Posted by Keenan "SuperMario290" in Xbox 360 | 1 comment

Gears of War 2: Dark Corners Screenshots

We’ve got some more screenshots of the latest Gears of War 2 DLC, which includes seven brand spankin’ new multiplayer maps, along with “deleted” campaign chapter, which will see Marcus and Dom stealthily infiltrating the Locust Hollow (the last two pictures in the gallery). Along with the official logo for the DLC. So yeah, lots of screens today, but definitely stuff to be psyched for.

You can pick up the pack  on July 28 for 1600 Microsoft Points ($20). The simultaneously-releasing Gears of War 2 “All Fronts” retail package will also run for $20, so you can get that to fill your Gears of War needs as well.

Posted by SuburbanHell in Microsoft, PC, Xbox 360 | 0 comments

Gears of War 2: Double XP Weekend!

This just in from the Gears of War 2 forums over on epicgames.com, stay in this weekend and create your own fireworks by blow shit up for 2x the experience in game!

“Super Moderator” Rob Ferguson writes:

It’s time to celebrate Independence Day! And we’re going to do that with some extra experience and an onslaught of our version of fireworks, the beloved Ticker. Oh and it’s looking like TU4 is going to drop just in time for this event!

Starting Friday morning you’ll be receiving double XP as well as a 500 XP bonus awarded to the winning team. And to give a little extra bang to Horde we’re bringing the Ticker squad (a group of Tickers that all spawn at the same time) into full effect. They’ll be showing up a lot more throughout all the waves of Horde and they’ve completely infested every 10th wave with nothing but Tickers. So if you’ve been having trouble with Bloodmounts, this weekend is a good time to get your Horde on and get further than ever before. And don’t forget that TU4 will give you experience for every wave you beat.

The event will end on Monday morning on July 6th.

So get out there and pop some Tickers for freedom!

Thread

Posted by jimbaba in Reviews, Xbox 360 | 1 comment

DPrime Review: Gears of War Snow Blind Map Pack

Gears of War 2 has recently received another map pack called the Snowblind map pack. This new map pack includes Grindyard, Under Hill, Courtyard and Fuel Depot. All of the new maps are very large scale and will need eight to ten people to play on them normally. The map Grindyard takes place in a industrial complex with very high sniper points and many powerful weapons. It is a very open map that will provide many epic battles.

Posted by Keenan "SuperMario290" in Xbox 360 | 1 comment

Gears of War 2 Sells 5 Million Copies

Gears of War 2, the Xbox 360 exclusive blockbuster, has now sold over 5 million copies world wide, which puts the whole Gears of War franchise at more than 11 million units sold.

To commerate this accomplishment for Gears 2, Microsoft Game Studios and Epic Games and planning to release a compilation game entitled “Gears of War 2: All Fronts Collection”. In this compilation, you will have all of the previous Gears of War 2 addons with brand new multiplayer and campaign content. The All Fronts Collection will include the “Gears of War 2: Dark Corners” Game Add-on, which features seven new multiplayer maps and a deleted campaign chapter titled “Road to Ruin.”

The seven new multiplayer maps in the “Gears of War 2: Dark Corners” Game Add-on are:
• Allfathers Garden
• Memorial
• Sanctuary
• War Machine
• Highway
• Way Station
• Nowhere

But wait, that’s not all! The Gears of War 2: All Fronts collection will include, like I said, all of the previously released Gears of War 2 add-ons including including the “Flashback” Map Pack, volatile “Combustible” Map Pack and the winter-themed “Snowblind” Map Pack.

So, congratulations to Gears of War 2, as well as Microsoft Game Studios and Epic Games, and here’s to another 5 million sales for Gears 3! Oh, and this will only be available at retail, and you can pick up the compilation worldwide on July 28th for the small price at £14.99.

Posted by Keenan "SuperMario290" in Featured Articles, Reviews | 0 comments

DPrime Review: Gears of War 2

The original Gears of War game is one of the most popular intellectual properties that came out on the Xbox, and one of the most popular Xbox Live games out there. Reviews were great, the game won awards, and critics loved it. What does all of this add up to? Well, extremely high expectations for Gears of War 2. Epic hasn’t failed in bringing us the best of the best when it comes to the Gears series.

First, the story for Gears of War 2. The game takes place in the planet of Sera. As a sequel, you could say that the campaign is perfect. Everything is structured in a way that the way the story progresses, everything works perfectly. If you played the original Gears of War, you’ll be happy to know that as a sequel, it takes everything that you learned in the first game and implements it almost perfectly in the sequel. You are still locked for battle against the Locust Horde, and the Gears are preparing for a huge-ass amazing attack at the enemies.

The gameplay hasn’t been changed much since the first game, as it was extremely well-done. In turn, Epic has flushed-out the environments, and making everything in the game go a lot more “smoother” so to speak. The game still feels pretty linear, but all of the environments feel bigger and more open for the user to play in.

Gears of War 2 also put extremely memorable moments at all of the right times. These include the “More like 10 shitloads” comment, a certain person’s death, and even the amazing soundtrack. With the massive amounts of great moments and shit going down in the game, Gears of War 2’s campaign feels like a 24/7 carnival ride.

Not everything is perfect from the start of the game to the end though. First, the AI just plain sucks. I mean, it’s fucking pathetic. Don’t expect your computer allies to save you either, they don’t even know they’re in the middle of a fucking war. Also, the challenge that is in the game this time around is based upon trial-and-error. In my opinion, you spend too many times dying and still no figuring out what the hell you’re suppose to be doing, or what you did wrong. Oh! Wait until you have to control a Centaur over a frozen lake, having holes bombed into the side of it…it just makes you want to beat your under-privileged step-brother.

What now? Well, the multiplayer aspect of  the game of course. If you dug the third-person online action in the first Gears of War, then this part is where the game is worth all of the money you put out for it. With non-stop repay value, tons of game modes, and five-a-side matches. In addition, Epic has added the ability to unlock new multiplayer characters in the campaign to keep things fresh.

There are also chainsaw duels, that make that chainsaw bayonet have an element of risk attached to it. Once the two characters have their chainsaws all loaded up, you’ll enter a button-mashing battle to see who will cut the other into a thousand little bits.

There are also now seven multiplayer modes to play from, but as you probably already anticipated, they all focus on just killing the other people. All of the maps are larger and vary a little bit more, which ruins the damn shotgun dash that killed the online for the first game. Shotguns this time around have a reduce in power, so people will have a little variety in their weapons, but for the most part, it’s going to be the shotgun still.

Epic also added a new co-op mode called Horde, where 5 people are pitted against waves on the increasingly difficult Lucust. It’s kind of like Call of Duty: World at War’s Nazi zombie mode, but not as fun. The mode is an add-on, and that’s really all I think of it as it’s not super fun or mind-blowing.

The problem that still persists though, and never goes away, is the online lobby. It’s been improved slightly from the first game, but you wouldn’t be able to tell without looking for what was wrong with the first game. You are still stuck with the players voting for what game to play, and a set playlist. It can get really irritating to get the game that you want, but if you do wait, you’ll eventually get there.

Graphically, you won’t notice tons of upgrades from the first Gears of War, but with the larger, more vast environments, it definitely helps a little bit. You’ve still got all of your dark, gray stages, but with the addition of a couple of color-filled, more vibrant stages that look just brilliant. I think you will be dumbfounded when you see them.

You’ve also got the great soundtrack, and the amazing voice actors that sound like they have a brick stuck in their through, but what more would you expect from a series such as this? You will also love the sound effects that make every cutting and shooting of a person’s head worth while.

Overall, the game is great, there’s no way of getting around it. The time that Epic took to make the game was well worth it, and this is a must-buy game for those who enjoyed the first, or are interested in third-person kick-assery. There’s no fucking up the game with trying to implement new “innovative” ideas, it just sticks to it’s guns (pun intended), and is one hell of a game to play.

What We Liked:

Larger, More Flushed out Maps: The maps this time are a lot larger and more vast, but still contain that same great shoot-em-up feel.

Horde: While it’s not mind-blowing, it’s still a great addition to the game, and if you beat the game, and ever get bored with the multiplayer mode, you will definitely have fun with this.

Multiplayer: Like always, the multiplayer is to die for. With the third-person fun that can only be achieved by Epic, this is a part of the game that makes the $60 worth it.

Character Development: Most people don’t play shooters to get to know the characters, and usually don’t give a fuck what’s going on in their lives, but in Gears 2, it works extremely well. The game delves into characters and their personal lives, and all I can say is, it works.

What We Didn’t Like:

The Story Could be Better: There are plenty of things to learn in the new Gears of War 2 from the first game, and lots of new advancements, but it all feels like it could have been a little more to the game. You could make your way through the game easily in 8-9 hours, but it’s still fun.