IGN: Gears of War 2 Multiplayer Hands-On

IGN writes: "This is where the magic happens." For some reason this truism rattled unshakably around my head like beans in a tin can over the entire day spent at Epic Games. We'd been flown to the US to be the first journalists in the world to get hands on with Gears of War 2 multiplayer. My strange mantra was often a reminding prompt – there's absolutely nothing cool whatsoever about Epic's HQ.

Based in the beautiful, but nothingy backwoods of Cary, North Carolina (Wiki it: there's lashings of green, wide roads and naff all else), it's a bland, beige building nestling amongst similarly uninspiring science park real estate. But the mantra also came back as a whooping endorsement when we finally picked up a controller and the fragging began."

[superman]

Day 1 for me. Gears is cool.

[steck67]

No...Gears is AWESOME!

[Shaka2K6]

Just like the 1st one.

[AngryHippo]

....you moron. What a stupid thing to say. Thats like saying MGS4 or GTA 4 failed to deliver.

[The playa]

I smell fandroids sh!ting their pants haha. Game looks fu*king amazing, a step above gears 1. Resistance is going to get r@ped november hahahaa

[kewlkat007]

...didn't think your still around hating still..

[Irishrocket69]

you can say that the PS3 failed to deliver, Killzone 2 anyone?

[GiantEnemyCrab]

If the latest hands-on previews saying that the graphics aren't as good as the first Gears then I would say you are correct.

[ngg12345]

Where are the chainsaws :(. Come on Epic, need a platinum cd for the cole train too.

[kewlkat007]

I know I've been saying this every thread, but yeah this is on FN Pre-Order.

This game has a character of it's own..currently. When you think Gears of War, you know what your getting in the gameplay department.

I can't say the same for other games..

[Shaka2K6]

Meh even the most hardcore of xbugs must be tired of playing more 4 hour generic shooters by now.

[Irishrocket69]

Haze!!! PS3 Exclusive ha ha ha!

[BigKev45]

Gears 2 FTW!

[Vanqu1sh]

Gears is just too cool

chainsaws, badass looking enemys, huge guns, curb stomps, finishing moves

all other shooters just lack balls

[GiantEnemyCrab]

"The graphics are a clear improvement on the last outing, which is no mean boast – Gears was a supermodel amongst console games, with a rare and lasting beauty. This one is Agyness Deyn to Gears' Kate Moss: the next big thing."

Take that naysayers that say the game looks like Gears 1!

I can't wait! Meat Flag FTW!

[DJ]

And I still don't see much of a difference between part 1 and 2, except for slightly better lighting and more anti-aliasing.

http://xbox360media.ign.com...

[Bombomb]

dj were not expecting you to, you know hell would freeze over and pig may as well start to fly..

360 threads have become immune to parasites like yourself

[green]

your looking at scans and IGN have actually seen and played the game.So i think their opinion counts more than any scan you can provide.

[OOG]

wait wait ill pull off the killzone move people do here.....but but its still about 5 months till it releases...it will all be changed and better! lol....

ah well game is looking good we havnt seen enough of the battles etc to actually judge the game yet

[Xi]

BF:BC looks beautiful, not because it pushes the most polygons but because the destruction creates a natural and varied look, war looks like it took place after a shootout.

Gears 2 will look better because of how the objects interact, sandbags loose sand, destrucatble enviroments, etc

Half life looks amazing because of it's uses of physics and 3d sky boxes.

Gears 2 has much better improved eniroments (mountains not only look distant but still real, same goes for the forest) over the previous itieration, better water, more interactions, etc.

halo looks amazing because of the number of things it can do on screen.

Gears 2 has more people and objects on screen, more gun fire more post proccessing effects.

And much of that can't be seen in a screenshot and needs to take in while in the game itself. Many effects might actually look bad in stills (like dithering) but in motion can be used to create neat effect. Killzone looks absolutly awful in screenshots, the textures look like horrid and you don't get to see any of the smooth animations or lighting. Plus I'd rather take the word of the developer and ign then those of someone looking at screenshots.

[DJ]

I did watch the gameplay footage for Gears 2 (single and multi) and except for some new moves you'd be hard pressed to tell one from the other. Though the newly implemented ambient occlusion system for Gears 2 is a giveaway for graphics enthusiasts.

[Fallen_Angel]

I have to agree meat flag sounds really cool. Really hope they get 4 player co op in it too

[DarkSniper]

Gears of War 2 has some of the worst graphics ever seen in-game. The draw distance in the game is absolutely atrocious. Several elements from this game are borrowed from the Metal Gear Solid series. Cliff Blezenski has even went on record to say that Mr. Hideo Kojima's masterpiece is one of the influences he had in creating Gears of War.

Unfortunately, the game itself resulted in being a mediocre piece of trash that has no place in an industry where innovation is accepted. It looks as if PLAYSTATION®3 is the only platform that can push the innovation factor b3yond the next level.

Dark Sniper personally cannot wait for some true next-gen games, bring on Syphon Filter.

$niper

[GiantEnemyCrab]

Yeah, it was only GOTY and has sold millions. It is still to this day being used as a benchmark for graphics on consoles. Worst graphics ever seen in-game? I think Haze would argue with that point(only on the CRAPSTATION(tm) 3)

[power of Green]

MGS4 gets beat by average multi platform games graphically lol.

Now back to the Battlefield Bad Comapany PS3 vs 360 thread ;0

[dachiefsman]

I finally figured out what you do. All you do is copy and paste the same BS into every Xbox article. Sometimes I wonder if you are "physically" attached to your PS3.

You really do creep me out.

[romemac7]

care to tell me what multi platform game are you talking about? MGS4 beat every game out there in term of graphics and gameplay even you great gear of war lmao. as my friend Darksinper said gear of war has the wost draw Distance in any next gen game, i may even go as far as to say Haze has better draw distance then gear of war and that just sad lol.

gear of war 2 or should i say gear of war1.5 is going to be the same bad story, bad draw distance, and bad gameplay as the first gear of war. even cliff blezenski has went on recoed to say that he has copy uncharted cover system seeing how gear of war own cover system is lacking lmao, now when gear war1.5 come out we see who copying who right. but i think what he should be copying from uncharted is the graphics and draw distance that uncharted has and maybe then gear war would look great.

[REDZEV]

Wow snipes, either you need glasses or you have a big turd in your eye. Or your just another dilusional fanboy. Your probally mad because your momma or daddy couldnt afford to buy you both consoles so your just venting. You fanboys get one game this year thats a AAA title and you think its like the holy grail of games. The truth of the matter is the Metal Gears series is quite stale. Kind of like a fart out of a dead chicken. Ya know what I mean. I mean the series is older than alot of you EMO sony fanboys out there and you. Havent you guys heard of Splinter cell??? yeah MGS was first but splinter cell re-revelutionized the stealh genre. And for trying to trash GOW tells me you never played a 360 or the game. and you my friend are the biggest Sony fanboy next to JUNKY that ive met on here and for that I award you with a "TROPHY" PAT YOUR SELF ON THE BACK SNIPES!!! AND GET THAT TURD OUT OF YOUR EYE.

[aaquib5]

The thing I really hated about Gears was that the lighting was too dark. According to these pics, the colours look so sharp and vivid, so kudos to Epic.

[G1L]

2 games can make me want the 360:
GeOW
Mass Effect
GeOW2 is shaping up 2 b absolutely BRUTAL =D!

[KillaManiac]

Don't forget Fable 2!

I have both a PS3 and 360, I like them both for different genres.

[HateBoy]

Mass effect man... I think its in a league of its own, I don't even compare it to other games because its not fair (forgetting the technical issues). GeoW2 will rock and I will be getting it dya one, Fable 2 might be nice, but mass effect and MGS4 will remain the undisputed kings of this gen for me.

Note: I was previously an rpg AND mgs-hater, that is how good these games are.

[okcomputer]

Great article, it has me even more hyped for geow2. The textures alone in the comparison shots show a marked improvement in the visuals. The multiplayer sounds great too, the variation on capture the flag w/ a live flag is brilliant and totally fits epic's dev style. This'll be a day one purchase (of course) come nov.

[heroman711]

first day buy for me

[Fragking28]

Day 1 purchase for me but to say the multiplayer wasnt broken in the first one is a complete lie, although it was a fun experince that i still play most today u cant take this game seriously when playing competitively because so much random stuff happens.

[dachiefsman]

meat flag sounds fun as hell!

[cmrbe]

I know gears 2 will be better than Gears 1 thats a given especially with their focus on story this time which was the only negative of the first but can any of you x360 fans really say that there is a great leap in graphics from gears 1?. I looked at the comparison on page 2 of the preview and i can honestly say no.

[GameOn]

As you said, its going to be better than the first one. Isn't that enough for you. The first one already had great graphics and I will enjoy the next instalment with slightly improved graphics and details along with numerous millions of other people.

[power of Green]

You must be talking about those old pics comparing gears 1 multi player maps with Gears 2 multiplayer maps lol.
You have to read what IGN said not go straight to the pics lol. Even in that early comparison most people would be able to tell that GOW2 had better HDR lighting and general lighting making Gears 1 look like it was from a last generation game or a first wave game from this generation in comparison. The contrast in Gears 2 is superior as are the textures.

[cmrbe]

i am only talking about the graphics and yes an improvement is enough for me but i wouldn't mind if the improvement is significantly better for me personally. I hear alot of you x360 fans go gaga over the imense impprovements in graphics from gears 1 but i don't see it being that much better and i emphises much. As i said i notice some improvements but they are minor imo.

Green : The difference is not day and night and you know it. Yes as i said there is improvement but not much. Gears 1 from looking at the armor is more shiny but it has less texture overall compare to gears 2.

[Doctor Strange]

Epic come up with some pretty cool game types and the meat flag might be my personal favorite.

The texture work and lighting is a lot better then Gears 1, this should be a hit but I'm still a little worried about the story though not so much the gameplay because that is still going to be good.

[JasonPC360PS3Wii]

Lots of fear from the droids today, smells like cheap french perfume.

[LTC]

"MGS4 gets beat by average multi platform games graphically"
You are truly the worst fanboy on N4G.
POG/MART there is not one game on the 360 than can come close to MGS4 graphics, please actually play the game before u make such retarded comments.

[Ninja-Sama]

when it comes out for PC with all the extra dlc 360 gamers will no doubt have to pay for plus some :)