The Official Gears of War 2 Catch-all

Will they be Horde-able?

Gumbie wrote:
Gumbie wrote:

Apparently it's been leaked on the VGA pre show that the Gears 2 surprise is a DLC Map Pack that will be available at 12:00 AM Pacific tonight.

Just speaking for myself, but I'd much rather have a patch that fixes all the glitch/lag issues than a new map pack.

It's now official. Map pack coming at 12:00 AM Pacific for 800 MS points.

Flood
Fuel Station (Not to be confused with Fuel Depot from Gears 1)
Gold Rush

So is it time for me to shelve Gears 2 already? I know that my friends list will be splintered now and i'll be damned if i'm paying $10 for a map pack for a game where most of the people I play with barely play half the maps included with it.

Asz wrote:

So is it time for me to shelve Gears 2 already? I know that my friends list will be splintered now and i'll be damned if i'm paying $10 for a map pack for a game where most of the people I play with barely play half the maps included with it.

This is my line of thinking as well. That they've got a map pack out so quickly also stinks to me. They fix the game first, and then I'll think about it. Otherwise, it's a non-starter.

I'll think about buying a map pack after they fix the multiplayer.

I'll wait until the multiplayer is fixed as well. I have better things to spend $10 on right now.

I will wait for the multiplayer fixes first.

Mystic Violet wrote:

I'll wait until the multiplayer is fixed as well. I have better things to spend $10 on right now.

Agreed, I have barely played Gears 2 lately but I just don't understand why they release new maps for 10 bucks and not get the multiplayer patched and working better.

Lothar wrote:
Mystic Violet wrote:

I'll wait until the multiplayer is fixed as well. I have better things to spend $10 on right now.

Agreed, I have barely played Gears 2 lately but I just don't understand why they release new maps for 10 bucks and not get the multiplayer patched and working better.

Uhh, 'cause they want more money?

So, if the general consensus is wait, I'm good with that.

I may weak out and buy them. They don't capture my imagination much. Three maps? Really? That's it?

It seems like they could have done well for themselves by releasing the first one for free and following up soon after with a for-purchase set that was better fleshed out.

Halo 3 has taught me to wait until things are free. As far as DLC goes in general, I'm usually pretty suspicious of anything that looks like it won't add a considerable value to the game I bought.

Would this have made GoW2 worth 70 dollars instead of 60? I'm thinking no.

firesloth wrote:

Three maps? Really? That's it?

Yeah, it was really a "MAJOR announcement" that "blew my socks off".

turbocopland wrote:
firesloth wrote:

Three maps? Really? That's it?

Yeah, it was really a "MAJOR announcement" that "blew my socks off".

Agreed, this was pretty freaking weaksauce for how much it got hyped up. I'll be skipping it as well, although less because multiplayer is broken, and more because I don't have Live Gold >.>

6 weeks is apparently a magic number in terms of how long to wait to drop DLC, and we're just shy of that now.

I haven't touched Gears 2 since Left 4 Dead dropped. I kind of miss it. Maybe I'll come back to it after Christmas.

So I finished Gears 2 Single Player this afternoon. Good game, I love the improvements over Gears 1. NPC revival is probably my personal favorite. Casual seems to be a lot easier than it was in Gears 1, I need to go back through on Normal.

AnimeJ wrote:

So I finished Gears 2 Single Player this afternoon. Good game, I love the improvements over Gears 1. NPC revival is probably my personal favorite. Casual seems to be a lot easier than it was in Gears 1, I need to go back through on Normal.

Yep, they really changed the difficulty levels for this one. I played through 2 on Hardcore, and I don't think I died any more than I died playing Gears 1 on Casual, though I have spent a year playing multiplayer since then. It was definitely easier than Gears 1 Hardcore, which I played through a few months back. Do you have someone that can jump in to split-screen with you to get through some of the more tricky parts?

pneuman wrote:
AnimeJ wrote:

So I finished Gears 2 Single Player this afternoon. Good game, I love the improvements over Gears 1. NPC revival is probably my personal favorite. Casual seems to be a lot easier than it was in Gears 1, I need to go back through on Normal.

Yep, they really changed the difficulty levels for this one. I played through 2 on Hardcore, and I don't think I died any more than I died playing Gears 1 on Casual, though I have spent a year playing multiplayer since then. It was definitely easier than Gears 1 Hardcore, which I played through a few months back. Do you have someone that can jump in to split-screen with you to get through some of the more tricky parts?

If I get a controller, my wife can, even if on casual. You can split difficulty, right? I thought I saw someone say that earlier in the thread.

AnimeJ wrote:

If I get a controller, my wife can, even if on casual. You can split difficulty, right? I thought I saw someone say that earlier in the thread.

You can indeed I haven't tried it, so I'm not sure how it works exactly, but I guess it just gives you more hit points and more pew-pew-power on the lower difficulties. I'd love to know how you got the wife interested, though -- my girlfriend hates Gears. It's not a general anti-shooter thing, since she put up with me playing Half-Life 2, BioShock, Halo, etc., and she's even played some Left 4 Dead split-screen with me, but she just can't stand Gears.

pneuman wrote:
AnimeJ wrote:

If I get a controller, my wife can, even if on casual. You can split difficulty, right? I thought I saw someone say that earlier in the thread.

You can indeed I haven't tried it, so I'm not sure how it works exactly, but I guess it just gives you more hit points and more pew-pew-power on the lower difficulties. I'd love to know how you got the wife interested, though -- my girlfriend hates Gears. It's not a general anti-shooter thing, since she put up with me playing Half-Life 2, BioShock, Halo, etc., and she's even played some Left 4 Dead split-screen with me, but she just can't stand Gears.

She's pretty willing to give anything a go, so long as it's with me. I'm really lucky like that

The more I reflect on it, the more I realize that I really don't like this game at all, and the more I resent Epic for making it and convincing me to buy it.

AnimeJ wrote:
pneuman wrote:
AnimeJ wrote:

If I get a controller, my wife can, even if on casual. You can split difficulty, right? I thought I saw someone say that earlier in the thread.

You can indeed I haven't tried it, so I'm not sure how it works exactly, but I guess it just gives you more hit points and more pew-pew-power on the lower difficulties. I'd love to know how you got the wife interested, though -- my girlfriend hates Gears. It's not a general anti-shooter thing, since she put up with me playing Half-Life 2, BioShock, Halo, etc., and she's even played some Left 4 Dead split-screen with me, but she just can't stand Gears.

She's pretty willing to give anything a go, so long as it's with me. I'm really lucky like that :D

Hang on... are we still talking about video games?

This is my line of thinking as well. That they've got a map pack out so quickly also stinks to me. They fix the game first, and then I'll think about it. Otherwise, it's a non-starter.

In fairness, the code fixes and new maps design are done by entirely different people as two entirely independent activities.

In fairness, the code fixes and new maps design are done by entirely different people as two entirely independent activities.

True enough, but they both require the same sort of management and testing resources.

In any event, it just looks bad from a public relations standpoint.

Gorilla.800.lbs wrote:
This is my line of thinking as well. That they've got a map pack out so quickly also stinks to me. They fix the game first, and then I'll think about it. Otherwise, it's a non-starter.

In fairness, the code fixes and new maps design are done by entirely different people as two entirely independent activities.

I can respect this, but at the same time, I'm playing a glitchy game on their new maps. The two certainly aren't separate from my end. But to be honest, I'm doing little more than echoing the dude above me.

Gorilla.800.lbs wrote:
This is my line of thinking as well. That they've got a map pack out so quickly also stinks to me. They fix the game first, and then I'll think about it. Otherwise, it's a non-starter.

In fairness, the code fixes and new maps design are done by entirely different people as two entirely independent activities.

I'm sure that's one hundred percent true. Regardless, as a single entity, Epic's releasing the maps communicates to me the consumer that they consider their buggy game a valid platform for content delivery. I disagree with them. They should have sat on the content until the platform was solid.

Danjo Olivaw wrote:

Epic's releasing the maps communicates to me the consumer that they consider their buggy game a valid platform for content delivery. I disagree with them. They should have sat on the content until the platform was solid.

Can't argue with anything you said here, but I suspect this DLC pack was contracted as some bonus advertising for the Spike VGA show, and they couldn't contractually NOT announce/release it then.

Let's just hope that they patch the glitches soon.

pneuman wrote:
AnimeJ wrote:
pneuman wrote:
AnimeJ wrote:

If I get a controller, my wife can, even if on casual. You can split difficulty, right? I thought I saw someone say that earlier in the thread.

You can indeed I haven't tried it, so I'm not sure how it works exactly, but I guess it just gives you more hit points and more pew-pew-power on the lower difficulties. I'd love to know how you got the wife interested, though -- my girlfriend hates Gears. It's not a general anti-shooter thing, since she put up with me playing Half-Life 2, BioShock, Halo, etc., and she's even played some Left 4 Dead split-screen with me, but she just can't stand Gears.

She's pretty willing to give anything a go, so long as it's with me. I'm really lucky like that :D

Hang on... are we still talking about video games? :)

Yea, she's pretty dead set on things she won't try that are not video games.

HaciendaSquish wrote:

The more I reflect on it, the more I realize that I really don't like this game at all, and the more I resent Epic for making it and convincing me to buy it.

What exactly don't you like about it? I said it earlier, but I found that I enjoyed the single player far more than I did in Gears 1 for all the changes that were made. Especially the Mulcher, that thing is so much damn fun it's not funny. It's far less harsh than Gears 1, which isn't a great thing per se, but definitely not bad IMO.

Well, its been a while since I've been in this thread, but I'm confused... Since when did ya'll play public matches of multiplayer? That's the only really busted thing I can see. And, for that matter, I got into quite a few public matches last night with ease. So, why all the hate for a game that we've had so much fun with? So, let's start up the blasted Gears lovefest once more. Don't let our Fridays end up poorly.

End rant. And I'm kinda upset with my impulse purchase. I'd a had some solidarity with ya.

TheWanderer wrote:

Well, its been a while since I've been in this thread, but I'm confused... Since when did ya'll play public matches of multiplayer? That's the only really busted thing I can see. And, for that matter, I got into quite a few public matches last night with ease. So, why all the hate for a game that we've had so much fun with? So, let's start up the blasted Gears lovefest once more. Don't let our Fridays end up poorly.

End rant. And I'm kinda upset with my impulse purchase. I'd a had some solidarity with ya.

Well, Gumbie plays on pub matches fairly often from what I can tell, along with a couple other folks who just want Gears 2 Multiplayer. As for getting into a pub match, I haven't heard of people having issues with getting in. It's once you're in and getting to do what you want if you're being specific that raises the issue.

Atras wrote:
Danjo Olivaw wrote:

Epic's releasing the maps communicates to me the consumer that they consider their buggy game a valid platform for content delivery. I disagree with them. They should have sat on the content until the platform was solid.

Can't argue with anything you said here, but I suspect this DLC pack was contracted as some bonus advertising for the Spike VGA show, and they couldn't contractually NOT announce/release it then.

Let's just hope that they patch the glitches soon.

I actually believe that the work on these maps has started WAY back, possibly even before the final cut of the game was taken for the release -- and before the current bugs came to the fore. It's not outside the realm of possibility that the new Combustion maps were among those considered for the release, but didn't make the cut.

For example, it's not difficult to see the apparent similarities of the ideas between Avalanche and Flood maps. Could it be that both were in the running for the retail packaging, but it's Avalanche that won over? Most likely. In that case, Epic is simply releasing (or rather, capitalizing) what's already been done -- even as their testers might be full well busy with an imminent patch.

Just giving Epic the benefit of the doubt.