[360]Gears of War-Impressions

[denoginizer]

If you can pop heads with the sniper rifle, you pop heads with the sniper rifle. 

Watch out boys.  That's why they call me the denoginizer. 

[Laner]

Lets get with the impressions.

Hey - look at me!  I'm a Gear of War - outta my way!!

[papasmurff]

So it is Thursday.....I say we get some games goin tonight....That is if Fedex got their heads out of their asses and found the missing 200k units they lost.....

[shaggydoug]

Multiplayer sounds like a blast.  I wonder if two people can play on split screen over Live multiplayer...

Yes.  My friend and his son were on the same console splitscreen playing multiplayer with me and a bunch of others last night.

- shaggy

[denoginizer]

Multiplayer sounds like a blast.  I wonder if two people can play on split screen over Live multiplayer...

Yes.  My friend and his son were on the same console splitscreen playing multiplayer with me and a bunch of others last night.

- shaggy

Do they each have their own Live account?  Or does it say "guest" next to one of them?

[Kevin Grey]

Multiplayer sounds like a blast.  I wonder if two people can play on split screen over Live multiplayer...

Yes.  My friend and his son were on the same console splitscreen playing multiplayer with me and a bunch of others last night.

- shaggy

Do they each have their own Live account?  Or does it say "guest" next to one of them?

Pretty sure two Live accounts can play on the same machine at once.  It even says "Player 2 not signed in" at the bottom of the pause screen. 

[denoginizer]

Multiplayer sounds like a blast.  I wonder if two people can play on split screen over Live multiplayer...

Yes.  My friend and his son were on the same console splitscreen playing multiplayer with me and a bunch of others last night.

- shaggy

Do they each have their own Live account?  Or does it say "guest" next to one of them?

Pretty sure two Live accounts can play on the same machine at once.  It even says "Player 2 not signed in" at the bottom of the pause screen. 

That is the way most games work.  I was hoping it would allow guests to play using one account in unranked games  like Mechassault and The Outfit.

[depward]

Multiplayer sounds like a blast.  I wonder if two people can play on split screen over Live multiplayer...

Yes.  My friend and his son were on the same console splitscreen playing multiplayer with me and a bunch of others last night.

- shaggy

Do they each have their own Live account?  Or does it say "guest" next to one of them?

Pretty sure two Live accounts can play on the same machine at once.  It even says "Player 2 not signed in" at the bottom of the pause screen. 

Yeah, asked this earlier in the day and confirmed you can last night.  Thanks for the answers though!

[shaggydoug]

Multiplayer sounds like a blast.  I wonder if two people can play on split screen over Live multiplayer...

Yes.  My friend and his son were on the same console splitscreen playing multiplayer with me and a bunch of others last night.

- shaggy

Do they each have their own Live account?  Or does it say "guest" next to one of them?

Pretty sure two Live accounts can play on the same machine at once.  It even says "Player 2 not signed in" at the bottom of the pause screen. 

His son has his own account.   I know that in GRAW you can use the one account though.   It would have "account_name [1]", "account_name [2]" or something very similar to that.   Now....would it be a restriction of xbox or the game is the question.

[Lockdown]

I'm pretty sure the Northern East Coast got their shipments today.

Be prepared for the great influx of players.

Boom. Boom. Boom.

[Dante Rising]

I'm about half way through the game and I would rate it a solid 9. There is absolutely no doubt that this game raises the bar for next-gen graphic standards, but I still think the game falls short of a ten for the following reasons:

1) Disposable cast of characters- I have absolutely no emotional tie to any of my team members. In fact, I can't even remember all of their names. It would have been nice if there were a few more brief interludes where the developer tried to make a "Band of Brothers" feel to the game.

2) My pet peeve- My pet peeve about all of these tactical shooters (Rainbow Six, Ghost Recon, GoW, etc) is that nobody on your team ever dies. I'd love to see a game that transported in new recruits as your current members die. Then at the end of the game they would show a tally of how many men died under your command, and you could also watch a "replay video" showing the moment each soldier gave up his life for the cause.

3) Spotty companion AI- Overall the other member of my team perform admirably, but more than once I've seen them rush a machine gun nest, run in front of my line of fire while I'm shooting, or not use cover improperly. More than once they have also saved my ass so I'll tread gently here.

4) Grenades- They are underpowered, and the explosive radius makes it very easy for the Locust to evade harm. The only consistent use for grenades is to close holes and flush Locusts out from cover. I really wish there were shrapnel grenades in the game.

5) Not enough opening backgound on the enemy- I'd like to say that the enemies in GoW are superior to those seen in Halo, but I can't be sure. I know almost nothing about the Locust. The game does a substandard job making the adversary a 3 dimensional enemy.


Highlights of the game:

1) Beautiful visuals with almost no slowdow- I commend Epic on a fantastic job of coding for the Xbox 360. Despite the graphical splendor and sheer amount of chaos on the screen, slowdown is practically nonexistent. I've played games with far less detail that had much greater drops in framerate than anything I've seen in GoW. There is no question that this title is refined. Epic understands Microsoft's hardware.

2) War cam- I love the war cam. It makes everything seem twice as visceral.

3) Gameplay details- I love the introduction of the "Y" button to make you automatically view important scenes and the mini-game that is part of reloading your weapon. These small details really added to the game. I'm going to miss that "Y" feature in future action titles.

4) Adjustable difficulty- Thank you Epic for allowing me to adjust the difficulty at any stage. My girlfriend was getting really aggrivated when trying to the play the game on hardcore, so dropping down to casual without having to start a new game was wonderful.

[shaggydoug]

And now for actual impressions....this is a cut-and-paste of an email I sent to a friend of mine who is 360-less but I'm trying to convince like mad to get one.   He thinks Halo is the end-all/be-all of video games.

The truth is.....the game is pretty darn cool.  However, I suck....a lot.   I haven't gotten used to the control scheme.   The cover mechanism seems like it would be intuitive but it isn't to me.   I know I'm copying what I've read but it plays like a cross between Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter and Halo.  It's fast paced but you just can't run and gun.  Lots of use of cover.   

Loading screens....what little there are of them.....are fast.   
 
I was part way through the first level when I got the xbox bubble popup "<dog name> wants to play".   Of course, I accepted because he is a buddy of mine.  Turns out most of my Tuesday night crew were there plus we ended up with some people that were just random off the web.   The game play was called "warzone" which is basically team killing each other on these maps.  The game is sort of like Counter Strike where you play rounds in a match but once you win 3 out of 5, you get a new map to play on.  Each round you alternate spawn points.  Each round lasted maybe 5 minutes tops.   The multiplayer game play controls are the same as used in single player with the addition of the "curb stomp".  The levels themselves seem appropriately sized for 4v4 with weapons at strategic locations.
 
The 2-3 guys that showed up with us had been playing already.  They were actually quite good.   We ended up splitting them up and splitting ourselves up to balance up the team.  I played roughly 50% as locust and 50% of the time as COG.  There doesn't appear to be any difference between the 2 races beyond asthetics. 
 
I think the whole hour I was playing multiplayer....I got maybe 6-7 kills.  Did I mention I suck?   Did I mention I suck really, really bad?   We played 5 matches (each consisting of 3-5 rounds) on 5 different maps.  Each map was new to me for the first time.  I ended up getting the kills near the end of the play time.  Mostly because I was listening to the leader and we were working together.  It was very satisfying to be the last one living once and making that final kill. 

My biggest issue is the cover mechanic.  My 2nd biggest issue is that I'm more of a GRAW type player.....meaning slower and methodical.   I can hold my own in that game against my friends.   My 3rd biggest issue is a decided lack of ability to learn maps quickly.  My 4th biggest issue is the reload mini-game.  I need to get the timing down on the reload to get a better load-out.
 
Oh...and there is no "radar".  Seriously, no idea where anyone is.  You have to talk and know the lay of the land.   Another failing of mine. 
 
I then got disconnected.  Not sure what happened there but the guy who was hosting has had issues with games getting disconnected in the past.  I sent him a voice message but they actually bailed right after that.  I went back to single player and played through all of the first "act" of the game.   I'm playing "casual" but I'm still challenged.  If you've watched videos on the web,

Spoiler for Hiden:

I've encountered the scene where you are in the fountain and you have to close all the emergence holes.

  I've also used the Hammer of Dawn to take out some big baddies.    The game itself is fairly linear but it has areas where you can go multiple directions.   The enemy AI actually seems pretty intelligent.  The buddy AI not so much.   They've walked into my line of fire quite frequently. 
 
It's cinematic. You know how when you see videos of game sequences released by the developer and they look totally awesome but when you play that scene you don't have the same camera angle and it doesn't look the same?  Well, this is an improvement to that but it's not quite perfect.  In the game, there are ways to focus in on what the game is trying to show you but it's optional (you hit the Y button and it will focus on a point of interest).   Things can block your view still and you don't have quite the same camera angle but things look pretty darn fantastic and you don't miss things.   It makes it pretty cool.
 
The last thing is that you really get a sense of an underlying story and additionally, there appears to be a "theme" that your character is trying to represent.    I don't want to go into any detail to avoid spoilers.

- shaggy

<edit>Re-reading the first line of my post in context of the whole....I was referring to my own multiple posts in this thread w/o any impressions and not any kind of lack of impressions from others.    Everyone who has posted impressions here are doing a good job of it in my opinion.</edit>

[MerianMoriarty]

zomgluv. <3

this game is so f-ing much fun.  i haven't had this much fun in a shooter since GRAW came out, and for that one, the campaign sucked ass.  i'm digging the campaign to gears.  true, the allied AI has an alarming propensity to do stupid things while telling you to go do smart things, but i enjoy having a fairly intelligent opponent.  and the graphics are shiny.  and there's really nothing quite like coming up behind a guy on a gun turret and chainsawing him in half.

the team fights on live are kinda mediocre if you're having an off day and the other team is doing really well, but when we had some more balanced teams later last night, it was super fun.  toward the beginning of the night, tho, there was Yosarian and ForgeForsaken, and they were kicking our asses, lol...  we found more evidence that Jarrodhk and PapaSmurff4 should never be allowed to be on the same team, too.  besides, they had more fun trying to blow each other to tiny pieces.  Big Willie made for some awesome fire support, too, but we really missed Soulchilde. <3

campaign wise...yeah, who else heard the LT say "take out the spotter first!" and then saw all three of the squad members just run straight at the turret? =_=....  other than that, i'm liking the dialogues between Dom and Marcus.  funny stuff.  i feel like playing coop campaign...........

[happydog]

campaign wise...yeah, who else heard the LT say "take out the spotter first!" and then saw all three of the squad members just run straight at the turret? =_=....  other than that, i'm liking the dialogues between Dom and Marcus.  funny stuff.  i feel like playing coop campaign...........

That was the first spot that I had to try multiple times because of my idiot team.

[Lockdown]

OK.  I have played up to the first checkpoint, and maybe a little past it, and here are my thoughts...

1) NOW I remember why I play sports games almost exclusively on consoles and save the FPS games for my PC.   

2) The game plays differently than I anticipated.

3) We really should segregate our gaming sessions into two groups.  Group 1 = Normal players with normal skills.  Group 2 = Total Retards.

I could captain Group 2, no problem.  Oh do I feel sorry for whoever has me on their team.  I find this game SO much harder than GRAW, and I fully understand the cover concept.  Wow.


 :icon_confused:

[Nth Power]

Ugh, I generally suck too.  I spaz out and target too far to the left or too far to the right, but I kinda knew that going in. 
It does look phenomenal though and I'm having fun in the SP.  I seem to have small problems with cover at times, but hopefully that will get better with practice.

Is there a way to move and hop over a low wall instead of having to move against it as cover first?  I'd like to move, hop and keep moving sometimes.

[Booner]

I find this game SO much harder than GRAW, and I fully understand the cover concept.  Wow.

I smoked GR:AW, but this is a whole different ballgame....I'm getting smoked. It's just exponentially faster than GR.

I'm perhaps another hour into it and am starting to find my groove with the control setup and the nuances of the cover system, yet I still find myself stuggling to keep up with the action. I am getting to the point where I rarely stick my head up if they are closing on me, and have started using the blind fire more often. I find the blind fire will get the locust to take cover themselves, thus giving me a little more time to check my options....but it's still frantic as hell.

I likey!

Is there a way to move and hop over a low wall instead of having to move against it as cover first?  I'd like to move, hop and keep moving sometimes.

I just start tapping the A button right as I'm getting to the cover and I'm getting OK results. Sometimes he'll go on over and sometimes not,...but hell, grabbing cover isn't the worse thing that can happen in a firefight. 

[denoginizer]

I was finally able to get my copy this afternoon.  Unfortunately I have 2 Madden league games scheduled tonight 

I hope to get some time in with GoW at some point though.

[Jarrodhk]

The thing about the multiplayer is that everyone can contribute to the success of the team, regardless of how well they shoot/dodge/etc.  Having someone supress the enemy while others flank is just as key to winning as being able to headshot people from across the map.  <eyeballs Papasmurff>

[Harkonis]

I'm now addicted to the versus online, it's an absolute blast and the revive works very well.  Just wish I could play versus and coop with some friends.... hint hint   Any of you people playing single player would get the same experience with coop 

[MrDuck]

Raaaaaarrr!!!

I can't wait for it to (hopefully) arrive on friday!

Though shooting starts this weekend for my Audiovisual Production class' final project, merde...maybe I'll squeeze in a few nighttime hours...¬¬

Can't wait to play with/against you guys. Cheers

[papasmurff]

I'm now addicted to the versus online, it's an absolute blast and the revive works very well.  Just wish I could play versus and coop with some friends.... hint hint   Any of you people playing single player would get the same experience with coop 

Man I headshot you guys like 2 times (okay maybe it was like 20) and I get all this love....geeze....looks like we need to play some more so I can lay the smack down.... j/k everyone does contribute and it is fun to play with a good group of people.

[papasmurff]

I am on right now if anyone wants to play let me know

[Jarrodhk]

So there we are... online and waiting.  Watching Lockdown and Soulchilde and Bigwilliestyle come on, and then hide away in 'appear offline mode'. 

That's okay guys... we didn't really want to play.   

[Calvin]

Ok so I really only have one issue/question to ask (no impressions till later tonight ). Basically, playing on Hardcorps feels like playing on hard on most games, not regular. Your squadmates take so much damage so quickly that they frequently die before they can supress for you or take fire so you can flank, and Marcus also takes a shit-ton of damage. Unfortunately, Locusts sometimes take like 2 full clips to take down, and that can be frustrating. I almost feel like the skewed damage stuff is making hardcorps less of a representation of the tactics they want you to employ than standard might be (keep in mind I havent tried it on standard yet). Since you pretty much have to start over or change profiles to reset difficulty from the beginning-should I start over and enjoy the game on casual first? Its not that hardcorps is too hard, it really isn't-I am almost at the end of the first act and have only found ojne place with multiple reloads necessary-its just that..well..one enemy shouldn't take that long to kill! It sort of makes me feel it takes some of the superb tactical options that they put in there out of it...any thoughts from you guys playing casual/hardcore?

[Misguided]

Since you pretty much have to start over or change profiles to reset difficulty from the beginning-should I start over and enjoy the game on casual first?

You certain of that? I read a post earlier that said you could change difficulty mid-stream. Perhaps I misunderstood.

[Lockdown]

So there we are... online and waiting.  Watching Lockdown and Soulchilde and Bigwilliestyle come on, and then hide away in 'appear offline mode'. 

That's okay guys... we didn't really want to play.   

I know.... I'm a loser.  Honestly, this game and me are not cohesive right now.  It is so much faster than I anticipated it being.  On the bright side, I did finally try the Rainbow Six demo and loved the crap out of that.  However, that really doesn't belong in this particular thread, so www.zipitt.com from me.

I will attempt to find harmony with GoW over the weekend, but right now, it's looking bleak.  (edit: If things don't turn around, my nephew is getting one hell of a cool early Christmas gift.  And please don't anyone take my comments as a negative toward GoW, it is more a style thing for me, as I am not bashing the game itself.)

[Tebunker]

what can people say about some reviews, a couple from Europe, stating that GOW doesn't really bring anything new to the genre, but is really pretty and fairly polished(minus a couple of people having some technical issues) game. I think one person connected it to Quake, I've only read some third party commentary on the reveiws and title. Especially one developer from EA Montreal saying that GOW does nothing new, doesn't innovate or really bring anything new to the gameplay table, but is very pretty, polished to a T and that's the kind of stuff a lot of gamers want.

So I just want to see some more comments beyond, the game is cool or effing fun, anyone not loving the game so far, etc.?

Also want to know if people even think that shooters really need to push the envelope and introduce new ideas? Is it enough to be the most polished and best looking game in the genre?

[Kevin Grey]

Okay, so I'm loving Act 2 but, man, I think Universal/David Twohy (makers of Pitch Black) coulld sue the shit the shit out of MS and Epic if they wanted to. 

what can people say about some reviews, a couple from Europe, stating that GOW doesn't really bring anything new to the genre, but is really pretty and fairly polished(minus a couple of people having some technical issues) game. I think one person connected it to Quake, I've only read some third party commentary on the reveiws and title. Especially one developer from EA Montreal saying that GOW does nothing new, doesn't innovate or really bring anything new to the gameplay table, but is very pretty, polished to a T and that's the kind of stuff a lot of gamers want.

I definitely don't see anything innovative here.  Even the cover mechanics are evolutions of stuff that's already been done before.  However, it's incredibly polished and there is quite a bit of variety to some of the level design that Epic did a really good job of keeping out of previews.  It's a lot like Half Life 2 in that sense, with a good heaping of Resident Evil 4 thrown in on top.

[Jarrodhk]

Agreed.  The game is very polished.  I didn't see any bugs when papa and I ran through the campaign co-op.  Fairly short though, if you are only looking for the sp side of things, you might want to rent first.

The multiplayer is the most fun since GRAW for the 360, hands down.  My one complaint would be that it's only 4v4, which means we can't get more friends into the games to play.
The levels are pretty well varied, and from playing with 4v4 squads that didn't vary in composition over all of the maps, either side can have a predispositon for certain maps and sweep 3 rounds  to 0.  Only to play some of the other maps and have the exact opposite happen. 

You really begin to learn who prefers what tactics/weapons.  (turtle and papa I'm looking at you... for that matter calvin and his bow/chainsaw of doom.)  Who you have in your squad makes all the difference in how you need to approach each level.

I think I'm done rambling for now.

Awesome games everyone that played tonight!

[Jarrodhk]

Lockdown:  Bummer man.  Have you tried the multiplayer at all?  It does go fast... but having 3 people to back you up, revive you, cover you a@@ when you run out into the middle of 3 opponents is so much fun.

Sorry, just got done with a marathon session of multiplayer 4v4 and am still hyped up.  Helps that I really starting finding my rhythm at the end.

[USMC Kato]

Excellent Excellent game for me so far on the single and especially the multiplayer side.  I come home for work play a couple hours of the campaign, then I get invites from the GT'ers for some multiplayer and I had a blast.


Gamertag: USMC Kato

[shaggydoug]

.....then I get invites from the GT'ers for some multiplayer and I had a blast.

+1

[DonD]

I'll be looking to pick this one up today.

The call of the Goonsquad is a powerful one indeed.  See y'all tonight (I hope).

[Soulchilde]

Sorry for not joining up for MP last night. Me and Willie  wanted to play some SP Co-op.   We probably will finish up tonite I think.  We just made it to the cart control room in the factory.


Btw, Factory level is SWEET!

[Sparhawk]

I will not buy Gears of War. I will wait until I finish FF XII. I will not buy Gears of War. I will wait until I finish FF XII. I will buy gears of war...

Fuck.


I hop on Live last night to check for any new content and I think I got about 100 fucking invites to play. If that isn't encouragement to purchase I don't know what is.

[DamageInc]

Yeah I had a good deal of fun, but it does take a bit of time to get comfortable with it.

Keep trying Lockdown, I come from the PC world and I am struggling too, but it seems to get better the more you play.

[EngineNo9]

So far I have to say that I'm not all that impressed with what I have played of the single player.  Don't get me wrong, it's is very beautiful and seems pretty polished and such, but it just seems like another shooter.  Maybe it's because I've just been playing other ones like Black and F.E.A.R., but the one thing I notice is that hardly anything can be shot-up or destroyed. 

I also don't like how there is the delay between when you hit the 'A' button and when your guy actually does something.  You have to hold it down just to start running, or just to take cover.  Something tells me that if they had just had seperate buttons for a couple actions it would have worked out a bit better.  I also dislike how the "roadie run" makes you pretty much go in a straight line.  Are you telling me that just because he is moving forward a little faster he can't turn?  Is he a fucking tank?

I guess it comes down to the fact that I was really excited to play the game and now that I have it I don't find myself drawn back to it.  That is the halmark of a great game to me, and this just isn't doing it.  I'm sure I will keep playing a bit this weekend, but I can't say I'm too happy with my $60 purchase so far.

[Kevin Grey]

I guess it comes down to the fact that I was really excited to play the game and now that I have it I don't find myself drawn back to it.  That is the halmark of a great game to me, and this just isn't doing it.  I'm sure I will keep playing a bit this weekend, but I can't say I'm too happy with my $60 purchase so far.

How far are you?  I was kind of meh on the game in Act 1, but Acts 2 and 3 were amazing, and I'm in love now. Cannot wait to get back to playing it.  Kept me up way past my bedtime for two nights running.

Agreed on being disappointed with the lack of environmental interaction though. 

As far as the roadie run goes- it's a matter of momentum, when you're barreling ahead like that, you can't really turn on a dime.  You can turn slightly but not 90 degrees or anything. 

[Irongut]

Thanks for inviting me last night guys! I had great fun.  I'd like to say I was tired from already having a couple of hours in and that affected my performance a bit, BUT.... I think I just have a lot of learning to do.

Only issues I've had with the game as a whole:
1) In matchmaking for pick-up ranked/non-ranked games, even if I refresh the list of server options, it seems to disconnect immediately upon selecting a server in a lot of cases.

2) Weapon pickups from downed enemies.  Dropped my chainsaw in the SP campaign and had a heck of a time finding another from a dropped enemy.  I had thought i could hear them chainsawing away though.  Not a bug, I just wanted my chainsaw back!

3) I sometimes get stuck going from cover to cover.  Its probably just me.

4) Chainsawing, when you set it up right its a dream.  Can be frustrating sometimes though hitting that sweet spot of distance between you and an enemy's position/facing.

I really really really enjoy this game.  Great fun and hope to catch you again soon (err tonight)