Grindhouse: Gears of War 2 Multiplayer Impressions

Grindhouse: Gears of War 2 Multiplayer Impressions

The new Annex multiplayer is much like King of the Hill, but encourages more cooperation with teammates. An early favorite!

Risk, meet Reward

Next, we turned our attentions to Annex, a fast-paced, King of the Hill-style multiplayer mode that will take a starring role in Gears of War 2. In this mode, two teams clash over a series of moving checkpoints. The goal is to capture and hold each checkpoint for as long as possible to boost your team's score and, ultimately, win the match.

It's a simple premise, but in practice, the strategic possibilities are vast. When an enemy team set up shop in one well-defended checkpoint, we tossed poisonous Ink grenades (new to Gears of War 2) into the center of the crowd and watched them scurry away like rats. The scoring zone now vulnerable, we swept into the deserted checkpoint and hastily prepared for the inevitable counterattack, setting up Boomshields for defense -- until the concussive blast from a rogue smoke grenade set those barricades, and our hopes, toppling. It's this kind of rock-paper-scissors gameplay that already sets Gears of War 2's multiplayer far above its predecessor. For every attack, there's an equally powerful counterattack that will short-circuit your opponent's strategy. We found this out the hard way when trying to "shotgun rush" members of the Epic team. Veterans of the first game know that running straight at enemies is a powerful tactic, giving you an all-too-easy opening for the shotgun. But in Gears of War 2, incoming bullets will slow your roadie run to a mere roadie crawl. If you heartlessly exploited the multiplayer imbalances in the first game, you're in for a rude awakening with Gears of War 2.

Grindhouse: Gears of War 2 Multiplayer Impressions

The new Mulcher gatling gun is ludicrously powerful, but you need to prop it against cover for maximum accuracy.

The basics now (re)mastered, we fought back valiantly against our oppressors, bombarding the enemy team with fiery mortar blasts and withering volleys from the Mulcher gatling gun. Heavy weapons are a particularly welcome addition to Gears of War 2's multiplayer, feeding into the game's omnipresent "risk versus reward" philosophy. Sure the mortar is obscenely powerful, capable of wiping out three or four enemies at a time. But it's usually located in remote areas far from the main battle. And even if you can find the mortar, your movement speed and evasive maneuvers will suffer greatly while you carry it. This is all part of Epic's plan, and we're happy to say that the mortar and Mulcher gatling gun fit logically into Gears of War 2's already smart, satisfying arsenal.

Grindhouse: Gears of War 2 Multiplayer Impressions

This mortar launcher can obliterate entire crowds of enemy players, but it requires finesse. You hold the right trigger to boost the distance, and release to unleash the 'sky fire.'

More Please

It's hard to imagine anyone being dissatisfied with Gears of War 2's multiplayer component. We played it for five hours straight and we just wanted more, more, more. Epic has smoothed out virtually all the kinks from the first game, added subtle new strategies and, perhaps most importantly, introduced the crackerjack new Horde mode. Whether you want to rule the online leaderboards with an iron first, or just crack some Locust skulls with your buddies, Gears of War 2's got you covered.

VIDEO: GamePro vs. Epic in Gears of War 2 throwdown

Epic's Cliff Bleszinski and GamePro's Sid Shuman squared off in Gears of War 2's Annex mode, and it was a nail-biter of a match that was only settled in the final, grueling seconds. Who emerged victorious? Who tasted bitter defeat? Watch the full video below!


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NEWS: 5 Things You'll Love about Gears of War 2's new Horde mode

Comments [13]

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gmayronne

....im sure you meant to say something else....right Spawn100??? anyway, yeah im pumped for this....more-so to see how the campaign and story play out.....THEN i'll give it a shot in multiplayer. from what i hear they fixed alot of the CRAP that was in Gears of War 1s multiplayer, which i loathed...no more invincibility while chainsawing suckers, and hopefully ZERO glitches for noobs to take advantage of (crab walking bastards).

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3ple2x

i can't wait for this game...btw i rented army of two last saturday and i think the game rocks..i already got 780 gamerscore for this game..army of two is really like the original gears.

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