Gears Of War 2: Epic’s BOTS are Back
by dkpatriarch:
©2008 David Hilton:
Thank you Epic.
Thank you for the effort and intelligence to work out to bring back the bots to both online and offline multiplayer with Gears of War 2.
Since Perfect Dark Zero bots have gone missing this generation on the 360, with only Live Arcade titles like the simple but enjoyable Age of Booty integrating AI as opponents into games.
The focus this generation has been squarely on finding Live online ‘community’ members in lobbies or on friend’s lists to play against in multiplayer and owning Gold Live membership.
Games like the recent James Bond: Quantum of Solace, that would have been ideal with split-screen offline and online and definitely some bots, instead drop the ball and serve out the typical basic online experience.
I still play Timesplitters 2 on my aging Gamecube because games with bots and humans still makes for great fun and mayhem.
Online multiplayer is all well and good, but a game like Gears of War 2 really rounds out the multiplayer experience with its online and offline bots. Why do bots rule in Gears of War 2? I’m glad you asked.
I can play ANYTIME with no delay or lag:
There’s no waiting for lobbies to fill, or friends to answer their messages. Online you can get a few players into the game and fill in the rest with bots. Offline you can just play against a bunch of bots right away and don’t need to worry about people dropping out.
Or, in my case, worry about my unreliable Aussie Internet provider dropping me out when it decides to temporarily disconnect me for a few seconds (and no, I’m not calling Tech Help again!!!). Also, since Gears of War 2′s online matchmaking has been plagued with problems and with lag issues for Australians, the bots make the offline multiplayer matches a playable alternative.
Bots make multi FREE for all 360 owners:
You still a Silver Live member not even connected to the Internet? That’s okay with Gears of War 2…this game is one of the very few these days you can play offline and still have some good numbers of enemies and allies to boot, thanks to the computer controlled bots. You don’t have to pay to subscribe to Gold membership to have some multi fun.
Drop in, drop out:
Most well adjusted gamers have lives beyond gaming. I personally have a family life and other obligations and interruptions are my way of life. With offline multi and bots I don’t have to worry about long rounds where if I leave to prevent dinner from burning, or pause to prevent world war between my kids, I’m letting my team down. Or pissing people from around the world off because I’m being rude by dropping out. Uninterrupted blocks of time are rare for me these days.
It’s SAFE to play:
It’s good to have protection, and play safe. I know I’m going to have plenty of safe fun with more ‘intimate’ online matches with only a few special people I know and filled with an orgy of bots. If even my friends are mean, I can have even safer offline matches with myself and a bunch of bots.
Why is it safer? Because I’ll avoid those ego-driven online commando groups that train like they are in the military, taking everything all serious, memorising maps like their real lives depended on it, and knowing everything about the strengths and weaknesses of all the pixelated weapons.
I’ll avoid those pre-pubescent f-wits who yelp and trash talk their way through matches. Or those agro team-mates that get all explosive at me and leave negative feedback because I wandered off from the group (I got lost because I didn’t memorise the f-ing map, okay?) or get pissy because I muted my mic and ‘made the team lose’ for not communicating.
Playing with mostly bots or all bots makes it safe to suck without being at the bottom of a public points table too. It makes it safe to enjoy yourself and play the way you want to play, even if you get your head stamped on for it. Fun, without the abuse, but with plenty of ‘players’.
Gives a reason NOT to re-sell:
I’ve read a number of articles where game publishers whinge about how they lose so much money to the used game industry. The idea of having added downloadable content available later on marketplace was partly a way to keep buyers happy and not re-selling or trading-in games.
Epic, however, has come up with the best ideas of all: first, stop those who don’t play online from re-selling by adding an offline multiplayer with bots so they can have lots of fun and value after they finish single player, and- brilliant this- second, give them a code out of the box that unlocks free maps.
If you buy a used copy of Gears of War 2, you can’t re-use the code, see? No free maps. Might tempt some casuals to buy new, instead of budget like they are used to. Of course they would have to connect to the Internet to do it, though.
Horde Mode:
Waves and waves of enemies against you alone or against your small team of desperate online warriors. This mode gives both online and offline multiplayer a different exhilarating experience, using computer controlled Locust bots. This mode alone proves that bots rule!
AI that’s not bad:
Okay, so bots aren’t human. AI controlled enemies and comrades may never replace human cleverness and skill, but these bots aren’t too bad. They have individual characteristics that make them play a bit differently to each other too. The ability to change the bot difficulty also can change the challenge.
Gears of War 2 has thankfully brought bots back from the grave and other games may follow. Speaking of the dead rising, the upcoming zombie game from Valve, Left 4 Dead, is basically an online or offline split-screen multiplayer game with either AI bots or human co-op players (playing as survivors or zombies) making up the gameplay. And yes, from the demo I played, it works well. So bring on the bots!
©2008 David Hilton:
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Filed under: 1st Party Titles, Console gaming, Editorial, Industry News, Xbox 360, Xbox 360 News Tagged: | BOTS, Cliff Bleszinski, Epic Games, Gears 2 BOTS, Gears BOTS, Gears of War 2 Bots
I wish the bots were much better than they are. I mean, sometimes they go into “God mode” as me and my buddy call it when they snipe your head off as you are rolling and they just come out of roadie.. but most of the time I’d rather paint my wall and watch it dry rather than watch bots fight after I die. Because to put it simply, they don’t play anything like humans, they never tag grenades onto walls, and they walk right over your tags that are in the middle of the open (as long as you are playing guardian.. otherwise they stay on their side of the map and never come to get you). The bots are wayy too conservative in execution and warzone.
To prove the lack of funding in the department, another glitch is the fact that they can immediately start roadie running backwards without rolling. $5 fix?
Overall, I love the fact that they idea was there.. but Epic could’ve gone a little bit further and made it truly worthwhile. A+ in concept.. totally half-baked F in execution. It’s just too easy to run around by myself and kill them all even on insane. I feel like they should be able to walk on me with that kind of advantage. Cause God knows even 5 legit 1′s versus a 5 rank can’t lose like that. Well.. unless its frag round (but bots cant tag remember?)
Lastly, dedicated servers Epic… I would pay you directly an extra $5 a month to make the switch. 1v1 against host shottie = Can I just surrender now or what?.. Followed by an instagib from blind-fire 30 meters away.
What? there not that good…. The bots aim makes me feel as if ive been cheated, they lock on, blind fire head shot from the other side of the map, insta down with shot gun from a range where you thing they always have active reloads, they overpowered all difficulty does is their tactics not their aim and ability to instantly turn around and down u in a half a sec with a lancer when YOUR the one behind him shooting him with fucking actives from a shot gun… your teams bots turn fucking dipshit retarded after u die and basicaly run infront of guys with shotguns while your guys have smoke grenades, THEN they see u down and decide to walk right past you and get them selves blown up because they tried to take a dude with a boom shot on when they have a lancer— AT CLOSE RANGE…… In most ways they are the fucking most frustrating ai ive ever played with… but otherwise i accept them because i love gears of war so much… but if i wasnt a fan of epic…. i would say these bots are the fucking worst lazily done bots ever….. they are overpowered never try to take on a bot with a shotgun NEVER EVER TRY never… dont say ” zomg maybeh u just sux Hurh i pro ehrhrhrh” u try to take one on that has a shot gun they will fuck u up so bad
Yes, in my opinion Gears 2 was a solid Gears game that pushed a bit furthur but wasn’t a spectacular new experience. Well worth it though.
But the bots…bringing back bots makes this game worth buying just for that!
Best. Decision. Ever.
More games should take notice. Imagine combining Far Cary 2′s map editor and a multi with bots.
With news that Free Radical may be going out of business (which would suck and partly be because they gambled on the awful Haze), we may lose the Timesplitters franchise, which was awesome for its bot play.
I hope it isn’t true and that we get another fast-paced bot-filled game!
That’s a joke, gears 2 bots are the worst idea ever, trying to kill bots online with a ton of lag ain’t even fun, epic has been trying to fix their multiplayer for ages n the botches just haven’t lived up to it’s potential
Ahhh, the joy of bots. I have just bought (or rather paid for) this game on the strength of comments from this little forum. I had been dilly dallying for weeks whether to get it as I had heard that the single player campaing was quite short. However, now that I know that there are bots, “……let forth the dogs of war that unmitigated carnage may commence !!”
I too tried online gaming with the first X – Box and only ever did tried once due to the experience, I know Americans aren’t the only nationality to trash talk, but ek, by gum, they were the loudest and most frequent!!
I agree, americans ruin the experience of online gaming via x box live with their racist hate. Sure they’ve all but accepted black people over there.(about time) However, they seem to be forgetting that there’s more to not being racist then just accepting african americans, there are still plenty of other races on this planet that americans treat with offensive behavior. As a proud brit I’ve had just about enough of the american douche bags insulting me for communicating! Just because my voice doesn’t sound normal to them. I suppose they’re not all to blame, ass holes are bound to come ruin the fun if a company doesn’t take action against offenders of the later nature, which microsoft has not.
Agree with everything said here. I never got into the online GoW community because of lag and obnoxious Americans accusing me of stealing their kills all the time. Hopefully I can now enjoy multiplayer via split-screen (with a friend) with bots.
Quick question: Can you play horde mode offline split-screen with only two people or with bots making up the rest of the team?
I could not agree more. I’ve ventured a few times into Gears 2 online, but found the experience far too frustrating, between lag, quitters, and my own lack of experience. Now, I can play in a more fair experience, a more challenging experience, or a satisfyingly dominant experience whenever I choose. And Horde is straight up brilliant. I sincerely hope that the makers of the next Halo game can incorporate bots and a survival mode as well, I think that they should be standard of AAA shooters from here on out.
So right Davey Jay. Let’s hope more games do the same. We’ve still got Nightfire too, and of course Timesplitters 2 for the bots. They aren’t even close to Gears’ bots, so I’m glad we have a ‘this gen’ game with them now, besides PD0.
I was pleasantly suprised to pop in my Gears 2 disc on Friday while playing with a friend offline, and find bots available. I had no idea about this, but we played a little 5 on 5 and had an awesome time! The bots were responsive, worked together, and even decided to revive me when I took a dive. I now know that I’ll be playing this game for years to come.
In fact, I re-bought 007 Nightfire just last week so my brother and I could re-live the fun of multiplayer with bots. Such good times.