There’s a new preview for Gears of War 2 over at 1UP, and it tackles the sequel’s single-player campaign. It’s interesting to see that the next installment presents some new sequences that break up the familiar cover-oriented gameplay the series is known for.

Don’t forget to mark November 7 on your calendars. That’s when Xbox 360 owners are getting Gears of War 2, and it’s arguably the console’s best game for 2008. We can’t wait to play it.

Post from: EveryJoe

1UP previews Gears of War 2

If you own an Xbox 360, then there’s a very good chance you’re looking forward to Gears of War 2, the sequel to one of 2006’s best shooters. The original game was ultra-violent, visually stunning, and immensely satisfying. A PC version of Gears was released a year later, so it’s probably fair to say that Gears of War 2 would also have one eventually, right?

Wrong—for now at least. Epic Games lead designer Cliff Bleszinski told TVG that there are no plans for a PC version because:

“Here’s the problem right now; the person who is savvy enough to want to have a good PC to upgrade their video card, is a person who is savvy enough to know bit torrent to know all the elements so they can pirate software.”

There’s a flaw (or three) in this reasoning.

• First: does this mean the solution to piracy is to stop making games? We all know how harebrained that sounds.
• Second, Bleszinski is pretty much saying that everyone who has (or had) a fairly-powerful PC is also a software pirate. Granted that these people, present company included, is savvy enough to know bit torrent, but that doesn’t mean that we do use it.
• Third—piracy isn’t exclusive to the PC. Among the current-gen consoles, Wii and Xbox 360 games are arguably the most pilfered. In fact, the number of pirated PC games is dwarfed due to the volume of pirated games for these consoles.

Bleszinski seems to have forgotten that a well-constructed and continuously-supported online multiplayer keeps players around for years. To name a few, there’s Counter-Strike, Half-Life, Battlefield 2, and Epic’s own Unreal Tournament games.

If the sales of Gears of War PC weren’t up to snuff by Bleszinski’s standards, then someone should tell him it wasn’t because of piracy. If you’d recall, Gears PC came out in late 2007, roughly the same period when the heavens conspired to release an insane amount of excellent shooters like Call of Duty 4, Bioshock, The Orange Box (which came with five terrific games), Metroid Prime 3: Corruption, Crysis, and Unreal Tournament 3. Did I miss anything?

Interestingly, Epic Games wouldn’t be here today if it wasn’t for PC gamers. Now, he thinks they’re pirates. Funny how time and a Ferrari changes things.

Image for Gears of War 2 is courtesy of Microsoft Game Studios.

Post from: EveryJoe

CliffyB says Gears of War 2 not coming to PC, calls savvy PC gamers “pirates”

Notice anything odd about the clip? I did. Cliffy B. is looking buff and decides to show it off. So he finally got rid of the geek look. Yes, it took him years to do so even if he was making truckloads of money for the longest time.

The guys over at Game Videos decided to make an analysis video to go with the gameplay footage. It’s really helpful if you’ve never played Gears of War before, or are utterly indifferent clueless when it comes to the names of each vehicle, weapon, or alien in the game.

This video was obviously taken from an Xbox 360 (see the context-sensitive button controls?). The clip also gave us more proof that the dual analog sticks control scheme are terrible for shooters. See how the player couldn’t get a bead on the flying thingies (the Game Video guys said they’re called “Reavers”) that flew around?

Source: Joystiq

Post from: EveryJoe

Watch first Gears of War 2 gameplay video

Among my favorite new features included in the tech demo are the advanced character lighting, high-density crowds, better-looking water, and soft-body physics. Part one was quite dark no matter how high I turned up the gamma, so better lighting means I can see Fenix and company better.

This time, we get a “horde” treatment when it comes to the Locust because Gears 2 is said to be capable of showing a hundred aliens onscreen at the same time. Pathfinding seems a bit shoddy however. Notice how the Locust bottlenecked when trying to get past an upturned car that was in the way?

At last, we get meat chunks and T-1000 blobs for enemies, thanks to the soft-body physics. I wonder how this would affect gameplay. Perhaps a blob soccer mod with some sort of gravity gun in the future?

Any of you looking forward to Gears of War 2? That’s a stupid question. Of course you are. I wonder what kind of rig it would take to run this game on the PC. Who knows? Perhaps the world would be rid of RRoD by then.

Post from: EveryJoe

Gears of War 2 looks even better than the original

GDC – Gears Of War 2 from Joy Stiq on Vimeo.

Cliffy B. then shows up after the trailer was shown to confirm that the rumors of a sequel are indeed true. The most surprising part? The game is coming out this November. As expected, Gears of War 2 is an Xbox 360 exclusive. Yeah, expect a terrible PC port a year after.

This news bodes well for the legions of Xbox 360 owners who’ve been pining for a big 2008 release. If you think Halo Wars alone is going to save the Microsoft console from coming out third in the race, think again. The caliber of a Gears of War sequel would definitely help the 360’s rather slim 2008 lineup.

Question is: Would Gears 2 be enough to keep the 360 ahead of the PS3?

Post from: EveryJoe

Confirmed: Gears of War 2 is for real and it’s coming soon