Hrmm - I'm generally really bad at GoW. I couldn't get past the "look at all dat juice!" bit on Hardcore in the first game and ended up giving up. Having said that, I'm surprised to hear about people here and on podcasts talking about dying dozens of times at certain places. All up I've died maybe 6 times, and I'm near the end of act 4. I'm playing on Normal by the way.
The part mentioned above I did first time. The [spolier]fish boss[/spoiler] I died once but figured out what to do on that go, and got it done on the second go. Am I suddenly a GoW legend, or am I missing something?
I wouldn't feel that bad. That was one of the zomgwtfbbq moments in the game. I spent two hours on that section alone before I passed it on insanity. :/
Hrmm - I'm generally really bad at GoW. I couldn't get past the "look at all dat juice!" bit on Hardcore in the first game and ended up giving up. Having said that, I'm surprised to hear about people here and on podcasts talking about dying dozens of times at certain places. All up I've died maybe 6 times, and I'm near the end of act 4. I'm playing on Normal by the way.
The part mentioned above I did first time. The [spolier]fish boss[/spoiler] I died once but figured out what to do on that go, and got it done on the second go. Am I suddenly a GoW legend, or am I missing something?
I found Hardcore to be good. It wasn't cheap and generally fair as long as you took a moment to assess the situation vs being eager to kill. I'd rate it somewhere right around Halo 3 Heroic and less difficult than CoD4 on Hardened (mainly because CoD4 NPC's are endless spawning, auto aiming garbage!)
One thing about GoW2 I've noticed is that you have to plan out your battles well. You can't just sit in cover and shoot like in Gears 1. In the first game, the nades were ok but mainly just for closing up spawn holes for locusts. In Gears2, I search all over for nades. Not to close up sink holes but to use as proximity mines. I'll run out and tag a few walls and bait them into the area and pick them off. The other things is using your pistol. You'll notice that you'll down a Locust and they'll start crawling to cover and his buddies running over to revive him. This sucks because you're generally about reload when this happens so forget the reload and whip out the pistol to finish them off.
The best thing about this game is the lack of exploding wretches. God those sucked sooo bad in Gears1. The tickers are much more manageable.
Hrmm - I'm generally really bad at GoW. I couldn't get past the "look at all dat juice!" bit on Hardcore in the first game and ended up giving up. Having said that, I'm surprised to hear about people here and on podcasts talking about dying dozens of times at certain places. All up I've died maybe 6 times, and I'm near the end of act 4. I'm playing on Normal by the way.
Well on hardcore I've only died few times in actual battles, but many more in onrail or driving sections, some of them have REALLY strict timing.
What was this "look at all dat juice!" part again?
edit: I have to say though, that the biggest reason for so little death count is Dom! Man he is kicking some serious but in Gears 2! In the first game he died all the time and basically got nothing done, now he is all over the place and destroying everything in his path
Hrmm - I'm generally really bad at GoW. I couldn't get past the "look at all dat juice!" bit on Hardcore in the first game and ended up giving up. Having said that, I'm surprised to hear about people here and on podcasts talking about dying dozens of times at certain places. All up I've died maybe 6 times, and I'm near the end of act 4. I'm playing on Normal by the way.
The part mentioned above I did first time. The [spolier]fish boss[/spoiler] I died once but figured out what to do on that go, and got it done on the second go. Am I suddenly a GoW legend, or am I missing something?
Well on hardcore I've only died few times in actual battles, but many more in onrail or driving sections, some of them have REALLY strict timing.
What was this "look at all dat juice!" part again?
edit: I have to say though, that the biggest reason for so little death count is Dom! Man he is kicking some serious but in Gears 2! In the first game he died all the time and basically got nothing done, now he is all over the place and destroying everything in his path
He's great early on, but later he all of a sudden turns retarded at the most inopportune times. I've decided several times where he comes out of his way to revive you, yet when you die are right beside him, he just stands there.
About the ribbing, I'm playing on hardcore now to regain my gaming cred. I have to say compared to GOW1, insane might truly be insane to finish.
I don't deny this at all! Games on hard tend to be more frustrating than challenging, and not something I tend to want to put myself through. I'm convinced they changed how difficult "normal" should be this time around, and that's nice - it encourages me to try "Hardcore" when I'm done.
just got in to my first Horde games... considering I suck at this game it gave me a chance to get better without the humiliation of getting killed by other people but holy moly is it fun as hell!
I found my MP mode... we got killed on wave 10 on my second game... very cool mode.
Just completed the campaign mode on Hardcore, and boy what an amazing experience! This game should serve as an example for all developers looking to do a sequel to a massively successful game, GeOW2 improves on Gears in every imaginable way. The presentation is amazing, the graphics are without a doubt the best I have ever witnessed on Xbox 360 and the pacing of the campaign is perfect, etc, etc. I could go on and on, but the only thing anybody not currently playing this game needs to know is that you need to purchase this game.
Just a quick score breakdown...
Presentation: 9.0/10
Superb menus (have not played online portion yet) and background music are tied together to create an excellent frontend to the campaign. In game cinematics are excellent, with a couple being jaw dropping moments.
Gameplay: 10/10
Polished to perfection! (have not played online portion yet) Moving from cover piece to cove piece is so simple and fluid. Gameplay scenario's are varied, including the regular pop and stop cover battles along with vehicle based portions and entertaining "boss" battles. Just having well structured segments is not enough though, all of this is tied together with impeccable pacing, helping to deliver non stop pulse pounding action.
Graphics: 9.5/10
What can I say? This game is without a doubt the best looking Xbox 360 game available, and a strong contender for the best looking video game period. Technically the game is marvelous, specifically when the action is slowed down and we are aloud to marvel at the amount of detail etched into the game world.
One particular example of this is when Marcus and co ride into Jacinto on a pair of Reaver's, the lighting in this particular scene is excellent as is the detail placed within the city.
Artistically the game is just as impressive, especially the underground elements which almost seem to pop out of the television screen as they are filled with some much detail. Some inconsistent texture work, along with some rare frame rate drops, and tearing prevent it from being 10/10.
Sound: 10/10
A real sense of desperation and despair is given off by the games main title theme, which fits perfectly with the plot and art style of the game. Each set piece is matched with a suitable track that helps drive up the adrenaline and draw you into the experience. The environmental sound effects are every bit just as impressive! For example, the Lancer's primary fire mode has a real solid sound to it, and the Chainsaw Bayonet gives off the perfect mix of grinding steel and mulching flesh. All of the weapons impressive firing sounds are back up by what has to be the best flesh slashing, bone mashing effects ever concieved. Seriously, blowing up a Locust with a grenade is oh so satisfying!
Campaign Mode: 9.5/10
Since I have not played the multiplayer yet, I figured rather than having a category like replay value I would just rate the campaign mode instead. At the base, GeOW2's campaign mode is really just the summation of all the other parts combined with great story telling and excellent pacing.
Agreed with your assessment. The ride this campaign takes you on is something amazing and easily well above what I expected from a sequel or expect from a campaign, period. I remember in the first one, the big deal was "OMG! i want to fight that Brumak!" And people felt cheated that you don't. The Brumak is the least of your issue in this one.....
I love Act 5. It's the ultimate is rewarding the player.
So you go through this whole hair raising, on the end quest through the first 4 acts and in act 5 it's all about you being the badass now. The Locust are actually afraid of you. You made their Queen run and her elite guard even ran from you. The parts where you get to ride the Reaver and then the Brumak are the most memorable part of this game. They're all about rewarding the player and making you feel like a badass and they work to perfection.
And when you're done talking about great the campaign is, it's matched in the "wow!" factor by Horde mode. THAT is an awesome addition.
Campaign Mode: 9.5/10
Since I have not played the multiplayer yet, I figured rather than having a category like replay value I would just rate the campaign mode instead. At the base, GeOW2's campaign mode is really just the summation of all the other parts combined with great story telling and excellent pacing.
Are you implying that the SP campaign has no (or little) replay value? If not, why do you need the MP to say whether the parts you did play left you with any desire to play again?
Are you implying that the SP campaign has no (or little) replay value? If not, why do you need the MP to say whether the parts you did play left you with any desire to play again?
No, I did not intended to imply that the campaign has little or no replay value, however, as you have correctly pointed out my wording implied that I did. I view GeOW 2's campaign mode much like a roller coaster ride, in that you need to get on at the beginning to fully appreciate the structure and pacing of the game. Its my personal perspective that some of the games more climactic moments might be lost without first playing the sections that led up to them. With that said, the game is highly replayable, as the enemy AI is challenging (on Hardcore - I have not played on Insane yet) without feeling cheap. There is only one enemy that I found too be an annoyance, but once you learn to deal with them they are not so bad. The level structure allows for a player to jump in at the beginning, and while you might feel out of place without having the buildup leading to that level, each Act provides an ample amount of action and setpieces.
I knew i should have waited, but they were just going on so frikkin long I gave up. Any chance of hitting up a spoiler tagged account of what i missed?
I agree with the sentiments on this game by the way, was wicked. I'm actually considering giving it another go on insane already.
I knew i should have waited, but they were just going on so frikkin long I gave up. Any chance of hitting up a spoiler tagged account of what i missed?
I agree with the sentiments on this game by the way, was wicked. I'm actually considering giving it another go on insane already.
You hear a staticy message From Marcus's father saying something to the effect of why did you sink Jencento (or however that city is spelt) you don't know what you've done and he just repeats why over again a few times.
If you beat it already just host a private co-op game and pick that last check point and beat it quickly
hmmm... interesting. I thought it was his plan originally.... for all the talk of teaching you more about the story in this game it really doesn't tell you that much!
You hear a staticy message From Marcus's father saying something to the effect of why did you sink Jencento (or however that city is spelt) you don't know what you've done and he just repeats why over again a few times.
Got into a 4 player Horde match with some guys from England (I'm in the midwest), I saw virtually no lag although the voice chat was hard to distinguish. I think we started at wave 43 on casual (the host's choice not mine).
I have to say it was pretty intense even on casual. We made it up to and finished wave 50 on a map called Security. The variety of enemy types on this last wave is just nuts. It really felt like a band of brothers thing with us against the entire Locust horde.
Pretty awesome and I look forward to playing it with guys I actually know as I don't tend to be a chatty person with strangers.