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    Gears of War 2

    Game » consists of 13 releases. Released Nov 07, 2008

    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.

    Jeff and the guys over exaggerated the graphics improvements!!

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    TwoOneFive

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    #1  Edited By TwoOneFive
    Gamespot Gears 2 vs Gears 1 graphics
    I really enjoyed the second game, but i after getting to seriously look at some decent comparison shots here, i actually thought the first game looked better in many of the comparisons (i didn't read anything they wrote though, which you shouldn't either, they're just trying to feed you their opinions, just check out the pics and make your own judgements.)

    all i know is though, that the guys on GB were making it out like this game blew away the previous one in terms of graphics. i remember Brad, in a bombcast, getting all nerdy about how incredibly detailed Marcus' face was and getting all into to detail about the gruesome scarrrrsss 00o0oh. really not that big of a difference. 
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    get2sammyb

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    #2  Edited By get2sammyb

    I should clarify I have only played the first game but from looking at that I think Gears 2 is a huge step forward.

    *shrugs* I'll leave this to the people who have played both.

    EDIT: Still think Gears 2 looks better but on second look I do prefer the colouring of Gridlock and the rain on Subway. However -- Gears 2 looks much more defined. I don't know. I haven't played Gears 2. Blah, blah.

    EDIT 2: Aren't these the maps from a downloadable map pack? I'm sure the ingame graphics of the campaign are the step forward GiantBomb talked about. They don't usually make things up?

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    weltal

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    #3  Edited By weltal

    Uhh, Gears 2 looks a shit ton better, looking at those shots.

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    MattyFTM

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    #4  Edited By MattyFTM  Moderator

    Still shots don't really show graphical differences well. Only seeing the action in motion really shows it well.

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    wefwefasdf

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    #5  Edited By wefwefasdf

    Gears 2 is a lot more defined it is just that Gears 1 used a darker color scheme to hide it. I personally like the darker colors though.

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    daniel_beck_90

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    #6  Edited By daniel_beck_90

    Gears of War 2 is noticeably a better looking game than already stunning  GOW1 . 
    you know what ?!  you can not really judge the graphics by just looking at the internet images , go pick up both games and play 'em (on an HD-TV) and then you'll realize the huge visual improvements occurred in the second game

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    crunchUK

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    #7  Edited By crunchUK

    it's simple really

    seeing the even more detailed textures pass by you smoothly is just *drool*

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    jakob187

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    #8  Edited By jakob187

    Here we go, looking at SCREENSHOTS to compare graphic capability.  Moreover, you are talking about the revamp of a previous map!!!  Should we compare Cold Storage to Lockout now?


    Running gameplay is the only thing that matters to me.  Hope y'alls screenshot war here goes well...
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    TwoOneFive

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    #9  Edited By TwoOneFive

    hmm maybe im seeing things wrong,

    i know the colors were better, and i know the depth of field is better, but is the texture work that much better?
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    Sanch0

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    #10  Edited By Sanch0

    Beautiful game! I'm only just into the underground part, a little after the cinematic with the badass predator like guy but that first section blew me away! I hope it keeps it up throughout, I'm pretty sure it will deliver. Bravo!

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    The_Dude

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    #11  Edited By The_Dude

    Gears 2 looks better, but those pictures are all pretty terrible, what the hell is up with the resolution?

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    jakob187

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    #12  Edited By jakob187
    TwoOneFive said:
    "hmm maybe im seeing things wrong,
    i know the colors were better, and i know the depth of field is better, but is the texture work that much better?"
    Well, given the amount of horrificly bad UE3 texture pop-in that you find in the first game when you compare it to the second....yeah, GoW2 does have better texture work.
    But again, you are also talking about two different games with two different feelings.  The first GoW was very dark and high contrast.  GoW2 is very different.  On top of that, a lot of the detail on the multiplayer maps was dropped down a bit all around just for the sake of faster loading and bringing anything out that could lag the match down.  In turn, though...they didn't search their code and test it enough for all the glitches in multiplayer, so    =  /
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    Captain_Fookup

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    #13  Edited By Captain_Fookup

    Do everyone a favor and never post articles from Gamespot again.

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    toxicEnchiliada

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    #14  Edited By toxicEnchiliada
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    Player1

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    #15  Edited By Player1

    I don't know what shots you were looking at, but in my opinion Gears 2 blew the first out of the water.

    Still though, Gears was the best at its time, so I'll never forget my initial amazement with it's graphics.

    But after actually playing both games ( I assume you haven't, no offense, you don't come off as a guy who owns a 360) Gears 2 graphics are once again, the best of its time. They are the best graphics on the 360.

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    Babble

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    #16  Edited By Babble

    They should have shown shots of the underground levels. Multiplayer levels are quite as good looking as the single player is.

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    LiquidPrince

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    #17  Edited By LiquidPrince

    The biggest improvement is bigger color pallet. Although I sort of miss the monochrome from Gears one look.

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    Kazona

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    #18  Edited By Kazona
    LiquidPrince said:
    "The biggest improvement is bigger color pallet. Although I sort of miss the monochrome from Gears one look."
    Really? Judging from thoses shots I actually find the Gears 2 ones to be more monotonous in color. More detailed and well-defined, but with less color.
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    dsplayer1010

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    #19  Edited By dsplayer1010

    Gears 2's graphics are much more detailed than in the original

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    Zebadee

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    #20  Edited By Zebadee

    Gears 2 still has the annoying texture pop in but they hide it better by increasing their alpha once they have loaded.

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    Otacon

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    #21  Edited By Otacon

    I've only just got an xbox 360 so only now have i had a proper chance to play both games. I would say that Gears 2 is most definitely an improvement on the first game but it's not mind bogglingly better.

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    Gizmo

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    #22  Edited By Gizmo

    Would have to say Gears 1 looks better... judging from these screens alone, I haven't played it yet.

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    Player1

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    #23  Edited By Player1
    Kazona said:
    "LiquidPrince said:
    "The biggest improvement is bigger color pallet. Although I sort of miss the monochrome from Gears one look."
    Really? Judging from thoses shots I actually find the Gears 2 ones to be more monotonous in color. More detailed and well-defined, but with less color."
    thats because it shows multiplayer maps, and the world is virtually destroyed in gears 2, so its all dusty and gray. During the campaign you see way more color.
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    atejas

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    #24  Edited By atejas

    Want good graphics?
    Don't use Unreal 3

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    Rowr

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    #25  Edited By Rowr

    Wow i didnt realise till i looked at those shots how much they brightened the second one up.

    Also, Gears2 looks pretty incredible. How about you put the first game on and compare for yourself.

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    ltcoljaxson

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    #26  Edited By ltcoljaxson
    MattyFTM said:
    "Still shots don't really show graphical differences well. Only seeing the action in motion really shows it well."
    Yeah this. Seeing all the details moving and all the various blur effects/lighting effects makes Gears 2 look a lot better.
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    1_879_116_9420

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    #27  Edited By 1_879_116_9420

    I saw a graphics comaprison of Gears 1 vs. Gears 2 versions of the same maps on that site which shall not be named, and basically it looks like Epic ruined Gear's appearance in the new game. They put this sort of green/yellow tint over everything, and lost much of the variety of caves/human streets/swamps of the first game: now everything is swamped.

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    Arkthemaniac

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    #28  Edited By Arkthemaniac

    Wow.

    It actually kinda looks like they shot the entire thing trough a coffee filter.
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    HandsomeDead

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    #29  Edited By HandsomeDead

    I finished the second game a few times then went back to the first to finally complete it on Insane and I did notice a definite difference. It seems more to do with colours and lighting than actual base graphics though, which is something missed in those still shots.

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    Lieutenant

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    #30  Edited By Lieutenant

    A static compressed .jpg isn't the best way to compare graphics.

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    Diamond

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    #31  Edited By Diamond

    Those 'comparison' shots are amazingly shitty.  To me, Gears 2 looked worlds better than Gears 1.

    Gears 1 during the rainstorm fighting the lambent guys that would explode for the first time.  Rain effect was basically a noise shader, framerate would drop to below 10fps at times, lighting and colors weren't as nice IMO
    Gears 2 during the rainstorm, constant 30fps, nice lightning effects.  Rain effect was somewhat nicer, but still not perfect.

    Basically I hated how Gears 1 looked (and played for that matter), but I think Gears 2 is one of the top 10 best looking games released to date.

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    WilliamRLBaker

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    #32  Edited By WilliamRLBaker

    Gears of war 2 was a major upgrade over gears of war 1 sheer quality of models alone was upped let alone texture quality, and size of maps...ect
    The same for halo 2-3 the upgrade was amazing maps bigger, models better, textures better lighting better.

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    BiggerBomb

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    #33  Edited By BiggerBomb

    I have played both of them and I can assure you, they did not over exaggerate the graphical improvements of Gears of War 2 over its predecessor.

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    ArchScabby

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    #34  Edited By ArchScabby

    It seems like in Gears2 they added fog to all the levels.

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    LiquidPrince

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    #35  Edited By LiquidPrince

    Bigger color scheme is the biggest difference to me. It looks just as good if not better.

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    RHCPfan24

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    #36  Edited By RHCPfan24

    I don't know what I have to say that hasn't already been mentioned, but Gears 2's graphics are superior to the original. Though still shots are bad ways to compare them, there is still a huge improvement between the two.  Gears 2 has brighter colors, better lighting, better textures, better everything.

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    Cheapoz

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    #37  Edited By Cheapoz

    To what end does this nit picking benefit us?

    Gears 2 not only looks better, but Gears 1 still looks friggin great too, what do you people want?!
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    ArchScabby

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    #38  Edited By ArchScabby
    Cheapoz said:
    "To what end does this nit picking benefit us?
    Gears 2 not only looks better, but Gears 1 still looks friggin great too, what do you people want?!
    "
    Ice cream cake.
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    Cheapoz

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    #39  Edited By Cheapoz
    ArchScabby said:
    "Cheapoz said:
    "To what end does this nit picking benefit us?
    Gears 2 not only looks better, but Gears 1 still looks friggin great too, what do you people want?!
    "
    Ice cream cake."
    Make it happen.
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    LiquidPrince

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    #40  Edited By LiquidPrince
    Cheapoz said:
    "ArchScabby said:
    "Cheapoz said:
    "To what end does this nit picking benefit us?
    Gears 2 not only looks better, but Gears 1 still looks friggin great too, what do you people want?!
    "
    Ice cream cake."
    Make it happen."
    For everyone.

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    BiggerBomb

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    #41  Edited By BiggerBomb
    LiquidPrince said:
    "Cheapoz said:
    "ArchScabby said:
    "Cheapoz said:
    "To what end does this nit picking benefit us?
    Gears 2 not only looks better, but Gears 1 still looks friggin great too, what do you people want?!
    "
    Ice cream cake."
    Make it happen."
    For everyone.

    "

    Now.
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    SmugDarkLoser

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    #42  Edited By SmugDarkLoser

    they pretty much look the same but Gears 2 has much, much bigger environments

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    BlackWaterCO

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    #43  Edited By BlackWaterCO

    Man...Gears of War series is overrated im my eyes

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    Jeffsekai

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    #44  Edited By Jeffsekai

    Having gone back and played from gears online/campaning only a few days ago I can safley say that Gears 2 looks 10x better than the first one.

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    drakesfortune

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    #45  Edited By drakesfortune

    I have to agree, I don't feel that the graphics are improved as much as they made out.  There's definitely an improvement, but to me the biggest improvement was that the environments were much more interesting to look at, tastefully had color added to them, and better designed.  I actually went through and picked up a couple extra GoW1 achievements directly after finishing GoW2, and didn't feel like the improvements were nearly as pronounced as the giant bomb guys did.

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    Vecta

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    #46  Edited By Vecta
    ArchScabby said:
    "It seems like in Gears2 they added fog to all the levels."
    They added depth of field. A LOT of people seem to mistake it for texture blur purposefully done to make the game run smoother.

    And yes going back and forth between the 2 games you can easily see the improvement of Gears 2 over the original. Everything from the animations to the textures are much higher quality.
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    ArchScabby

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    #47  Edited By ArchScabby
    Vecta said:
    "ArchScabby said:
    "It seems like in Gears2 they added fog to all the levels."
    They added depth of field. A LOT of people seem to mistake it for texture blur purposefully done to make the game run smoother.

    And yes going back and forth between the 2 games you can easily see the improvement of Gears 2 over the original. Everything from the animations to the textures are much higher quality."
    no look at gridlock, it's all foggy in a greenish sort of way.

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