I have a feeling the game itself will probably suffer just like the first because so much focus has been put into the tech.
GoW was fun for a little while... but the visual business of the game and the overall desaturated, gray look was difficult on the eyes. I was constantly trying to squint and blur out the details to try and make out what was going on on the screen. Judging from the first screenshot of the video... things haven't changed. Hah
The run/cover/shoot novelty of the gameplay lasted about as long as the game itself. A little replay value could have been added if there was some type of item game involved.
The water and destructable environments are pretty cool. But it falls a little short. They put so much effort into making the water react to lighting and object movement within it, which is cool, but they couldn't manage to implement some kind of particle system for splashes? Or even some kind of 'wetting the surface' tech, ala Drake's Fortune.
The destructable environments does look cool. And I have a lot of respect for the artists that had to put together ALL that artwork. But again... am I going to be able to destroy everything? I would love to just stand there and shoot EVERYTHING on the screen and watch everything turn into wires.
I mean, yeah, it's a game and I understand that they're flaunting some pretty impressive tech. But there doesn't seem to be any substance behind it other than flash.
The destruction is nice and the new character lighting and large numbers is nice to see.
I agree with soul about the lack of splashes with water. Although the big object that's thrown in has a splash to it. Just not the smaller movements which should produce some spray also. The water really doesn't wow me much. All been seen before and nothing really impressive
Soft bodies are nice and I hope they're not used in a gimmicky fashion.
I had the complete opposite reaction, I felt like once I'd clamped on behind a pillar and shot some guys round the side, I'd seen all the gameplay there was. only got halfway through, and even that was persevering to see some cool artwork
While the source artwork was awesome (concepts/highpoly etc) the game itself entirely failed to hold my attention. Felt quite slow and clunky, although co-op was fun for a while.
I originally got it on 360 and didn't get further than a few levels in, then I got the PC version hoping I'd enjoy it more since I'm not much of a console gamer... and I really regret that purchase
Some of the new tech seems cool (not sure what the deal is with the ambient lighting, didn't look that amazing to me?), and the full screen ambient occlusion stuff has already been done in Crysis so it's not really groundbreaking (although it works fairly well) - the soft body physics and breakable environments was what interested me most, but it felt more like a marketing tool for the engine than something which will actually make its way into GoW2 as a useful or fun gameplay mechanic. More like a little graphical frill that will make people go "heh, cool" for 5 minutes then forget about it.
I really really hope GoW2 is a fun game, but I have a horrible feeling it's going to be more of the same as GoW.
GoW sold a ton of copies, and that's great for Epic, but personally I felt a bit let down by the game itself, so I hope the second installment is taken as a chance to rectify that rather than cash in with more of the same.
Yep I found it a bit meh. I was expecting a lot more tension, as well as more epic boss battles. The final boss battle was very anti-climatic. Looked pretty though.
i won´t buy gow2 if it´s like the first.. i like the first but its more like a fun-lan-coop shooter than a serious sp game.. i want some kind of gow mixed with halflife1
As a single player, solo game, I thought it could have done more with story. . . But as a co-op game and in multiplayer I absolutely loved it. I'll buy the second just to see where they go with it.
[ QUOTE ]
I adored Gears, there are very games where I play the single player twice (but this was one).
It felt right - solid, weighty. Co-op was great and online was great. I'd dig it out again if I wasn't addicted to Call of Duty 4.
So obviously I'm looking forward to GoW2.
[/ QUOTE ]
Bah, I can't get past the end scene in single player mode. It gets too annoying and old after a while of trying to finish it up, so I haven't played it over again on a different level. I have beat the end scene in co-op with my brother, but without someone with intelligence controlling the other character, it becomes way too difficult. I'm kind of curious what the secret is to winning the beating the final scene in SP mode.
[ QUOTE ]
Bah, I can't get past the end scene in single player mode. It gets too annoying and old after a while of trying to finish it up, so I haven't played it over again on a different level. I have beat the end scene in co-op with my brother, but without someone with intelligence controlling the other character, it becomes way too difficult. I'm kind of curious what the secret is to winning the beating the final scene in SP mode.
[/ QUOTE ]
Masochistic perserverance and some luck. I've done it on all difficulty levels except the last...and I don't really want to imagine that. Basically, it doesn't matter what weapons you have. Just go out there, hide behind the first piece of cover you come to, and wait for him to get near you, then roadie run your ass down to the troika on the other end of the platform, all the while praying that "KRYLL!!!" isn't shouted out before/after you get there...then just aim the troika at him and pray again that it finishes him off before his kryll eat you...
...I died back to back for an hour and a half before I finally got the right set of circumstances to take him down. In all actuality I also died, the kryll swarm had engulfed me, it was just luck that RAAM went down before I did. Ohh, and just forget about Dom. He goes down just make sure its in a well lit area so he's not eatten by Kryll...
Gears went down as one of my favorite games of all times next to Mass Effect. As an artist and gamer it hit all the right areas for me. Really looking forward to the sequel!
I heard that Madden 2009 is coming out this year too! Gears 1 was great. I hope there is enough new stuff in it. But either way I think it'll be a huge hit for Epic and M$.
Destroyable cover is great, the new features are sweet. Hopefully the sequel will be less linear and they go back to the more saturated, less visually busy style Epic once had (doubt they will!).
Hey, new tech is always nice.
I'm more excited for the new stuff in the engine than the game it's for right now, although GoW2 will probably be better, i'm still hurt by the first one.
i don't really care about the tech, its nothing groundbreaking. i just hope they hired some better writers for GoW2 than they had for GoW. i honestly can't remember a game with equally cheesy writing since duke3d.
New tech is kinda neat. Is the amb occlusion pass being computed at real time then? If so, it's about time. That kinda pixel shador has been around for years now. Probably only just to the point where it doesn't cost much anymore. :S
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Bah, I can't get past the end scene in single player mode. It gets too annoying and old after a while of trying to finish it up, so I haven't played it over again on a different level. I have beat the end scene in co-op with my brother, but without someone with intelligence controlling the other character, it becomes way too difficult. I'm kind of curious what the secret is to winning the beating the final scene in SP mode.
[/ QUOTE ]
Masochistic perserverance and some luck. I've done it on all difficulty levels except the last...and I don't really want to imagine that. Basically, it doesn't matter what weapons you have. Just go out there, hide behind the first piece of cover you come to, and wait for him to get near you, then roadie run your ass down to the troika on the other end of the platform, all the while praying that "KRYLL!!!" isn't shouted out before/after you get there...then just aim the troika at him and pray again that it finishes him off before his kryll eat you...
...I died back to back for an hour and a half before I finally got the right set of circumstances to take him down. In all actuality I also died, the kryll swarm had engulfed me, it was just luck that RAAM went down before I did. Ohh, and just forget about Dom. He goes down just make sure its in a well lit area so he's not eatten by Kryll...
[/ QUOTE ]
You play like Rambo :-) Torque bow breaks his shield, he can't take too many shots to the head with the sniper rifle, and stay out of the shadows. Getting to the troika is way more badass though.
I enjoyed the hell out of this game in coop, and eventually did a couple of runs in single player...beautiful all throughout. I hope they come up with some interesting gunfight scenarios with those new engine features.
I loved the singleplayer - same as Rick, one of the only games I have played through multiple times (ending was a little abrupt thought). I love the multiplayer too - it was pretty much the only game I played for eight or nine months from the day it launched. Gears multiplayer - best way to wind down after work.
[ QUOTE ]
i don't really care about the tech, its nothing groundbreaking. i just hope they hired some better writers for GoW2 than they had for GoW. i honestly can't remember a game with equally cheesy writing since duke3d.
[/ QUOTE ]
They did have a good writer. Susan O'Connor. But I think Epic held her back so she couldn't work her magic. Overall Gears felt like a rushed project where they just kept opening doors without closing any. It was oddly paced where grand events were nearly pointless, and smaller events were supposed to be the epic ones (such as the anti-climactic end boss which was just simply ridiculously easy, and I was left thinking the game must have bugged out somehow and ended before the real ending).
Overall I had a blast playing the game, but in the end, in light of all the potential to tell a kick-ass story and present it well, it fell very flat.
I loved Gears my wife and I played through it co-op three times. Hopefully Epic does what they always do, take notes and make things awesome.
Please, use a different silhouette for the different types of players. I can't tell you how many times I filled friendlies full of lead only to spot the tiny blue light while reloading. Son-of-a theres a clip I'll never get back.
After viewing the movies I realized that this isn't just new tech in Gears 2, its stuff being included with Unreal Engine 3 for Gears 2...which means that even if Gears 2 doesn't get it right, we have access to this when it comes out for PC, and modders can use it for their stuff.
I also want to shoot a giant cube of squishy meat now...
things i like about gears..
the idea was great
the art was good, the overall asthetic was a nice change in generic looknig sci fi stuff
the cover gameplay was neat( first few times i did it)
what i didnt like about gears
everything has the same silhouette, and that silhouette was very bland, nothing really stood out in the most import aspect of character design.
it was super repetitive, i beat the game, but i essentially played the whole game in the first 5 mins
worst voice acting/writing... loved the concept for the story, the dialog was sooooo dumb, nobody talks like that.
did like it overall,will buy sequel
tech stuff is neat, great tools for the mod scene.
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
New tech is kinda neat. Is the amb occlusion pass being computed at real time then? If so, it's about time.
[/ QUOTE ]
I believe it may be done with Beast which, from what I have seen is very kick ass.
[/ QUOTE ]
Isn't Beast an offline light baking solution?
I thought the AO thing they were showing off was a full-screen postprocess effect like what Crysis used, by running some algorithms over the Z-buffer.
So yeah, that's real time, and no, it's not new (although it is fairly good)... more info on that here: http://rgba.scenesp.org/iq/computer/articles/ssao/ssao.htm
I'm looking forward to when you see some ingame stuff later
this year, course at least now I can admit I've been working
on what many could have guessed!
I think we've covered a lot of the common complaints this time around
and Cliff's promises at GDC weren't hyperbole.
I'm pretty stoked to see this one finished.
I'm definitely looking forward to the sequel, but I'd be more happy if it was a prequel, since I'm interested to see how you've handled the background of the whole Locust race, if it really is based on mythology as I'm guessing it is. The bad guys originally being humans, but transformed somehow into the creatures they are now.
Also, things were hinted at about Marcus' background, but they were never explored.
Anyways, I'm sure #2 will be a blast to play, as the first game was, and if you really have addressed the issues people had, I'm sure it will be well worth the money and time
Yeah, I got my game informer a few days ago
The graphics look like the GoW1 screenshots did, when they first advertised it. In the end, GoW ended up being very very washed out and bland. I hope the same thing doesn't happen with GoW2. At least gameplay will be solid for sure.
Yeah, pretty much what Sectaurs said...I'm looking forward to it because I really liked the first one, those characters looking pretty unlikeable though..
The most memorable of these new addition may be Tai, a spiritual and meditative warrior from a tradition of honor-bound fighters. This familiar archetype should add a fun and perhaps mystical dynamic to the squad.
God, they didn't even try...
That said, if the chainsaws are there it'll be fine.
Replies
http://ve3d.ign.com/videos/22399/Xbox-360/Gears-of-War-2
http://www.joystiq.com/2008/02/19/gdc08-exclusive-mova-brings-lifelike-motion-capture-to-unreal-e/
Hope these haven't been posted before.
GoW was fun for a little while... but the visual business of the game and the overall desaturated, gray look was difficult on the eyes. I was constantly trying to squint and blur out the details to try and make out what was going on on the screen. Judging from the first screenshot of the video... things haven't changed. Hah
The run/cover/shoot novelty of the gameplay lasted about as long as the game itself. A little replay value could have been added if there was some type of item game involved.
The water and destructable environments are pretty cool. But it falls a little short. They put so much effort into making the water react to lighting and object movement within it, which is cool, but they couldn't manage to implement some kind of particle system for splashes? Or even some kind of 'wetting the surface' tech, ala Drake's Fortune.
The destructable environments does look cool. And I have a lot of respect for the artists that had to put together ALL that artwork. But again... am I going to be able to destroy everything? I would love to just stand there and shoot EVERYTHING on the screen and watch everything turn into wires.
I mean, yeah, it's a game and I understand that they're flaunting some pretty impressive tech. But there doesn't seem to be any substance behind it other than flash.
I agree with soul about the lack of splashes with water. Although the big object that's thrown in has a splash to it. Just not the smaller movements which should produce some spray also. The water really doesn't wow me much. All been seen before and nothing really impressive
Soft bodies are nice and I hope they're not used in a gimmicky fashion.
AO is definitely a nice touch.
Where's killingpeople, his dream has been realized!
It felt right - solid, weighty. Co-op was great and online was great. I'd dig it out again if I wasn't addicted to Call of Duty 4.
So obviously I'm looking forward to GoW2.
I originally got it on 360 and didn't get further than a few levels in, then I got the PC version hoping I'd enjoy it more since I'm not much of a console gamer... and I really regret that purchase
Some of the new tech seems cool (not sure what the deal is with the ambient lighting, didn't look that amazing to me?), and the full screen ambient occlusion stuff has already been done in Crysis so it's not really groundbreaking (although it works fairly well) - the soft body physics and breakable environments was what interested me most, but it felt more like a marketing tool for the engine than something which will actually make its way into GoW2 as a useful or fun gameplay mechanic. More like a little graphical frill that will make people go "heh, cool" for 5 minutes then forget about it.
I really really hope GoW2 is a fun game, but I have a horrible feeling it's going to be more of the same as GoW.
GoW sold a ton of copies, and that's great for Epic, but personally I felt a bit let down by the game itself, so I hope the second installment is taken as a chance to rectify that rather than cash in with more of the same.
I adored Gears, there are very games where I play the single player twice (but this was one).
It felt right - solid, weighty. Co-op was great and online was great. I'd dig it out again if I wasn't addicted to Call of Duty 4.
So obviously I'm looking forward to GoW2.
[/ QUOTE ]
Bah, I can't get past the end scene in single player mode. It gets too annoying and old after a while of trying to finish it up, so I haven't played it over again on a different level. I have beat the end scene in co-op with my brother, but without someone with intelligence controlling the other character, it becomes way too difficult. I'm kind of curious what the secret is to winning the beating the final scene in SP mode.
Bah, I can't get past the end scene in single player mode. It gets too annoying and old after a while of trying to finish it up, so I haven't played it over again on a different level. I have beat the end scene in co-op with my brother, but without someone with intelligence controlling the other character, it becomes way too difficult. I'm kind of curious what the secret is to winning the beating the final scene in SP mode.
[/ QUOTE ]
Masochistic perserverance and some luck. I've done it on all difficulty levels except the last...and I don't really want to imagine that. Basically, it doesn't matter what weapons you have. Just go out there, hide behind the first piece of cover you come to, and wait for him to get near you, then roadie run your ass down to the troika on the other end of the platform, all the while praying that "KRYLL!!!" isn't shouted out before/after you get there...then just aim the troika at him and pray again that it finishes him off before his kryll eat you...
...I died back to back for an hour and a half before I finally got the right set of circumstances to take him down. In all actuality I also died, the kryll swarm had engulfed me, it was just luck that RAAM went down before I did. Ohh, and just forget about Dom. He goes down just make sure its in a well lit area so he's not eatten by Kryll...
weeeeeeeeee fun
I'm more excited for the new stuff in the engine than the game it's for right now, although GoW2 will probably be better, i'm still hurt by the first one.
But there doesn't seem to be any substance behind it other than flash.
[/ QUOTE ]
Are you talking about the tech demo or something else?.
New tech is kinda neat. Is the amb occlusion pass being computed at real time then? If so, it's about time. That kinda pixel shador has been around for years now. Probably only just to the point where it doesn't cost much anymore. :S
[ QUOTE ]
Bah, I can't get past the end scene in single player mode. It gets too annoying and old after a while of trying to finish it up, so I haven't played it over again on a different level. I have beat the end scene in co-op with my brother, but without someone with intelligence controlling the other character, it becomes way too difficult. I'm kind of curious what the secret is to winning the beating the final scene in SP mode.
[/ QUOTE ]
Masochistic perserverance and some luck. I've done it on all difficulty levels except the last...and I don't really want to imagine that. Basically, it doesn't matter what weapons you have. Just go out there, hide behind the first piece of cover you come to, and wait for him to get near you, then roadie run your ass down to the troika on the other end of the platform, all the while praying that "KRYLL!!!" isn't shouted out before/after you get there...then just aim the troika at him and pray again that it finishes him off before his kryll eat you...
...I died back to back for an hour and a half before I finally got the right set of circumstances to take him down. In all actuality I also died, the kryll swarm had engulfed me, it was just luck that RAAM went down before I did. Ohh, and just forget about Dom. He goes down just make sure its in a well lit area so he's not eatten by Kryll...
[/ QUOTE ]
You play like Rambo :-) Torque bow breaks his shield, he can't take too many shots to the head with the sniper rifle, and stay out of the shadows. Getting to the troika is way more badass though.
I enjoyed the hell out of this game in coop, and eventually did a couple of runs in single player...beautiful all throughout. I hope they come up with some interesting gunfight scenarios with those new engine features.
i don't really care about the tech, its nothing groundbreaking. i just hope they hired some better writers for GoW2 than they had for GoW. i honestly can't remember a game with equally cheesy writing since duke3d.
[/ QUOTE ]
They did have a good writer. Susan O'Connor. But I think Epic held her back so she couldn't work her magic. Overall Gears felt like a rushed project where they just kept opening doors without closing any. It was oddly paced where grand events were nearly pointless, and smaller events were supposed to be the epic ones (such as the anti-climactic end boss which was just simply ridiculously easy, and I was left thinking the game must have bugged out somehow and ended before the real ending).
Overall I had a blast playing the game, but in the end, in light of all the potential to tell a kick-ass story and present it well, it fell very flat.
Please, use a different silhouette for the different types of players. I can't tell you how many times I filled friendlies full of lead only to spot the tiny blue light while reloading. Son-of-a theres a clip I'll never get back.
New tech is kinda neat. Is the amb occlusion pass being computed at real time then? If so, it's about time.
[/ QUOTE ]
I believe it may be done with Beast which, from what I have seen is very kick ass.
I liked the first Gears a lot aside from thinking that it was highly over-rated. I am looking forward to playing the sequel.
I also want to shoot a giant cube of squishy meat now...
the idea was great
the art was good, the overall asthetic was a nice change in generic looknig sci fi stuff
the cover gameplay was neat( first few times i did it)
what i didnt like about gears
everything has the same silhouette, and that silhouette was very bland, nothing really stood out in the most import aspect of character design.
it was super repetitive, i beat the game, but i essentially played the whole game in the first 5 mins
worst voice acting/writing... loved the concept for the story, the dialog was sooooo dumb, nobody talks like that.
did like it overall,will buy sequel
tech stuff is neat, great tools for the mod scene.
[ QUOTE ]
New tech is kinda neat. Is the amb occlusion pass being computed at real time then? If so, it's about time.
[/ QUOTE ]
I believe it may be done with Beast which, from what I have seen is very kick ass.
[/ QUOTE ]
Isn't Beast an offline light baking solution?
I thought the AO thing they were showing off was a full-screen postprocess effect like what Crysis used, by running some algorithms over the Z-buffer.
So yeah, that's real time, and no, it's not new (although it is fairly good)... more info on that here: http://rgba.scenesp.org/iq/computer/articles/ssao/ssao.htm
I may have to look into adding that to my viewer in the re-write
I'm looking forward to when you see some ingame stuff later
this year, course at least now I can admit I've been working
on what many could have guessed!
I think we've covered a lot of the common complaints this time around
and Cliff's promises at GDC weren't hyperbole.
I'm pretty stoked to see this one finished.
Also, things were hinted at about Marcus' background, but they were never explored.
Anyways, I'm sure #2 will be a blast to play, as the first game was, and if you really have addressed the issues people had, I'm sure it will be well worth the money and time
http://www.vitosverdict.com/?p=246
The graphics look like the GoW1 screenshots did, when they first advertised it. In the end, GoW ended up being very very washed out and bland. I hope the same thing doesn't happen with GoW2. At least gameplay will be solid for sure.
disregarding their ground-breaking new characters, i'm really looking forward to this.
God, they didn't even try...
That said, if the chainsaws are there it'll be fine.