Gears of War 2 Message Board older than one year ago

#gearsofwar YouTube's Ashens takes a delightful look at a Marcus Fenix "Bionicle of War 2" figure for ages 3 and up! More »

Sort of! You’ll forgive me pulling a very small amount of wool over your eyes there, but the idea of the world’s most absurdly macho action videogame embracing turn-based strategy, as the Gears of War boardgame does, is a wonderfully strange one. And also a fine confluence of RPS’s farther-flung interests – the original Gears was released on PC (though the second was a casualty victim of Epic weeing themselves with claimed piracy-fear) and of course we’re prone to a healthy spot of boardgame coverage now and again.(more…)

We have a sneaking suspicion that Epic Games' Joe Graf may actually be a real-life hobbit in disguise, because he's giving everyone else presents on his birthday. In celebration of his 42 years of being alive (as well as that whole American freedom thing), Epic Games has turned Gears of War 2's XP knob all the way up to 21-times-normal from now until 9 A.M. EDT on July 5th.

The game has also been tweaked to provide 4-times the normal amount of ammunition for the Hammer of Dawn, as well as the mortar, so those without fireworks can have almost as much fun blowing things up in their living rooms over the holiday weekend. Virtual things, we mean ... let's not nuke the coffee table, alright?

As if you needed more incentive to pick up Bulletstorm outside of the Gears of War 3 beta inclusion (and, you know, all of the dick-scaring you crave), Best Buy is offering a special deal: the Gears of War triple pack for $5. It's $15 off the usual asking price, only when buying People Can Fly's private parts pounder. The Gears of War triple pack comes bundled with Gears of War, Gears of War 2 and the All Fronts DLC collection.

Caveat: the items may ship separately, so you may not receive both at the same time.

A previously rumored bundle containing the first two Gears of War games is now official and headed to retail, several months before the debut of Gears of War 3. The Gears of War Triple Pack includes the brotastic original game and its sequel, along with the Gears of War 2: All Fronts Pack. On top of the 19 multiplayer maps in All Fronts, it has Marcus and Dom playing dress-up to get into the biggest Locust party of the year in the single-player DLC, "Road to Ruin."

This doesn't mean that everything is on the disc, however. The fine print notes that maps from Gears' Multiplayer Map Pack 1 and "Hidden Fronts" map pack are not on the disc, but are available from Xbox Live at no charge. The $30 bundle will be available on February 15, perfect for a post-Valentines Day massacre.

The Gears of War franchise is no stranger to re-releases, having "Platinum" and "Game of the Year" collections across its two titles so far. However, it appears Microsoft is planning one more re-release, tentatively titled Gears of War Ultimate, according to a GameStop listing spotted by IGN. Pegged with a February 15th date, Ultimate has a $29.99 price tag.

Although the listing has since been removed, a Microsoft representative confirmed plans for a "forthcoming bundle SKU," suggesting that Ultimate is, at the very least, a compilation of the two Gears of War games. Don't expect to see any Gears of War 3-related content, though. The representative confirmed "it will not involve Gears of War 3 or the beta." You'll have to pick up Bulletstorm instead if you want entry into the beta.

Want a really nice Halloween treat, Gears of War 2 multiplayer buffs? Epic Games and Microsoft have ratcheted up the XP bonus by 31 times, the only trick being that you must play beginning today (October 29) through Monday, November 1, in order to reap the rewards of their generosity.

#gameface Greg Grunberg, formerly Matt Parkman from the TV show Heroes, screams defiantly in the face of a Locust warrior while doing some voice recording for Gears of War 3, as seen on his Twitter feed. More »

Gears of War 2 executive producer Rod Fergusson recently revealed on Twitter that folks who play the shooter's multiplayer component over Labor Day weekend will be treated to a little something special. Yes, Epic is rewarding players with yet another extended weekend of bonus XP -- though this time, the value of the multiplier is being determined in a decidedly sinister manner.

Fergusson revealed that the number of people who Like the official Gears of War page on Facebook will be divided by 1,000 to determine the XP multiplier over Labor Day weekend. At the time of this writing, that figure is sitting at a little over 14,800 users, which should result in a hefty experience boost. Of course, taking the planet's current population into account, you could easily bump that multiplier up to 6.8 million times the standard XP rate, provided you're willing to do a great deal of word-spreading.

[Thanks, Richard!]

#toys Let's say you love Gears of War. Love Marcus Fenix. Want to mark that love with a piece of memorabilia. Would you love Marcus and his enormous neck enough to spend $350 on an almost life-size bust? More »

Epic is planning an extra XP event for Gears of War 2 that will coincide with next week's San Diego Comic-Con, tied to producer Rod Fergusson's Twitter account -- and designed to promote it, of course. The more followers he gets, the more XP gamers can earn during the upcoming event.

#epicwin Gears of War's executive producer Rod Fergusson is exchanging Twitter followers for bonus experience points in Gears of War 2 over the San Diego Comic-Con weekend. He's already in over his head. Let's make him suffer! More »

How you can earn even more experience.

Still not sure what to play this weekend? Epic might make it easier on you, making Gears of War 2 multiplayer into an experience orgy this weekend. Yep, eight times the normal XP until Tuesday, July 6. More »

Perhaps in an effort to get the Gears of War franchise back at the front of your mind meat before the third iteration arrives next year, Microsoft is trying a two-pronged effort to lure fans back to GoW 2. The first, Title Update 6, adds a feature called "Social Matches" which allows individual players or parties to drop in or out of ongoing games (yep, even Horde mode matches) without interruption. But you knew that already, right?

The only catch is that you can only use social matching if you own all of the game's map packs which have luckily been slashed to $10 for the lot of them (that's the second prong, by the way). Individual prices have been cut as well. Other balancing and fixes implemented by Title Update 6 (a full list of which is available right here) will be available to all players.

To mark the occasion, players will get triple experience gain from May 27 to June 1, which we guess is technically a third prong. Yep, that's right: We've got a rare promotional trident on our hands.

"Social Matches" are coming to Gears of War 2 in today's patch for the game. The new feature allows players to jump in or out of multiplayer games without disruptions. The catch? You'll need to own all four download map packs. More »

Includes dramatic fixes and improvements to Gears of War 2 multiplayer.

#epicgames Changes are coming to Epic Games' Gears of War 2, showing that the title hasn't been at all forgotten about now that the focus has shifted to Gears of War 3. Better still, there's a Gears 2 deal inbound. More »

Epic has posted the Title Update 6 patch notes for Gears of War 2 and the biggest bullet point has to be the ability to join matches in progress. Not only can players now join Horde matches mid-game, the update adds a new Social Xbox Live playlist which lets players join matches in progress and doesn't penalize those who quit early -- however it's only available to those who have all of the DLC. The new Social list also bypasses matchmaking screens and cycles to the next map immediately following the conclusion of the current match, cutting down on the time spent in menus.

The update also addresses certain exploits, such as the ability to get out of the map on Subway and Blood Drive, and also improves the pellet grouping on the Gnasher shotgun "to increase hit consistency." Rod Fergusson, senior producer on Gears, says players can look forward to downloading the update in "about a week." We'll let you know when it's live.

[Thanks, Dusty]

Source - Title Update 6 patch notes
Source - Fergusson says update is around a week away

Looking to represent the Serans during the ongoing conflict with the Locust in Gears of War 2? Well, you've probably been playing the game, but if you insist on enlisting your Avatar in the ranks of the willing and able, Major Nelson reveals the COG armor (steroids not included) will only set you back 240 ($3) this week, while the helmet is a far more manageable 80 ($1). That's a savings of 75 and 50 percent off the normal price, respectively -- a sale that is valid until March 8.

Shortcut: Add Gears of War COG armor (male) to your queue [Xbox.com]
Shortcut: Add Gears of War COG armor (female) to your queue [Xbox.com]
Shortcut: Add Gears of War COG helmet (male) to your queue [Xbox.com]
Shortcut: Add Gears of War COG helmet (female) to your queue [Xbox.com]

Old games getting the 3D upgrade.

Epic has prepared a special Gears of War 2 event (dubbed the "12 Days of Christmas") for the holidays, granting an (odd) in-game bonus for each day. The event kicks off tomorrow, December 23, with everyone receiving a Noobsaw. The "noob" moniker seems aimed more at its wielders than its victims, since it can't be interrupted and lowered by gunfire. The following day will allow insta-kill melee attacks, and the one after that will reward an extra grenade for every pickup. Golden weapons will also be unlocked for all during the course of the event, while multiplayer matches will net you triple the experience points. You can check out the full list of modifiers over at the Gears site. Happy Noobsawing! [Thanks, John!]

Now that Epic's rolled out TU5 for Gears of War 2, it's geared up to celebrate the game's first anniversary of existence with a triple XP event spanning the next nine days. Starting tomorrow at 9 AM EST through Monday, November 16 at 9 AM EST, all players will not only get triple the delicious experience points, but also access to a new tactical mode across all game modes -- which adds increased weapon damage and decreased ammo counts. On top of that, there's going to be "a few subtle tweaks," including a longer down-but-not-out phase for revivals and individual playlists that will allow you to play the exact gametype you want. For you masochists out there, Epic will crank up Public Horde's difficulty to hardcore -- and if you've been playing Gears of War 2 through all of its changes, odds are you kinda are. [Thanks, Nick!]

In celebration of Halloween and the impending release of a new title update, Epic's Rod Fergusson has announced that Gears of War 2 will be hosting a double XP weekend starting this Friday, October 30. In addition to awarding double XP in all multiplayer modes, the game will be featuring an extra "scary" lineup of Locusts in Horde mode. Specifically, Fergusson notes that Horde mode will feature lots of extra Boomers, including some waves comprised entirely of Boomers. An entire squad composed of Flamers, Grinders and good old Boomshot Boomers? Yeah, pretty scary.[Via VG247]

NECA's Gears of War inspired figures are heading to the UK in a special Delta Squad box set, according to Electronic Theatre. Originally available in various packages across North America, the special UK release of the Delta Squad package will include fan favorite characters (sans the Carmine brothers) Marcus Fenix, Dominic "Dom" Santiago, Augustus "Cole Train" Cole and Damon "The Annoying One" Baird, as well as new weapons and accessories exclusive to the set.The series also includes a feature some gamers would prefer to do without: The ability to completely repel the opposite sex if located within 30 feet of your bedroom.

Epic's latest list of fixes to Gears of War 2's online multiplayer aims to satisfy what seems to be an ever-growing community of dissatisfied gamers.The new Title Update (#5) reverts the roadie-run camera back to its state in the first Gears of War and fixes an exploit where "a player could modify the game's behavior due to a security vulnerability introduced in an earlier title update." The update also kills the ability to use turbo controllers with the game -- something folks have been using to increase their rate of fire -- and turns off the ability to mantle the shield in competitive multiplayer matches, eradicating the ability to escape the map or glitch certain pieces of geometry.The fixes sound all well and good, but is it enough to bring folks back to the game and satisfy those still playing with a chip on their massive, hulkish shoulders? We'll all find out when the update goes live, which Epic's Rod Fergusson says could happen as early as today or Monday.

Cheaters beware! Epic's Rod Fergusson recently popped into the Gears forums to let everyone know that Gears of War 2's fifth Title Update is currently in the works and will hit Xbox Live sometime soon. The new update will not only add some new features to the game -- no more "sticky walk" and you'll be able to see friendly grenade plants in Tac/Com -- but will also put an end to a rather nasty cheating hack that surfaced shortly after TU4. Cheating in Gears -- who'da thunk it?We'll be sure to let you know when the TU5 is available. [Thanks, Kyle B]

"Our experience with the first Gears of War was very frustrating," Dr. Michael Capps said at his Gears of War panel at Tokyo Game Show. He noted that translating into Japanese is no problem, but passing the censors? "Huge problem," echoing the sentiments of Square Enix's Yoichi Wada yesterday. Essentially, Epic was forced into making two different games: "Japan version and 'rest of the world' version'" A separate team was needed in customizing content and removing much of the violence featured in the game. "Every Title Update, and all Downloadable content, had to be done twice."In spite of all the effort, Japanese sales of the first GoW represented "less than 1% of Gears sales worldwide," prompting Epic Games to simply give up on working on a Japanese version of the sequel. "We could never make a version for Japan that would fit our creative vision," Capps said, content with avoiding a Japanese release of GoW2."But our fans in Japan were very vocal about playing the new game." According to Capps, about 50,000 Japanese fans in Japan imported the game from America. With encouragement from Microsoft Japan, the team discovered that censorship had become a bit more lax since the release of the first game. Development ended, with a Japanese release of GoW2 in July, over half a year after the US release. Capps was happy with getting the critical reception in Japan, but the trials of the Gears of War franchise show the continuing problem of games censorship in Japan.

"Everyone expects sequels to be bigger and better," Dr. Michael Capps said in his Gears of War panel at Tokyo Game Show. While talking about visual prototyping, he showcased a new type of cover that was in development for GoW2 called "perching" that was ultimately removed from the game. This system would allow for the player to take cover behind a wall as usual, but by pushing up, Marcus would be able to grab the top of the wall, and pull up. Hanging from the top of the wall, players would be able to fire their gun, with an improved vertical vantage of the battlefield.It looked really cool, yes, but Capps talked about how they couldn't implement it in the game because it simply broke the game -- especially in multiplayer. It would be unfair if players could see the entire battlefield, while still being able to stay in cover. Too bad ... because it did look really cool.

Image: MondoXbox.com To be more specific -- and much less acronymic -- it appears that the super speedy Xbox 360 802.11n Wi-Fi adapter has been spotted on a promotional flier inside the Italian version of the Gears of War 2 Game of the Year edition. Italian gaming site Mondobox.com (translation) posted an image of the leaflet, which you can see above. Assuming it's authentic, it seems to indicate that both the original 802.11a/b/g and 802.11n adapter will continue to exist in the same market. And that, hopefully, indicates a price drop on the ridiculously overpriced original adapter. We've contacted Microsoft about the peripheral and will update this post with new information if and when we receive it.