Console Monster writes: "After a lack of Xbox Live Marketplace updates last week, the feature returns this week with some great new content. The long-awaited Gears of War 2 downloadable content is now available, alongside some free Fight Night Round 4 content. There are also some trailers and an array of Rock Band tracks from the likes of Blink-182 and Weezer. Here is the full Xbox Live Marketplace update for Tuesday 28th July 2009:
Gears of War 2: Dark Corners Multiplayer Map Pack
Price: 1200 Microsoft Points
Size: 489 MB
This downloadable content pack features 7 new Gears 2 multiplayer maps and a bonus deleted single-player chapter, "Road to Ruin," from the Gears of War 2 campaign. In "Road to Ruin," Marcus and Dom navigate the treacherous Locust highway, choosing stealth or blazing action to survive. For multiplayer fans, the 7 maps include a new War Machine, the much-requested Gears 1 map; Allfathers Garden, a heavy-weapons battle at a COG landmark; Highway, a fight deep in the Locust Hollow; Memorial, a battle at the Tomb of the Unknowns; Nowhere, a firefight in an old motel; Way Station, an unpredictable battlefield with parallel paths; and Sanctuary, a reimagined favorite from Gears for Windows. There are no refunds for this item. For more information, see www.xbox.com/live/accounts..."
TheGamer Writes "Harmonix has proven plenty of times it can make Rock Band work without instruments."
I mean, yeah, but was anyone saying otherwise? The fact is people liked the plastic instruments rather than pressing buttons on a controller. They enjoyed the simulated experience.
"Work"? No, but to be good? It's absolutely necessary. Not having the accessories is like playing a lightgun shooter with an analog stick sure it works, but one experience is completely unique and fun as hell, and other is torture trying to make do playing in a way it was never meant to be played
"trying to make do in a way it was never meant to be played"
I disagree. The accessories were a fun gimmick (and very marketable) but they were added AFTER the genre had been well established with games like Frequency and Amplitude (both also made by Harmonix).
The gameplay formula is different on a controller - there's a focus on switching lanes and contributing to all of the instruments.
Never played Frequency, but Amplitude and Rock Band Blitz were really good. I would love to get more of that kind of game. It's basically a different part of the genre, and stands on its own.
The insurmountable difference in popularity between Amplitude and Rock Band proves my point
Popularity isn't proof of quality. If it was, then Harmonix wouldn't be making music for Fortnite now. lol. Our disagreement wasn't over which one is more popular. Amplitude and Blitz just aren't "torture" to play.
Rock Band 4 and Guitar Hero Live failed to revive their sub-genre, and Rock Band 4 caused Mad Catz to have to file for bankruptcy. Doesn't mean that instrument-based music games are bad.
It does mean that there's too much overhead and risk for anyone to take a gamble on a big budget game that needs instrument accessories now though.
For the genre to thrive, for now, it needs to do so without the instrument accessories. That's just a fact, unfortunately.
VR games like Beat Sabre (a new sub-genre) and traditional music games make more sense and are more viable right now.
*"If quality is always proved by popularity, then Harmonix wouldn't be making music for Fortnite now."
I think CHEAP plastic instruments is THE reason why the instrument-genre ‘died’.
People invested in buying the game AND the peripherals, so the guitar, the dj-set, the drum, whatever, and the experience was absolutely fantastic. Great fun, great music, etc.
But then the instruments would break. A button would stop working, or your hits wouldn’t register, and that kind of hardware failure would end in you not being able to play the game as intended, and thus you not getting the scores you deserve.
So, now you had a great game, but a broken instrument, and nobody is gonna buy a new plastic instrument every 3-6 months in order to keep playing the game.
A solution would have been to release better quality instruments (obviously), at a slightly higher price, so you could have kept the new games coming and the genre alive, but sadly, that didn’t happen.
The only issue I ever had with any of the hardware was the drum pedal on the original rock band set stared to crack in half. The reason I, and other friends I know who played, lost interest is they weren't putting out new tracks that we were interested in anymore. I think earlier this year I looked through the releases for the last 2 years or so, and there was maybe 3 songs I would have bought.
Yeah I had this happen too with my drum controller, I ended up attaching a metal strip to it which fixed it up nicely.
Bust a Groove, Gitaroo Man and Parrapa the Rappa were such good games. Neither needed any extra peripherals
The Gears of War series has been a consistent deliverer of quality for Xbox, but which games are the best?
Gears of War is my favorite video game franchise, and the Locust is my all-time favorite faction.
My rank list:
1. Gears of War 2
2. Gears of War 3
3. Gears of War 1
4. Gears of War 4
5. Gears of War 5
6. Gears of War Judgment (No Locust in multiplayer was a disgrace)
Agree 100% with this ranking. The campaign in Gears of War 2 is among the most fun campaigns ever made. It’s been downhill from there.
2 is still my favorite but 5 is also up there (for me). Then I'd say 1, 3, 4 and Judgement. Tactics isnt the same type of game, so it seems odd to rank it among TPS when its a strategy game. So I make that one all its own. Pretty fun game too.
The first is and has always been the best one imo - the story, the levels, the set pieces, the soundtrack - as close to perfect as a campaign can get.
I’d say the series had been on a continual downhill slide until 5.
3
5
2
1
4
Judgement
I love the series as a whole, but 4 was pretty by the numbers, and Judgement was just ok.
I played them all since picking up a Series X about 7 months ago. Personally, I don't think time has been kind to the earlier games and they feel very slow and repetitive to play. Whilst the newer games may be prettier, they stick with the original gameplay mechanics too much in my view so as a whole series of titles, I think they are pretty average games.
Not to say they weren't fun and I have a lot of nostalgia for 1 and 2, I just think there are far better action games out there.
What's the best Gears of War game for players? Where to start? This guide should easily lend a hand.
It's brilliant but personally liked part one more. It's the only one that had a near horror movie vibe to it in parts, the atmosphere was amazing.
Also, the commercial for it was 🔥🔥🔥
https://youtu.be/wy8LRlS1SC...
Mad World was such a perfect song for that trailer. I loved part 1 too just because it was so fresh at the time. The series has been solid, but experiencing everything for the first time was pretty awesome.
Gears of War 2 has one of the greatest campaigns of all time. Carmine, all that juice, fighting inside a giant worm, and riding monsters.
Gears 1 and 2 will always be my favorite Gears titles. The scene where Dom find his wife and then has to shoot her was an epic scene.
I always found that scene laughably bad myself. Fantastic game though.
1 will always be my favourite. Most were great with the exception of 4 being okay and judgement being terrible.
They still have the most satisfying headshots from any multiplayer game around.
My favorite Gears game list
1. Gears 2
2. Gears 3
3. Gears 1
4. Gears 4
5. Gears 5
6. Gears Judgement
Gears Of War is my favorite video game franchise. I can’t imagine how Gears 6 will look in UE5 after watching Hellblade 2 gameplay trailer
There is a rumored Marcus Fenix collection (Gears 2 & 3 remake) in the works at the Coalition. Hopefully, it’s true, but I doubt it.
For me you can't beat gears 1 the original was so fresh and revolutionary at the time.
Then basically I'd rank it 2,3,5,4 and judgement
One of the reasons why i got the series x. Been fan since the first game.
Played them all recently on gamepass. Great games. But my favorites gotta be gears tactics. Don’t know why. I just had a blast with it lol
