Gears of War: menu and weapons

Syracuse022 over at the Ascendant Justice forums was picked to play Gears of War at Six Flags New England. Then he wrote about his experiences. Since we're only a few days away from the launch of Gears of War, we thought we'd write an article based on what an honest gamer has to say instead of what Reuters or execs have to say. This is part 1 of 2. The other part is over here.

Menu. Syracuse022 didn't have much to say about the overall menu and loading screen "except that it is clean, simple, and fairly quick." He ignored the Campaign menu and focused on Multiplayer. That was a good call we say, because the game truly shines in multiplayer: "Epic knows how to make a Multiplayer feature set."

• The map selection gives you the freedom to choose to just play a single map, and your room will restart matches on the same map each time. Or you can select a custom cycle, and after each match, you'll start in a new map.
• There's also a weapon swap feature. It doesn't really let you choose exactly which weapons will spawn on the map, "but you can change a hell of a lot more about the weapon layouts on the map than Halo 2, because it's done on an individual basis, much like Perfect Dark Zero."
• The pause menu lets you tone down the violence and customize your buttons, the sensitivity, and the A/V options to an extent.
• You can also choose your character model. "Terry Tate is in this game. Big [email protected] Defensive Lineman, voiced by Terry Tate himself."

Weapons. The chainsaw is cool - doles out damage. But, it's "bullshit" because chainsaw animation makes one impervious to melees - his opponent chainsaws his buddy so Syracuse022 gets revenge by melee attacking the chainsaw dude three times. Twice is enough to kill. But the opponent turns around and chainsaws Syracuse022 too! (We're asking, is this a bug?)

• Bullets leave black marks. Active reloaded clips leave "huge burning hot holes."
• Melee animations are pretty simple.
• Sniper headshots will hollow out your opponent's head, but it can take up to three body shots to down-but-not-out the target. The sniper weapon is very powerful, but it's fair because you have to stand still while your enemy is running around.
• With long-distance firing, strafing and moving makes your shots inaccurate. You'll have better aim if you stay still. Up close your aim doesn't really matter as much (obviously, hehe).
• The revolver has a slow rate, but two close-range headshots seem to kill.
• The Torque Bow has to be charged (hold down R button) so it can lodge itself in enemies and explode. If you don't charge it, it bounces - and Syracuse022 tried bouncing it around corners to hit hidden opponents.
• The Hammer of Dawn is the huge space laser. But you have to stand still and it takes seconds to focus. If you move or change your focus, the counter starts over. And if you're nearby, you will suicide.
• Grenades didn't seem to do too much damage.

And that's that. Right now we're thinking this is one well-planned, well-balanced game with lots of neat features that will keep you addicted for hours. Now, move on to part two - the interesting stuff about the maps and gameplay.

Syracuse022 over at the Ascendant Justice forums was picked to play Gears of War at Six Flags New England. Then he wrote about his experiences. Since we're only a few days away from the launch of Gears of War, we thought we'd write an article based on what an honest gamer has to say instead of what Reuters or execs have to say. This is part 1 of 2. The other part is over here.

Menu. Syracuse022 didn't have much to say about the overall menu and loading screen "except that it is clean, simple, and fairly quick." He ignored the Campaign menu and focused on Multiplayer. That was a good call we say, because the game truly shines in multiplayer: "Epic knows how to make a Multiplayer feature set."

• The map selection gives you the freedom to choose to just play a single map, and your room will restart matches on the same map each time. Or you can select a custom cycle, and after each match, you'll start in a new map.
• There's also a weapon swap feature. It doesn't really let you choose exactly which weapons will spawn on the map, "but you can change a hell of a lot more about the weapon layouts on the map than Halo 2, because it's done on an individual basis, much like Perfect Dark Zero."
• The pause menu lets you tone down the violence and customize your buttons, the sensitivity, and the A/V options to an extent.
• You can also choose your character model. "Terry Tate is in this game. Big [email protected] Defensive Lineman, voiced by Terry Tate himself."

Weapons. The chainsaw is cool - doles out damage. But, it's "bullshit" because chainsaw animation makes one impervious to melees - his opponent chainsaws his buddy so Syracuse022 gets revenge by melee attacking the chainsaw dude three times. Twice is enough to kill. But the opponent turns around and chainsaws Syracuse022 too! (We're asking, is this a bug?)

• Bullets leave black marks. Active reloaded clips leave "huge burning hot holes."
• Melee animations are pretty simple.
• Sniper headshots will hollow out your opponent's head, but it can take up to three body shots to down-but-not-out the target. The sniper weapon is very powerful, but it's fair because you have to stand still while your enemy is running around.
• With long-distance firing, strafing and moving makes your shots inaccurate. You'll have better aim if you stay still. Up close your aim doesn't really matter as much (obviously, hehe).
• The revolver has a slow rate, but two close-range headshots seem to kill.
• The Torque Bow has to be charged (hold down R button) so it can lodge itself in enemies and explode. If you don't charge it, it bounces - and Syracuse022 tried bouncing it around corners to hit hidden opponents.
• The Hammer of Dawn is the huge space laser. But you have to stand still and it takes seconds to focus. If you move or change your focus, the counter starts over. And if you're nearby, you will suicide.
• Grenades didn't seem to do too much damage.

And that's that. Right now we're thinking this is one well-planned, well-balanced game with lots of neat features that will keep you addicted for hours. Now, move on to part two - the interesting stuff about the maps and gameplay.