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Gears of War 2 : Hands All Over Multiplayer

• By Travis Moses
• July 07, 2008 19:18 PM PST
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Hands-on with three multiplayer modes, chainsaw duels, and new weapons in 2008's bloodiest gore fest: Gears of War 2.

BASIC INFO: Gears of War 2 is a tactical third-person shooter, and sequel to best-seller Gears of War, in development by Epic Games, famed for the Unreal Tournament series. You control Marcus Fenix and a squad of COG soldiers in their fight to save the last remnants of humanity from the cavernous-dwelling Locust Horde. Gears of War 2 is an Xbox 360 exclusive scheduled for release in November 2008.

After a long day of hardcore, competitive Gears of War 2 multiplayer, it's easy to say that Gears fans will be ecstatic about the new improvements, shooter fans are sure to thoroughly enjoy the weapons and game modes, and there will be a lot of happy Xbox 360 owners when the game releases this November. Mind you, this is strictly a multiplayer hands-on preview, but if the fun-filled smashup that is multiplayer is in anyway an insight to the single-player campaign, Gears of War 2 is going to be the must-own Xbox 360 game of 2008.

So. Much. Blood.

Our Gears 2 game fest began after an overview of the new improvements from lead designer Cliff Bleszinski. The real fun, however, began when a handful of journalists from various outlets (GamePro included) went head to head for the first time in three radically different Gears 2 multiplayer modes: Guardian, Submission, and Wingman. But before we get into the game types, you should know what's like to play Gears 2 and what improvements have been made since the first game.

Back in 2006, Gears of War was the first game to show off the highly detailed Unreal Engine 3.0, which, back then, set the bar for "next-gen" graphics. With Gears 2, Epic is making technical improvements to the engine including improved character lighting, better shadow lighting, liquid dynamics (think Halo 3 water), fracture system (destructible environments), and efficient decals, which means bodies leave streaks of blood on the ground and walls. Basically, all that technical jargon means the game will look even better than the first Gears.

Gears of War 2 runs on a much improved graphics engine. The difference is striking when compared side-by-side.

What it's like to play Gears of War 2.

Now, as far as the gameplay goes, Gears 2 still feels like the good 'ol original third-person shooter, and it's awesome! You run around, tactically seeking cover and shooting the crap out anything that moves. The biggest difference, however, lies in the notion of "stopping power," which impacts your speed as you continue to take bullets. This impedes your ability to rush an opponent hoping for a last second grenade stick or shotgun smattering. Along the same lines is the new grenade "concussive force," which stuns you for a period of time depending on your proximity to detonated grenades. Note that grenades can now be stuck to walls and a new poison gas grenade has been added to the mix. Standing on top of a grenade will still blow you to bloody bits, but most of the time you will find yourself lying face down in the dirt, struggling to stand back up before an attacker rushes to chainsaw you. And speaking of sawing chains of death, if you smack into another player with chainsaws raised and ready, you will lock into a chainsaw duel. You'll want to immediately mash the B-button as quickly as you can, and to the fastest masher goes the bloody spoils.

Press the B-button as fast as you can to win chainsaw duels.

There are also more ways to embarrass and harass "downed" opponents. Downed players crawl around on all fours, unable to shoot and spill blood in their wake. But just because you're down does not mean you're out. Press the A-button rapidly to crawl away to safety in hopes a nearby teammate will revive you before... well, you know. For instance, Gears 2 features multiple forms of executions, or fatalities as I like to call them. There are weapon-specific fatalities, a brutal brain-bashing melee fatality, and the infamous curb stomp returns. But that's not all you can do with downed opponents; pick them up to use them as a human meat shield for as long as want. At this point the enemy is considered dead and will even respawn while you still hold their writhing body. When you're done, a simple neck snap will finish them off.

Many of the returning weapons for Gears 2 have been fine tuned for optimal balance, and the introduction of such weapons as the 5-round burst Gorgan Pistol and Scorcher flamethrower are welcome additions. Active Reloading has been tweaked too, not only increasing damage but accuracy and range as well. Active Reload is a reloading mini-game featured in the first Gears of war that rewarded the player with more powerful bullet damage if timed correctly. Let's just say, Active Reloading is a crucial component to taking out your enemies in Gears 2. And thankfully, Gears 2 offers more to do when you die instead of just waiting to respawn. New camera modes allow you to view the ongoing action after you've been killed, and even take your own screenshots.

Cole Train gets pummeled by the vicious melee fatality.

New Multiplayer Modes

As mentioned before, the three new game modes are called Guardian, Submission, and Wingman. Guardian is the new Assassination from Gears 1 where you are broken up into two teams and one player is assigned the role of team leader. As long as the team leader is alive, you will continue to respawn in waves. The goal is to take out the other team's leader, while protecting yours, and then eliminate the rest. Submission, formerly known as Meat Flag, challenges you to take hostage a feisty non-playable character and carry him to a secure zone. The challenging parts of Meat-Flag Submission are that the hostage totes a shotgun and his own kill count on the leaderboard and the secure zone is surrounded by lasers that must be turned off by your teammates. Wingman is a simple team deathmatch mode where teams are broken up into two-player attack squads. For instance, a ten-player lobby would consist of five teams of two. You and your teammate sport the same character model and the goal is to kill anyone that doesn't look like you.

So, what's it like to play Gears of War 2 multiplayer? A lot of fun! And this is only just the beginning. If you think this is a lot of new info, come back to GamePro.com on July 14th for the second half of our extensive Gears of War 2 multiplayer coverage. We've got all sorts of new secrets to reveal. ;)

The new Gorgan Pistol fires in 5-round bursts.

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