Gears of War 2: Act I Reviewed

Gameplayer has played through the entire first Act of Gears of War 2 and reviewed the experience in this article. It offers a detailed explanation of how it plays and what gamers can expect as well as critiquing Unreal Engine 2.0. It also features a link through to an exclusive interview with Cliffy B.

"Despite the promise of bigger and better things in the opening cut-scene, when the gameplay starts proper you may get a sudden sting of despair. Gears of War 2's opening gameplay moment finds you in a small little room like many you visited in the original. The same characters, the same grey walls, the same weapons… you would be forgiven for thinking that there has been no evolution at all. That it is merely an expansion pack to the original. But your thoughts will soon change."

[SlappingOysters]

Lets hope the rest of the game can stay the course and pull off what we all want... and that those flaws don't beome too nigling.

[jtucker78]

The game sounds amazing! Can't wait for Gears 2!

[The Makr]

Day one purchase.

[kevnb]

4 comments in a row deleted.

[Bon Scott]

We hope you enjoy your visit here.
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[power of Green]

Just wanted people to know *SlappingOysters* is a PS3 fan and he submitted this review and commented in here first to expose what PS3 fans need to hear.

[SlappingOysters]

I don't get it...

I don't really care if you think I am a fan of one or the other (I happily have and play both), just not sure what the link between a Gears 2 article and PS3 is?

[SlappingOysters]

The less complicated the action in a game the more addictive and fun it is. Which is why 2D arcade games are still ace fun.

I think Gears plugs into this. It might be 'on rails' but it is never not fun

[Fishy Fingers]

"hardcore" action games usually run on a linear path, doesnt do the replay value any favours but means you get a kick ass experience on your first few play throughs.

[nice_cuppa]

aggree
disaggree
troll
idiot

[Blademask]

Its the ON RAILS part in the trailer. Its described as rails by EPic and specifically CLiffyB.

So please, go somewhere else with your nonsense. I stand by what I said. As if im making something up. ITs on rails, you cant go to the backdrop or interact. Its epic man! Like UT2k4.

[MiloGarret]

Ok, so next time I see a LBP article I'm going to post at the very top: "it looks like a kids game" and whatch my bubbles dissappear and contemplate the responses of 1000 angry fans claiming it is HARDcore. What? It does look like a kids game, still doesn't change the fact that iot would be trolling. Whatever, enjoy ur sad little life man.

[Blademask]

lol, call Little Big PLanet kiddie all you want. Its your world. But the outside world disagrees, http://www.wired.com/ on the cover of wired.

Uhm so yeah, whats the problem with rail shooting again?

[MiloGarret]

Wow, that was easy, thank you for proving my point.

[Skadoosh]

HAHA yeah Blademask likes to make himself look like a fool. :)

[Glad to be a gamer]

Looks like you made new friends blademask. :) Keep up the good work buddy.

Oh and im getting a Ps3 this october for lbp, Naruto UNS and few of the older plat games i have yet to play(mgs4,Hs,rac,unchartered,e tc.)

But guess What ill be getting this day one along with Banjo and kazzoie,fable 2 and fall out 3(exc dlc) for my 360.

Its good to be a gamer Blade mask you should try it.

Enjoy your trolling Buddy if it makes ya feel good..... its just so SAD(weeps for Blade mask) : (

[Man_of_the_year]

Well in MGS4 when on the motorcycle you were on rails and is one of the best parts of the game and nobody even you seemed to complain about that...so being on rails for some small portion in the game really has nothing to do with how good or bad the game is...its just a portion of the game. Don't let a small rail scene impare your judgement on how Big a game can be.

That would just be either plain ignorance or Fanboyism...you pick Bladmask as either 1 would apply to your comment

[thewhoopimen]

Good point, but you also just brought up a huge contention topic. I wonder if Epic would be able to top that MGS4 rail sequence. That was beyond amazing what Kojima did in that sequence.

[Blademask]

and then everyone goes ape. Yeah, the LOL might have made it look bad. But the game has rail shooting, thats all i've ever said.

and im looking forward to that rail shooting

lol.

[Man_of_the_year]

Well judging by the only clip that was available to me i would have to say no. The MGS rail scene was more..."personal" i guess you could say...i don't want to give a way any spoilers but the size of the scene that took place was much smaller in scale than the size in the scene with Gears2...Gears shows a lot going on with you and the rest of the squad it's just plain adrenalin, nothing to really attach the player too other than the glory of ripping apart some locust...while MGS4's scene was well...again without giving anything away...more "personal" allowing the player to actually feel the emotions that were going on at the time of when the scene was taking place...

Know what i mean...

[jtucker78]

Forget about it Blademask.
I just said this game looks amazing in an earlier post and that I was looking forward to it and I got 3 disagrees and only 1 agree.
Maybe the FBois don't think it looks amazing or maybe they think I'm not looking forward to it ... who knows, either way the haters are out in force today.

I'm a Sony owner but credit where its due this looks brilliant. I might be picking up a 360 later this year for this and Fable 2.

[travelguy2k]

I think that´s how the saying goes.

I mean, it does at first glance look like a kids game, but...so do "Conkers" games, and i definitely would no classify those as kids games.

[Nintendo Rep]

Difference is between Conker and Littlebigplanet is Conker has partial nudity, blood and gore, strong language, and use of alcohol/drugs. Littlebigplanet has completely editable environment. What similarities they have are without Nintendo and Mario, both wouldn't be here.

[jkhan]

5-6 hours campaign, I thought they said it would be bigger this time around. Wasn't there suppose to be more than 5 acts?

[MiloGarret]

I certainly hope so... GeoW1 was way too short, it would be very dissapointing if the second one was the same. I recall reading somewhere that GeoW2 campaign would be approx 11 hours, but it might just have been bullcrap.

[SlappingOysters]

They said it took and hour to do the first act, so if there was five acts like the original then 5 to 6 hours on normal.

poss 11 on hard.

There is also the possibility there could be more acts as it says if

[lowcarb]

They didn't say how long it was or even play the whole game so what are you talking about. For all we know the game is 2 hours or maybe 20 so why don't we wait for the final product before we start saying crap that doesn't make sense.

[GarandShooter]

'I think the fact that you only get to see like three quarters of the first act when there is five acts tells you that there is still quite a lot that remains to be seen.'

This quote is from the Cliffy B interview in Dpad. Extrapolating one act equals one hour so five acts equals five hours is fair, and probably in the ballpark. Designers have game flow to think about, so you're nor going to see four forty minute acts and one twenty hour act. Have some carbs man, your low blood glucose level is making you freak out.

[Tacki]

Well, they sound really excited and the article was a good read in that it provided alot of info on what the first act is like. One thing that jumped out at me though was this...

"It is instead an evolution of the middleware comparable to the way sport games like Madden and Pro Evolution Soccer move forward each year."

I'm not knocking the game, but what I am saying is that Gameplayer may not have put that in the best way. I don't know about Pro Evo... but Madden hasn't been going anywhere the past few years.

Anyways, I can't wait for the game. It's the multiplayer I'm most after since I never had the opportunity to play the first game online... but the campaign sounds like it could be pretty solid as well. Man, November still seems too far off. At least there's lots of games to play before then I suppose. Though that's like domestic violence on my wallet.

[light]

"The same characters, the same grey walls, the same weapons… you would be forgiven for thinking that there has been no evolution at all."

yup yup cover it up as much as you want but you can't hide it.

[Dyingduck]

"Despite the promise of bigger and better things in the opening cut-scene, when the game play starts proper you may get a sudden sting of despair. Gears of War 2's opening gameplay moment finds you in a small little room like many you visited in the original..."

Summary for the illiterate Xbot:
-Failed Promise
-Total despair
-Original aka Gears1.1

[Veryangry_xbot]

Gears of war 1.1 is the same old, same old.

perhaps it ranks as one of the best on a static, outdated console.

But for people who want BIGGER, BETTER, and MORE BADASS, only PS3 can and will deliver.

"Indeed, it’s not about to win over new fans. If you hated GoW1, you’ll hate this."

"And there could still be reason to hate: we found ourselves sticking to pretty much the one gun throughout – so it looks like no new tactical depth has snuck into the arcade action - and there were a few moments that erred a little too much on the side of frustration and tedium - in particular a ‘quest’ to shoot incoming mortars out of the air before they crushed our ride into metal dandruff. Plus, it took approximately an hour on normal difficulty to complete the act, which would suggest a five to six hour experience IF (and we have no confirmation) the game continues with the five act narrative seen in the original. Simply not long enough to excite fans who didn’t get into the niche multiplayer component like they did Halo or Call of Duty... or who simply aren’t online."

>> Yep, same old, same old 5 hour experience. Confirmed.

[nonAsianDroid]

awwww!! please everyone calm down there. would a nice blu-ray video help?? :(

stop crying none the less

[Shane Kim]

You see this bots? I'll help you with the maths if it's to hard to understand. 1h/act...Gears have 5 acts. 1*5=5. That means, you'll be playing this mediocre pos for 5 hours. It'll be over before you've inserted the disk.

[caffman]

heavenly sword

[Sez]

you know i starting to realize that the sonyfanboys are getting scared as the days draw closer to the release of gears 2. what are you guys nervus that gears will out sell R2. like the first gears did to RfoM. or are you scared that R2 will sell like MGS4.(sell strong for the first 2 weeks. then end up in the bargain bin by the 3rd week

[JasonPC360PS3Wii]

It helps to actually "read" it.

[P4KY B]

Sounds good to me.

edit Who disagreed? Speak now so that you might be mocked.

[running rampid]

don't sweat the disagree man it was probably the same hidden troll who disagreed with me.

[Skadoosh]

Another preview that is just plain awestruck with excitement. This game will PWN!!!!!!!!!!!

[nonAsianDroid]

This game will destroy every game in its path 360, ps3, every game.

[UnwanteDreamz]

I wasn't going to go there because this game looks awesome but you asked for it you little droid. This game will be awesome but it will not pwn every other game, not with only 6-8 hours of gameplay. They admit that nothing new but better multi, visuals ect. is being brought to the title. Gonna be a great game but the greatest, don't make me laugh.

[Skadoosh]

Well MGS4 was clocked at 4-6 hours of gameplay. Did it matter?

[running rampid]

gears 2= all kinds of awesome. can't wait.

[Rocky87]

Yeah!
Gears 2 will rule!
I can't wait to get my hands on the flamethrower ...

[Cheeky Gamer]

The Act 1 has been previewed very positively by a lot of websites. It's good because it means the game is going to be awesome, but it's also bad because... well, we have to wait to play it.

I am looking immensely forward to the campaign. I completed the first one about 15 times on Insane, because I loved it that darn much.

[THE TERMINATOR]

Forget this flop at least u have Failble 2 LOL

[timmyrulz]

This is a message to all users on the N4G website, i come on my knees requesting some help.

Our right honourable member veryangry xbot has lost his companions. They were last seen trying to cross a bridge somewhere in the land of fairysville.

Description of his companions as follows: Brownish facial features with a slight whispering of white hairs on their chins, two horn like anomalies on top of their heads. Big black eyes and pointy ears. They go by the names of Billy goats gruff.

Any one with any information please ring veryangry_xbot on 555 864 2541 or send emails to [email protected]

Thank you all

[cr33ping_death]

sweet all i have to say. :)

[DARK WITNESS]

not long to go now, a month and a few days.

to be honest i had my doubts about gears 2. when i first heard the date it was coming out, i kept thinking there was no way they could make the game that much better then the first as the timeframe was to short... i mean two years, i expected like 3 at least.

sounds like epic my have proved me wrong and have done a great job. My biggest issue is with the multiplayer and the network code. The host advantages were crazy in gears 1. I thought it was just playing on live, but then i went to XL ( lan tourney ) and all the same glitches were still there. there seemed to be no difference and that was what really put me off playing the multiplayer.

From what i have heard they have completely re-worked the code and everything so gears 2 should not have the same problems. It looks really good and now i am really starting to look forward to this game.

[Cheeky Gamer]

You can slate Gears of War 2 (or 1.1, as you like to call it) all you like. Notice how very few 360 owners go to the Resistance 2 thread and start bashing that. Why? Because it's clear to see that it's a generic FPS - no one needs to point that out. You criticise Gears of War 2 because you know it's a good game. You can deny that claim all you like - the facts are there. You're obsessed with criticising Gears of War 2, because you know it isn't going to end up on your beloved console.

But yeah, you keep slating this game. I'm sure the millions of people who buy this game and the critical acclaim won't really matter. Right?

Keep the disagrees coming - they make me happy.

[nonAsianDroid]

thank you cheeky Gamer FOR TELLING IT LIKE IT IS!!
and putting trolls in the dirt hole where they belong.

[Nykamari]

Have every right to BASH every 360 game only because 2006-2007 it was the other way, now that the ps3 is looking better than the 360 you xbox fans want to call FOUL. DEAL WITH IT! It was all good when the ps3 was down but now you guys have to EAT every bad word that was said about it, GET OVER IT!

on topic: Gears is going to be awesome and I can't wait to play it, I just hope them added just a few more treats. This game will add to collection of online tournaments that I will enjoy just like Gears1.

[morganfell]

No, Gears fans do not go to Resistance threads because they are awestruck when they get there and spend all of their time in open mouth drooling over R2 and are too brainstunned realizing how far short Gears 2 falls in attempting to keep up with R2.

Cliffy B's entire pied piper routine is nothing more than a sad attempt to put Gears somewhere in the ballpark with R2...but he can't. Instead he comes off as a panic ridden whore in the midst of trying to keep the SS Medocrity from sinking under the waves. Start bailing boys! I want to watch you scramble some more before you perish. Ha ha ha!

[nieto]

your logic works well in reverse Cheeky Gamer

what if bots can't find anything to bash on Resistance 2? because here i am reading a lot of complains about GeOW that are real problems with the games. what problem is that? GeOW 2 it's the same game again as the first.

Resistance 2 has everything at epic scales. 60p online deathmatch, 8p online co-op campaign and 1p story campaign that has a different story from the 8p co-op. in top of all that the games has amazing graphics, even better than GeOW2.

i mean Resistance 2 it's like three games in one but GeOW2 it's a short epic game almost exactly like the first with a decent online.

all of this it's just my opinion so we should wait for reviews to see if i'm right or not until then we're going to continue seeing the GeOW2 vs Resistance 2 artcles and comments.

besisdes isn't this the open zone? this was created for us to act like crazy M* F* fanboys...

[AngryHippo]

...its a real shame that people cant accept a really good game when they see it, just because it is on a different console. Its really sad and pathetic that some people feel the need to constantly talk rubbish about it in every news article even though the previews are extremely possitive, saying its an incredible game, better than the first.

I can't understand what the Sony fans (not all of them, there are decent fans out there) problem with this is? Could someone please explain? They obviously dont own a 360 because if they did they would not be making fun of one of the AAA exclusives it has, depriving themselves of a great game. Therefore they do not own a 360 but own PS3's, but why do they seem to feel the need to be in every 360 thread?

How does an exclusive xbox 360 AAA title affect Sony fans in any way? They seem to take it really personally that there is a great game on a different platform. Why are they always in these threads putting this game down all the time? Are they really that sad and pathetic?

Are they not getting the satisfaction from actually playing on their PS3's that they once did and so feel the need to poise on n4g.com/xbox360 awaiting eagerly for any positive news and then to come and ruin it for all the true gamers out there who can appreciate a decent title regardless of console.

To all the Sony trolls (not the Sony gamers) Just because you do not own the console, and clearly have no interest in its games, doesn't mean you should try and ruin it for the people that do. Its a pretty low and sad thing to do.

[SlappingOysters]

seriously that was awesome.

[Agent002]

...And 360 fans do not do the same thing?
Stop acting as if they're the victims of abuse.

If you want to use that logic, then what seems to be the problem with 360 owners attacking Little Big Planet? Resistance 2? Anything PS3 related?

Can you blame PS3 owners for attacking 360 games when 360 owners have been doing the same thing from since 2006/2007?

[Mc187]

"Unreal Engine 2.0 is not a new beast and doesn’t deliver a different experience.".
You as an xbox 360 owner should want more out of your sysytem not the same old same old

[SIX]

Gonna be so good.............

[King Me]

To be honest,this is a bit disappointing to hear.

[BUKKAKALYPSE]

read the article not what this droid contibuter used as his opener..the first paragraph in the actual article is filled with the word "epic" and they're not talking about the studio

[Goldsack]

..looks like a plastic barby - yummy :-)

[zonetrooper5]

Really can't wait for the game, you seen the screenshots of Gears of War 2 in the N4G forums?

Man those look amazing.

[zonetrooper5]

Can any of you guys read or are you blind lol?

[caffman]

is obvious

[BUKKAKALYPSE]

the droids never actually read an article

[jay2]

The review gives GOW2 no justicest

[she00win99]

EEEEEEEEEEEEEEPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPP PPIC FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFAIL!!!!!!!!

[Cherchez La Ghost]

For what I've read in Gameinformer about the storyline, this will be a good game.

[caffman]

"Finally – with an impact not a little like when we first met the Berserker in Gears of War 1 – you’ll watch in horror as a Corpser appears upon a hill-top and launches itself in your direction. Chilling stuff, and few games have ever rivalled this half hour of gameplay for sheer scope. You’re going to bloody love it!"
from the same article.

[DarkSniper]

Clifford Blezenski produces one of the most highly anticipated titles this fall, Gears of War 2. Dark Sniper fails to see where the anticipation is generating from. The original Gears of War was a mediocre shooter at best and has serious online issues that Clifford and the rest of Epic games are incompetent to repair.

It looks as if Microslaves have even become more delusional to anticipate features such as seperate acts in between the campaign mode. Something they were envious of when the blockbuster Metal Gear Solid 4 arrived. Clifford Blezenski is nothing but a pretender and should bow down and give respect to Hideo Kojima. As he's made a mediocre, uninspiring shooter that is aimed for Microslaves who have no social life and think they're part of the "cool" crowd.

Dark Sniper enjoys the installation between acts in Metal Gear Solid. It gives him an opportunity to refill his soft drink and popcorn as he enjoys true gaming in the fourth dimension.

$niper

[GiantEnemyCrab]

"The original Gears of War was a mediocre shooter at best"

The game won GOTY from everyone. GiantEnemyCrab thinks you are confusing Resistance.

[hotshot127]

yea, you should be happy it won goty. if it did'nt, that would be pretty embarrassing don't you think. the most competition it had was from a "launch title". lol

we'll see the true quality of gears now that games like uncharted and mgs4 look better. also with r2's big improvement on the first, reviewers are going to look at gears 2 and wonder what happened to "bigger better and more badass"

"BIGGER" is 60 player online (squad based objectives)
"BETTER" is 8 player coop (seperate campaigns)
"BADASS" is fighting 300 ft enemies and actually fighting 100's of enemies...unlike gears with its trick of making you believe you can actually shoot and kill the few times that it has all those ai's running on screen.

i can't wait until r2 vs gears 2 but this time the outcome won't be the same....

[BUKKAKALYPSE]

the outcome will be the same or even more of a landslide. Gears2 will dominate, mark my words. while R2 looks great, gears2 looks just as good and it also provides a better MP experience due it not having a 60 player lag fest with COD2 style gameplay and weapons and you can, as clffy would agree with, play it on a GOOD controller. you know the controller with the sticks designed to play a shooter, the one where your thumbs dont hit eachother or slip off, the one that you dont have to constantly re-position your hands during a session..yeah thats the one.

And all you mention is looks..yeah we know uncharted and MGS4 look amazing, i'm still WATCHING my copy of MGS4 but gameplay >>>>>>>&g t; "looks".joker

[CallOfWar22]

i CAN'T WAIT WHEN GEARS 2 IS MET WITH ASTONISHING REVIEWS!!! 10's across the board. Game of The Year! Then i'll come back and see what the trolls say. GEOW 2!

[devilhunterx]

Double or nothing on the GOTY bit. Deal?

[Bullseye]

i enjoyed Gears one,but i do find the 'on rails' bits really boring. More of the same doesn't do it for me, i was expecting a much expanded game this time round,not the same linear shooter.Still, i'm not too fussed, there's plenty of other games available on both consoles.Each to their own, as they say.

[DFresh]

I knew this game was coming to PC.
Xbots just won't admit it which I think it's really funny.

[mratcliffe22]

some plus and minuses in the article thinks it well done but does not go too over the top an most reviews on popluar game buy being too scared to say the truth. (halo is a perfect example of this)

[pumpkinpunker]

I am excited.

[na2ru1]

If the gameplay is solid, full of action set pieces and has an immersive storyline, im sold. This game makes my 360 worth it. Epic should be proud of the attention.

Hope they tune the aiming sensitivty. Uncharted did it very well.

COD4 had an amazing but short campaign. But the emotional ending made up for the short campaign.

[jerethdagryphon]

hope you enjoy it . not my cup of tea but ican see why some like it

[Mc187]

Y?
Unreal Engine 2.0 is not a new beast and doesn’t deliver a different experience.
And we all know the PC version wil be
Bigger
better
and more badass

[Dragunov]

MGS4 has better gameplay that cover-shoot-run-cover you can do a lot of things. Have you ever try to play it right moron?