This is why Gears 2 is awesome.

Posted by Sweep (8189 posts) - 4 years, 7 months ago

I spent my entire weekend playing Gears2 - Finished the campaign on Normal and I think I'm close to my 300'th multiplayer match or something. I also went out on Saturday night and had the most FUCKED UP "lets just be friends" conversation with a girl I hardly even know while she was sitting on my lap and making out with me. SO yeah, crazyness has taken place.

"Running wont help, I'm just going to shoot you in your asses!"

Lets get down to business. Its weird how the the most seemingly insignificant game design decisions can affect our playing style so dramatically. Frequent checkpoints or lack of penalty can make a player more reckless - but at the same time give them freedom to be more experimental in their playing syle without worrying about having to repeat large chunks of the game. Harsh consequences or lack of save points can create tension at the cost of frustration and reserved tactics. Pro's and Con's.

Gears Of War 2 has it nailed down. Frequent checkpoints and constantly refreshing battlegrounds compliment the intensity of its singleplayer and allow the story to proceed at a brisk pace. The new improved AI makes your teamates more reliable (I swear at one point Carmine was killing more dudes than I was...) and they will revive you when you fall, again adding to the sense of continuity to the story and making the gameplay less disjointed by removing checkpoints. It works for Gears Of War, which makes no effort to hide the shallow style of "shoot first, questions later" gameplay. Its as sharp as a chainsaw bayonet in its execution of every style of running and gunning - and despite its complete disregard for any kind of moral impact, it manages to pull of a complete rollercoaster ride of a computer game.

Online has been tweaked to iron out the flaws of the original. The lancer is now more powerful, chainsaw bayonets are ridiculously lethal, and the matchmaking is Halo3-esque which is great but can sometimes take forever to fill up a group. The matchmaking playlists also mean you will end up playing a lot of the game modes that were largely ignored in the original, something which is great. There has also been a serious reduction in lag and host advantage has successfully been disposed of. I can see myself spending a lot of time holding a lancer over the next few weeks.

Part of the reason I like writing so much is because I like getting people thinking. I love being able to show people a fresh perspective, and discuss the games I play in an articulate fashion. But i'm also a 20 year old chap who likes explosions. And Gears 2 manages to accomodate that section of my gaming requirements.

So yeah. Gears Of War 2 is amazing. You should totally go and buy it.

Oh wait, you already did.

Well.... This was a total waste of time then....

Thanks For Reading
Love Sweep

Moderator

#1 Posted by Sweep (8189 posts) - 4 years, 7 months ago

I spent my entire weekend playing Gears2 - Finished the campaign on Normal and I think I'm close to my 300'th multiplayer match or something. I also went out on Saturday night and had the most FUCKED UP "lets just be friends" conversation with a girl I hardly even know while she was sitting on my lap and making out with me. SO yeah, crazyness has taken place.

Lets get down to business. Its weird how the the most seemingly insignificant game design decisions can affect our playing style so dramatically. Frequent checkpoints or lack of penalty can make a player more reckless - but at the same time give them freedom to be more experimental in their playing syle without worrying about having to repeat large chunks of the game. Harsh consequences or lack of save points can create tension at the cost of frustration and reserved tactics. Pro's and Con's.

Gears Of War 2 has it nailed down. Frequent checkpoints and constantly refreshing battlegrounds compliment the intensity of its singleplayer and allow the story to proceed at a brisk pace. The new improved AI makes your teamates more reliable (I swear at one point Carmine was killing more dudes than I was...) and they will revive you when you fall, again adding to the sense of continuity to the story and making the gameplay less disjointed by removing checkpoints. It works for Gears Of War, which makes no effort to hide the shallow style of "shoot first, questions later" gameplay. Its as sharp as a chainsaw bayonet in its execution of every style of running and gunning - and despite its complete disregard for any kind of moral impact, it manages to pull of a complete rollercoaster ride of a computer game.

Online has been tweaked to iron out the flaws of the original. The lancer is now more powerful, chainsaw bayonets are ridiculously lethal, and the matchmaking is Halo3-esque which is great but can sometimes take forever to fill up a group. The matchmaking playlists also mean you will end up playing a lot of the game modes that were largely ignored in the original, something which is great. There has also been a serious reduction in lag and host advantage has successfully been disposed of. I can see myself spending a lot of time holding a lancer over the next few weeks.

Part of the reason I like writing so much is because I like getting people thinking. I love being able to show people a fresh perspective, and discuss the games I play in an articulate fashion. But i'm also a 20 year old chap who likes explosions. And Gears 2 manages to accomodate that section of my gaming requirements.

So yeah. Gears Of War 2 is amazing. You should totally go and buy it.

Oh wait, you already did.

Well.... This was a total waste of time then....

Thanks For Reading
Love Sweep

Moderator

#2 Posted by TheGTAvaccine (2883 posts) - 4 years, 7 months ago

"So yeah. Gears Of War 2 is amazing. You should totally go and buy it.

Oh wait, you already did."

LIAR!

#3 Posted by Jayge_ (10222 posts) - 4 years, 7 months ago

What is this odd phenomena... According to the Blogger of GiantBomb Sweep I have already purchased Gears 2, yet I never intend to purchase Gears 2?

The space-time-continuum is tearing itself apart.

#4 Posted by Sweep (8189 posts) - 4 years, 7 months ago

JAYGE = NAYSAYER OF GIANTBOMB.

Stop spreading your filthy negativity Jayge, we get it - you hate everyone.

(LOVE YOU JAYGE!!)

Moderator

#5 Edited by Lies (3865 posts) - 4 years, 7 months ago

You know, I'm making my way through the first Gears this week, and I'm not sure I see the appeal. The story is obviously worthless- I was expecting no better- the characters are caricatures, and the dialogue is so atrociously cringe-worthy, I want to turn down the sound every time I hear Marcus go "YEAH!" after successfully reloading his gun. Yes, that may be an accomplishment for you Fenix, but the rest of us don't get so enthusiastic about RELOADING. If you think otherwise, you can "eat shit and die."

But that's obviously all secondary to the shooting, and Gears just doesn't click for me. I don't get it. For a game that nails the feeling of being in a firefight so well, the bullets are practically paintballs for how much damage they do, and it seems like the Locust can always magically pop out and shoot me in the head as soon as I lean out of cover. The squad is useless to the point I won't even bother helping them up unless they're blocking cover I want. Even the weapons don't seem to pack much of a punch, despite the fantastic effects you'll see them having on enemies with gibbing.

I dunno. Maybe the Geas formula just isn't for me. The game just won't click. Even the Hammer of Dawn, something I thought would be really cool, kind of underwhelmed me compared to say an airstrike in Call of Duty 4. Is there some magic moment I need to wait for or something? I just don't really see the appeal in the Gears forumla. And by no means am I not a fan of explosions- I'm a HALO fan to an excessive degree- I just don't get Gears. What makes it so fun for you?

At this point man, I'm with Jayge. Not planning on picking up Gears 2 unless I have an epiphany with the first.

#6 Posted by Milkman (14216 posts) - 4 years, 7 months ago

Lies said:

"You know, I'm making my way through the first Gears this week, and I'm not sure I see the appeal. The story is obviously worthless- I was expecting no better- the characters are caricatures, and the dialogue is so atrociously cringe-worthy, I want to turn down the sound every time I hear Marcus go "YEAH!" after successfully reloading his gun. Yes, that may be an accomplishment for you Fenix, but the rest of us don't get so enthusiastic about RELOADING. If you think otherwise, you can "eat shit and die."

But that's obviously all secondary to the shooting, and Gears just doesn't click for me. I don't get it. For a game that nails the feeling of being in a firefight so well, the bullets are practically paintballs for how much damage they do, and it seems like the Locust can always magically pop out and shoot me in the head as soon as I lean out of cover. The squad is useless to the point I won't even bother helping them up unless they're blocking cover I want. Even the weapons don't seem to pack much of a punch, despite the fantastic effects you'll see them having on enemies with gibbing.

I dunno. Maybe the Geas formula just isn't for me. The game just won't click. Even the Hammer of Dawn, something I thought would be really cool, kind of underwhelmed me compared to say an airstrike in Call of Duty 4. Is there some magic moment I need to wait for or something? I just don't really see the appeal in the Gears forumla. And by no means am I not a fan of explosions- I'm a HALO fan to an excessive degree- I just don't get Gears. What makes it so fun for you?"

Well, first off, the story gets much better in Gears of War 2. But it sounds like you're looking at it a bit too seriously. The story is meant to be pretty light-hearted. You shouldn't be looking at as some sci-fi epic.

As for the shooting, I don't really know what to tell you. I get what you're saying with the bullets not doing much but that's kind of the idea. If bullets had the kind of effect that the Halo bullets had, then the game would be far too easy. As for the squad AI, that, once again, gets much better in Gears of War 2.

#7 Posted by MasterSplinter (636 posts) - 4 years, 7 months ago

Some highly regarded titles don't click with everyone. Imagine that. I don't particularly fancy Bioshock... I know. Boooooooo!

Sorry, I haven't accepted your invites. I haven't received it in the mail yet. I chose the online purchase route which results in a $10 cheaper, but marginally late arrival. Good impressions blog though.

#8 Posted by Jayge_ (10222 posts) - 4 years, 7 months ago

I love you too Sweep, but if you keep using that "invite all" button that keeps landing shit in my inbox, I'm going to pay Hamz to drive down/up/left/right there and strangle you.

#9 Posted by Napalm (9020 posts) - 4 years, 7 months ago

Greatest post ever.

#10 Posted by albedos_shadow (1485 posts) - 4 years, 7 months ago

The best thing about Gears 2? I got it free :)

#11 Posted by Milkman (14216 posts) - 4 years, 7 months ago

albedos_shadow said:

"The best thing about Gears 2? I got it free :)"

Congrats. Does anyone give a shit? No.

#12 Posted by Lies (3865 posts) - 4 years, 7 months ago

Milkman said:

"albedos_shadow said:
"The best thing about Gears 2? I got it free :)"
Congrats. Does anyone give a shit? No."

Wow, do you have to be such a dick to people? No.

And man, looking at that picture just reminds me what a cool gun the Lancer is. Shame it doesn't have much stopping power though.

#13 Edited by HistoryInRust (5953 posts) - 4 years, 7 months ago

Lies said:

"Milkman said:
"albedos_shadow said:
"The best thing about Gears 2? I got it free :)"
Congrats. Does anyone give a shit? No."
Wow, do you have to be such a dick to people? No.

And man, looking at that picture just reminds me what a cool gun the Lancer is. Shame it doesn't have much stopping power though."

It feels a lot better in Gears 2 than in the original.

Lies, since you're playing through the first one--shoot at the legs of the Locust. That seems to be really effective. Also, spam the chainsaw. Haha.

#14 Posted by Hulk (428 posts) - 4 years, 7 months ago

Gears 2 is a great game, but it has its problems. Host advantage is still there, just not as dominant as in Gears 1. Multiplayer has weapon balance issues that hopefully will be handled with a patch. But Hulk expects them to some how miss the mark again, since this is always the way with things.

#15 Posted by crunchUK (5963 posts) - 4 years, 7 months ago

WHAT??? there's an nivite all button????? 0_o also hulk every game has host advantage you just need to look for it. plus i wants gears 2 so bad

#16 Posted by crunchUK (5963 posts) - 4 years, 7 months ago

WHAT??? there's an nivite all button????? 0_o also hulk every game has host advantage you just need to look for it. plus i wants gears 2 so bad

#17 Posted by John (828 posts) - 4 years, 7 months ago

Ha! I have not bought it. World ar War FTW!!

#18 Posted by Ma7moud (805 posts) - 4 years, 7 months ago

Gears 2 = Game of the Gen. Every one should buy it.

#19 Posted by Hexogen (766 posts) - 4 years, 7 months ago

Gears 2 is amazing. It tops the first one in every way imaginable. I never thought I'd be saying this, but so far it's shaping up to be a serious GOTY contender for myself.

#20 Posted by Oni (1925 posts) - 4 years, 7 months ago

Gears 2 is awesome. Sweep I'm still looking for a buddy to tackle Insane mode with, you up for that some time? Also the invite all button is the best thing ever, I use it and it invariably results in people sending me messages of being busy or not having the game or whatever.

#21 Posted by keyhunter (3207 posts) - 4 years, 7 months ago

Lies said:

"You know, I'm making my way through the first Gears this week, and I'm not sure I see the appeal. The story is obviously worthless- I was expecting no better- the characters are caricatures, and the dialogue is so atrociously cringe-worthy, I want to turn down the sound every time I hear Marcus go "YEAH!" after successfully reloading his gun. Yes, that may be an accomplishment for you Fenix, but the rest of us don't get so enthusiastic about RELOADING. If you think otherwise, you can "eat shit and die."

But that's obviously all secondary to the shooting, and Gears just doesn't click for me. I don't get it. For a game that nails the feeling of being in a firefight so well, the bullets are practically paintballs for how much damage they do, and it seems like the Locust can always magically pop out and shoot me in the head as soon as I lean out of cover. The squad is useless to the point I won't even bother helping them up unless they're blocking cover I want. Even the weapons don't seem to pack much of a punch, despite the fantastic effects you'll see them having on enemies with gibbing.

I dunno. Maybe the Geas formula just isn't for me. The game just won't click. Even the Hammer of Dawn, something I thought would be really cool, kind of underwhelmed me compared to say an airstrike in Call of Duty 4. Is there some magic moment I need to wait for or something? I just don't really see the appeal in the Gears forumla. And by no means am I not a fan of explosions- I'm a HALO fan to an excessive degree- I just don't get Gears. What makes it so fun for you?

At this point man, I'm with Jayge. Not planning on picking up Gears 2 unless I have an epiphany with the first."

The action is the story. Who fucking cares how many times the evil wizard adjusts his shawl?

#22 Posted by MKO619 (83 posts) - 4 years, 7 months ago

ur right gears 2 is soooooo amazing

#23 Posted by GunstarRed (4103 posts) - 4 years, 7 months ago

The game is awesome other than when it broke before the big fish thing and destroyed my save resetting ALL my kills but not my friends in splitscreen, I have one huge issue with it and that is that people should learn to play horde as a team, Its so, so frustrating to play it with 2 random members of your team that always run off and get killed then whine about you not coming to save them...

also what is with people that join the campaign at insane difficulty yet continue to ignore the mechanics of the game... it took me two hours to find someone to do the first major split up section where you have to mortar a roof because the other person/s decide that pressing A to get into cover is just a little bit too much work... someone even said when the brumak is coming out of the tunnel. "when should i use the cannon thing " (mortar)... please if youre going to play it on insane.. please, please understand how the game works.

#24 Posted by ManlyBeast (1010 posts) - 4 years, 7 months ago

I spent my entire weekend playing Gears2 - Finished the campaign on Normal and I think I'm close to my 300'th multiplayer match or something. I also went out on Saturday night and had the most FUCKED UP "lets just be friends" conversation with a girl I hardly even know while she was sitting on my lap and making out with me. SO yeah, crazyness has taken place.

Nice try at trying to make yourself look cool. You stayed inside jacking off and play gears.

#25 Edited by daniel_beck_90 (3159 posts) - 4 years, 7 months ago

ManlyBeast said:

Nice try at trying to make yourself look cool. You stayed inside jacking off and play gears."

oooooooooooh , that is gotta hurt !!!

#26 Posted by Sweep (8189 posts) - 4 years, 7 months ago

ManlyBeast said:

"Nice try at trying to make yourself look cool. You stayed inside jacking off and play gears."

I wish I had done that, there is nothing more sexy than a Gun with a Chainsaw Bayonet.

Moderator

#27 Posted by Napalm (9020 posts) - 4 years, 7 months ago

Lies said:

"You know, I'm making my way through the first Gears this week, and I'm not sure I see the appeal. The story is obviously worthless- I was expecting no better- the characters are caricatures, and the dialogue is so atrociously cringe-worthy, I want to turn down the sound every time I hear Marcus go "YEAH!" after successfully reloading his gun. Yes, that may be an accomplishment for you Fenix, but the rest of us don't get so enthusiastic about RELOADING. If you think otherwise, you can "eat shit and die."

But that's obviously all secondary to the shooting, and Gears just doesn't click for me. I don't get it. For a game that nails the feeling of being in a firefight so well, the bullets are practically paintballs for how much damage they do, and it seems like the Locust can always magically pop out and shoot me in the head as soon as I lean out of cover. The squad is useless to the point I won't even bother helping them up unless they're blocking cover I want. Even the weapons don't seem to pack much of a punch, despite the fantastic effects you'll see them having on enemies with gibbing.

I dunno. Maybe the Geas formula just isn't for me. The game just won't click. Even the Hammer of Dawn, something I thought would be really cool, kind of underwhelmed me compared to say an airstrike in Call of Duty 4. Is there some magic moment I need to wait for or something? I just don't really see the appeal in the Gears forumla. And by no means am I not a fan of explosions- I'm a HALO fan to an excessive degree- I just don't get Gears. What makes it so fun for you?

At this point man, I'm with Jayge. Not planning on picking up Gears 2 unless I have an epiphany with the first."

Do you want to know why Gears Of War doesn't click with you? Because you play the worst FPS series in existence.

#28 Posted by Blinck (185 posts) - 4 years, 7 months ago

I don't really know why but I didn't like the first game. ( I played it for PC )
I just didn't get involved in the firefights, there seemed to be no power. The weapons seemed too weak ( except for the chainsaw :D ). The game just didn't click for me.
Anyway, the game deserves to be played just for the art direction, which is amazing.
This is just my opinions, I can understand that people love this game and I respect that, it just isn't a game for me I guess.
Cheers

#29 Posted by SmugDarkLoser (4619 posts) - 4 years, 7 months ago

Part of me wants to actually buy Gears 2 now, but with Gears 1 it lasted me a couple of weeks then I got bored of it.
So I'm not sure.

Maybe during a gaming drought

#30 Posted by Vaxadrin (2297 posts) - 4 years, 7 months ago

I played the first act at a cyber cafe. It was pretty meh. I saw people playing horde mode next to me, though, and that seemed like fun.

Gears of War 2

Join Delta Squad once more in the fight against the Locust Horde, in this "bigger, better and more badass" sequel to the 2006 smash hit.

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