinking I prefer both the gameplay and visuals of the original.

Gears of War 2 looks absolutely batshit insane, though.

I still don't believe it looks better than the original, but I think that is more the result of the chosen art direction for the new locales. It's obvious that the technology behind the game has seen some improvements.

 

[iMike76]

http://news.********.com/news.php?id=2496

Gears 2 sells 2.1 million copies in one day.

sorry if old

 

[guidop]

BAHAHAHAHA its been 1/2 an hour and i still haven't found a game

slow clap

 

[Shoogoo]

http://news.********.com/news.php?id=2496

Gears 2 sells 2.1 million copies in one day.

sorry if old

And sorry if the link doesn't work :O

 

[kaizoku]

guys complaining about the matchmaking, why don't you join the online matchup thread and play with friends? won't that cut down the time involved?

on gears 1 I could turn on my system at anytime of day and would have loads of friends online and joinable. only searched for random matches on odd occasions.

I need to build up enough friends again this time but won't happen if none of you join the gaf gow online gang.

add this GT to your friends list: GAF GoW2

 

[Randy Lanzarote]

Gears 2 sells 2.1 million copies in one day.

sorry if old

Posting links to the Chartzzzz site isn't a good idea, it tends to get one banned.

 

[Darklord]

I've been waiting...18 minutes for a game so far. This is pathetic for a company who are known for their online multiplayer games.

Finally after 40 minutes I got a game...with insane lag. God dammit.

 

[Progmetal]

http://news.********.com/news.php?id=2496

Gears 2 sells 2.1 million copies in one day.

sorry if old

VGCharzzzzzz, very reliable site.

Spoiler

j/k

 

[GhostRidah]

Act 4's visuals.

Holy. fucking. shit.

And

Spoiler

Dom finding Maria, having Maria become grotesque from the abuse and Dom ending her life just made my heart sink so much.

My God.

yea that really hit me

 

[Chinner]

Yes, takes me forever to find a game in horde. I've raged quit a few times because its taken too long

OK When i first typed up this message i was already in the matchmaking menu looking for a game of horde and i still haven't found a game. I'll update my reply when i do finally start a game

I think I've fixed this. When I was going into public LIVE it was saying that my NAT would restrict me so I changed around the primary DNS server number and everything is working alot faster.

 

[therapist]

Started playing yesterday , pretty good.

Graphics are fantastic , gameplay is fast , but not as hectic as i expected , although i didnt get that far , only played for about an hour.

Got to the caves and shut it off.

Playing on normal , seems too easy so far , of course hardcore is probably too hard lol.

Im just so underwhelmed by these sequels for some reason...maybe i expect too much.

Personally i think i will enjoy mirrors edge more as its actually kind of original , this is just more of the same , but better executed.

 

[The Librarian]

-Too many quips and talking from characters. Got kinda annoying.

wat. That's one of the best things about the game. The dialogue is quite funny.

 

[dark10x]

Got to the caves and shut it off.

Heh, I hope you like caverns.

 

[typhonsentra]

end of act 5:

Spoiler

wtfuckingf. 'no, nobody would want to fight this awesome lambent brumak -- let's just have them hold down the right trigger while the camera shakes.' and the overlong brumak riding minigame that comes just before isn't much of a finish either. why do so many games end so badly?

Thank You! That whole portion was just plain boring, same goes for that worm level.

 

[Deleted member 30609]

Thank You! That whole portion was just plain boring, same goes for that worm level.

 

[ToyMachine228]

To be honest, the only thing that made me

Spoiler

sad

was when

Spoiler

Carmine died

, but even then I wasn't overly concerned / perturbed.

Spoiler

I was expecting him to die every second he was alive. His brother dies early in the first game. In Gears 3, there's probably going to be another Carmine. And he'll probably die too.

So, is Gears a planned trilogy? I read somewhere CliffyB's next game is a survival horror, does this mean Gears 3 goes on without him or is the series going on a break for a while? It kinda ended

Spoiler

so that they could close it off at that, but I still don't know what happened to the queen or if Skorge really died, so I guess there is possibility for the sequel?

Yeah, Gears is planned as a trilogy. For the plot I'd expect elements like

Spoiler

Adam Fenix, the origin of the Locust, and the origin of the Lambent locust and their way to be the main plot. And the Locust Queen will probably be the final boss.

Oh yeah, and BTW, in regards to Dizzy:

Spoiler

Did he die or what? I think the last we see of him was during the first time we see Skorge, did we get "closure" to his death or was I just maybe not watching when we did?

You're right,

Spoiler

We never see him die. Which definitely leaves things open for him to be alive in Gears 3.

Spoiler

dom had no way of knowing that she couldn't recover -- essentially he shoots her because he still has an action game to star in and can't be dragging a horribly tortured woman around.

It looked to me like

Spoiler

she had a lobotomy by the way her hair had been cut. Well, my roommate pointed that out to me.

 

[The Librarian]

Yeah man. The worm level was awesome.

About matchmaking, I'm not having trouble finding a match. It's people quitting that's the problem for me.

 

[Router]

I just

Spoiler

Saved Maria. Was that really her? My friend is kind of in denial about that whole sequence. He has convinced himself that its not really her.

It was an awesome scene though.

Also... Cole

Spoiler

Blasting on the mic. Holy shit. That was awesome, and Baird telling him to not start with "That Juice Shit" again.

I'm still amazed at how fucking beautiful things are underground.

 

[ToyMachine228]

Also... Cole

Spoiler

Blasting on the mic. Holy shit. That was awesome, and Baird telling him to not start with "That Juice Shit" again.

The best part about the dialog in Gears 2 is a lot of it is either exactly what the player wants to hear, or exactly what the player is thinking when they see or hear something.

 

[ultim8p00]

~2 million copies day 1.

 

[Ptaaty]

If you try to play horde the "normal" way, it's literally impossible once you get into the 20s. You almost HAVE to "cheap" the system by placing shields the CPU can't navigate past, leave one enemy alive at the end of the round and then scavenge for ammo, etc.

My friends and I beat it last night. But we went to the level with the red security system. Is this the normal or cheaping? They can turn off the security so it doesn't seem completely cheap, actually with that many grinders, boomers, bloodmounts and ink grenades, nothing seems cheap.

 

[watership]

Okay, I have never fucking played a Gears game before. My cousin got it a couple of days ago, so we jumped into co-op.

-This game is kinda hard to control to me. Lots of buttons to remember. It's smooth as butter, though, when moving around.

-Don't really like the over-the-shoulder perspective. Would much prefer first-person.

-I wish weapons and whatnot were easier to see. I guess if you play it more, it becomes more obvious, but I kept having to really look at the ground for ammo. It was really cumbersome, and it's eventually why I was running out of ammo.

-Didn't really like that, from afar, the bad guys and good guys all look the same. :lol Yes, I realize that the reticule turns red on a bad guy, but eh.

-Game looks very pretty. This one place where you're going up a mountain and there are balls of...something...raining down on you looked fucking great.

-Too many quips and talking from characters. Got kinda annoying.

Overall, it was a fun game, but I wish there was a mode to use for people who aren't usually into these kinda games, and I wish there were more customization options. Like making the ammo boxes on the ground fucking huge and obvious. :lol

Are you playing on an HDTV? I find the ammo and guns to be too obvious. The whole world is so seamless, except for the glowing ammo and flashing boxes. Far easier to see than Halo 3's weapon/ammo.

 

[Skilotonn]

Sorry for bringing it off-topic again guys, but I was either playing Gears 2 or asleep when all that went down, and I'll only leave it at this and won't respond about it again...

http://www.dejawolf.com/steelbeasts/gallery/T-72M1/images/autoloader.jpg


Your right, they use Carousels. I assumed they used magazines because that's what naval guns (the HUGE ones) use.

Regardless, you were just using "clip" as shorthand for "the thing that holds bullets". Never again please. Calling a magazine a clip is like calling an engine a gas station.

What are you, a Google professor or something? :lol

You assumed wrong the first time, and you're still trying to "win" with using Google for answers - that's showing that you have no knowledge about the subject whatsoever man...

Again, like I said, I used "clip" because that's how the game represents it - and I can't believe you're trying to win this argument based on a straw so thin... :lol

And my goodness you got some nonsensical analogies.

Don't worry about it guys, I never felt "belittled" since he was wrong in the first place...

About matchmaking, it's strange because more than half of my matches have been found in a reasonable time, the rest have taken ages to start - but the good thing is that the matches that played fine had zero lag - I mean, zero.

I'm talking, leading the match with triple the kills of the second best player on my team in Warzone, while everyone else in the game is in another country from me, and everyone commenting on how surprised they were that the match had zero lag - and I had the first rank while there were people on the other team with 2 or 3 stripes...

On the other hand, I've had a few matches with unbelievably-bad lag - I'm guessing that this is because this is Epic's first go at matchmaking so that they still got some kinks to work out in the system, but it's a hell of a great start...

I love the voting system and how quick it is, I like that they show the picture of the map and the "struggle" in votes, and when it's a tie, it'll go to some completely different choice...

I say give Epic some time to work things out...