Gears Of War 2 Preview

From our resident Gears of War fanatic.

by Sith Jim Lord

©2008 Jim McIntyre:

It’s no secret that I am somewhat fanatical about the Gears of War 1 multiplayer. I firmly believe there is no better multiplayer currently on offer. I am finally willing to admit here what I have been denying for so long; I was really quite worried about the multiplayer of Gears 2.

I couldn’t help but worry that Epic would screw the proverbial pooch with this iteration. With a lot of trepidation I picked up the controller, but when the controller was eventually wrenched out of my grasp nearly all my worries regarding multiplayer were dissolved.

My major concern was that the matchmaking would screw us Australians over. Unfortunately, this concern couldn’t be completely dismissed due to not having had a chance to play online.

We will have to wait to see how it works, and how much lag we suffer playing with people in other countries, but with the new party system in place there is a good chance we will be fine.

As well as the party system the other big change to the pre-match setup is the lobby system. Now you can finally change the game mode without closing the game and reopening another one.

Glitches were a large issue in the first game, as there was plenty of them, and even more people who would use them just to piss you off. Right here I need to say that I was told by Cliff Bleszinski that the version I tried was 6 months old.

* Trivia note. Also, in the first game, the most COGs were to be had in Act 1, we certainly hope they are spread out a littl emore this time rather than so many in one act – Act 1.

It seems that we may not be as rescued from glitches as we had all hoped. In the very first match I saw, someone accidentally got out of the map. Hopefully if the version truly was 6 months old (we have our doubts.) then this will be resolved, but we are simply going to have to wait and see the final product to know for sure.

I had a chance to ask Cliff a few questions, and he told me that if he could go back and do Gears 1 over the thing he would want to put in the most would be the stopping power. If you haven’t heard yet stopping power is simply when you shoot someone they run slower.

Its simple, but it does slow the game-play down a bit. This was another aspect I was slightly worried about, as it seemed likely all matches would descend into lancer battles if charging someone down with the shotgun won’t work.

I may have been correct about that as in nearly every match I played the opposing team spent the whole time shooting from cover with a lancer, but over all it seems to be a change for the better. It makes the use of tactics and team work even more neccessary than before as simply charging at people is likely to just see you killed.

If your, like me, a worried fan of the original then let me reassure you, Epic has not screwed over the winning formula. Gears 2 still plays like Gears, it is just a better Gears. If you were skilled in Gears 1 you will feel right at home with Gears 2. As for the glitches, host shotgun, and lag we are all just going to have to wait and see, but rest assured Gears of War 2 is not a backwards progression.

* Trivia note: One of the most hated function of the first Gears Of War Multiplayer was the Active reloading of the Sniper Rifle/Longshot. It annoyed many gamers to a point of total frustration.

©2008 Jim McIntyre:

Filed under: 1st Party Titles, Console gaming, Editorial, New Game Information, Xbox 360, Xbox 360 Game Previews, Xbox 360 News Tagged: | Cliff Bleszinski, clifford bleszinski, Cliffy B, Epic Studios, Gears 2, gears 2 multiplayer, Gears of War 2