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Last Updated 4:44pm PST
Hey all,
So my copy of GoW got here at 1am this morning courtesy of my roommate Chris, who attended last nights MS Winter Showcase on my behalf.... I took a little nap prior to it getting here, and I think I can safely post some impressions of the game.

More importantly, I'll be answering questions we gathered in the forums after the jump.... Before I get to that though, I wanted to hop on and mention I just played a couple games of Warzone with Mark Rein, VP of Epic studios and (since we were the only ones who spoke english) I took the opportunity to bug him between kills about the who Ranked Game situation....

Gamer Andy: Actually, I do have a question for you if you don't mind
MarkRein Sure, whats on your mind?
Gamer Andy: Well, I'm kinda a hardcore team guy when it comes to games like this, and one of the things I enjoyed most about Halo 2 was how easy it was to play all night with your friends against other people and have it still be really competitive... For as much fun as unranked games are, I think people take games more seriously and generally try harder when they think somethings on the line
MarkRein: Yeah,  Microsoft came to us and said there would be alot of cheaters if we did it that way so for right now this is how it is.  In the future we might roll out some additional functionality
Gamer Andy: Oh, thats such a dirty tease
MarkRein: Yep :)

At this point in the match, I got shot in the head and my mic went dead..... Not really an interview, just an interesting tidbit I wanted to share..... Okay!  JOin me after the jump for impressions and answers to YOUR questions

Questions from the Forums:

Heartbreak Ridge writes:
Q:I'm unclear on how the GoW MP works in this respect - can you go into ranked matches with buddies on one side and let the other side fill up with GP, or do you just get thrown into a lobby with GP people and either pick sides or auto assign?

This is one of my biggest issues with the game... Nobody is playing ranked yet, but i hosted up a match (Yes, you can host a game)... So heres the skinny:
Yes, You can pick sides
No, You can't invite your friends
No, you can't join ranked games with friends
BUT!  It appears that unlike alot of ranked systems, this game doesn't dump you back to the main menu after a single 5 minute game... It looks like you can keep teams together that are formed WITHIN that particular ranked game.        Don't quote me on that though, I havn't had as much time to test that out as I'd like.


Also, a judgment on how hard the "Hardcore" difficulty is, as opposed to, say, the Halo 2 Legendary level (or CoD2, or something like that).

Hardcore difficulty (Casual, Hardcore, Insane) is really very hard.    I dunno if its that I havn't gotten used to the game yet as a whole, but i've played through the first two levels and any sustained firefight I go down a few times before getting through it.   The AI is super fucking aggressive and will actively flank you in most situations, while your teammates really don't feel that helpful.    Oh wait, actually they're good at something.... Dying.   Yeah, I routinely have to revive usually one or two of my fallen comrades (our squad consists of 4 including myself) per little firefight.        Cliffy B wasn't dicking around when it came to the "Stop and Pop, not Run and Gun"     If you stick your head out for very long at all you'll crumple and die.

I'd compare it to high end Heroic, low end legendary stuff and very definitely Veteran on Call of Duty 2.

Active reloading - how beneficial? how difficult?
This one is kinda up to each person... You can very definitely totally ignore active reload (I do about 50% of the time) but the super bullets you get when you do a perfect reload are really. really. good.     Like I said though, if you don't care then you can just let it reload on its own and totally disregard the feature.... Adds maybe 3 seconds to the reload time.

The cover system - how smoothly does it work, how easy/hard is it to get stuck/unstuck?
The cover system is pretty damn smooth.... Sherveen asked me this last night when I first started playing, and to be honestI had more trouble staying ON cover than I did getting off it.    I doubt people will be getting stuck very often


Major Malfunction writes:
I'd like to know what kind of different weapons there are.
I'm not really far enough in the game to answer this question, but so far I've seen the Boomshot, Longshot (Grenade launcher and sniper respectively), the chainsaw gun everybody knows about and this 3 shot burst battle rifle gun that seems really underpowered compared to other guns.   Oh, and the shotty.     I know theres a gun (Hammer of Dawn) that lets you call in orbital strikes but I have yet to see it

I'd like to know if this is truly a must have title. ( A quick down and dirty review)
I think I can safely say yes.   The game may not be perfect ( I have doubts about the multiplayer having the same sort of lasting appeal of a game like Halo) but its worth 60 bucks... (actual review coming later)

I'd like to know if I can play multiplayer with the fun peoples of GamerAndy.com.
Yes ;)

Headin Writes:
if you get it Tuesday, I'll probably be playing it with you too. But if you can, see how the 2 player coop goes. The ability to hop in and out of coop sounded really cool.
This isn't really a question, but I wanted to address the "ability to hop in and out of coop"  -  While you can hop INTO a coop game, in my experiance last night with some random dude, while he was able to join my coop game (that I hosted and left open to the world) when he left the game, I was booted to the main menu as well.....   This might have been an isolated incident, I guess we'll see later today.

Our own Josh writes:
What is being done within the game to make it stand out from other FPS games of recent years? A great story, cool weapons and tight controls are nice, to be sure, but what is going to make this game like no other FPS on the market right now or in the future?
Great quesiton - Some of the things that make this game immediately jump out at me are the graphics and gameplay.   Yeah, I'm really not kidding - the graphics are very solid - UE3 is an impressive beast, and while there have been several occasions where I've seen little chugs in the framerate (mostly when I was outside in a super large area and turning the camera rapidly around my character to try to make the engine chug, lol) theres alot more to like here than with most games.    I take issue with some of the textures, especially on doors in the prison level... When you get up close to them, despite their beveled and pitted texture, the actual scrapes and writing on the doors suddenly look pretty damn low res.   Not really pixelated, but like you zoom in really close on Lara Crofts ass in Tomb Raider 2.... Just ain't that pretty up close.

The gameplay, while it isn't entirely innovative, just does shit better than any other game out there... This is very much not a twitch FPS, its a tactical shooter and should be treated as such.   This is the game to beat this Christmas, and I don't see anything on the horizon thats really up to the task.

Chief Forum Pirate OldSchoolVGamer writes:
The only question I really have is when the PC version for Vista is coming out. I heard somewhere in 2007, but I'm not really sure.
As far as I know, there have been no plans announced for a PC version of Gears.... Probably it'll be like Halo 2 and we'll see it in 1-2 years

Dante of Smeg writes:
Is it easy to Tbag people once you kill them.
Crouching doesn't happen outside of cover, and frankly you don't really want to be exposed that long... If you're going for the humiliation kill then I think the curbstomp is your bread and butter.   Even when I get my head stomped on i'm still like 'Damn, that was freaking cool"

Is the game a let down due to the amount of hype its getting.
Initially the graphics wern't as sharp as I was lead to believe. I think that as you said, this is just a product of the extreme hype surrounding this title.  

Jones writes:
Any signs of giant 6 foot rabbits or time portals in the game?
....no

Hawkes writes:
With regard to the storyline, is it a strong component of the overall game, or is it a case of bad voice-acting, and weak sci-fi story plotting?
Without giving any spoilers, I think that gears is turning out to have one of the stronger stories of recent games.... Obviously it wouldnt win an oscar, but the story serves its purpose:  It provides a cinematic backdrop for a shit-ton of asskicking.    As far as the voice acting is concerned.... Well, I've definitely heard better and worse.   It's decidedely mediocre in my book  -  I should mention that this could be because almost all the characters are big beefy dudes that bear more of a resemblance to mack trucks than they do to a guy like me... Maybe they intentionally sound like van damme on purpose

Velvet Elvis writes:
how varied are the environments?
From what i've seen so far, lots of city - For me, its not really about how varied the enviroments are so much as "Do I feel like i've walked down this corridor 7 times" syndrome.   Both halo games were pretty damn guilty of that, and Its been conspicuously absent from my time in gears.   The theme to the game is "Destroyed Beauty" and one thing I think they did VERY well, was get that feeling across.    The level i'm on right now has the feel of walking through the remains of the roman empire after Europe again decended into the dark ages.... What was once the province of nobility becomes the kingdom of vagabonds and despots.

Heartbreak Ridge writes:
In reading one review today, the writer stated that you could change difficulty levels during an Act, and that the game only picked up on the difficulty level you END an Act on (in terms of counting for achievements, I guess). I was curious if either or both of these are true.
Havn't tried that yet, but i'll investigate it later today - Something to mention though, is that Insane difficulty is locked by default, and isn't accesable until you clear the game...
*Updated*  So, I checked out the difficulty switching thing you were asking about, and it looks like when you hit "continue campaign" it gives you the option to pick between the two difficulties that start off unlocked.... I would caution here that this may only be there to let people drop the difficulty mid-game, some games in the past have let you drop difficulty but not increase in in the middle of a level.

Fon462 asks:
Quick question, are you going to be able to see what Individual/friends/player ranks are before you start the game?
I'll check that out right now..... Back in a few
UPDATED
No, you can't see ranks in ranked matches - more importantly I've just discovered I was wrong on an earlier question and ranked games boot you to the main menu after each game (I just played one that was 6 rounds and 15 minutes long

Louise writes:
Anyway, how are the framerates in smoke? I remember playing it and then someone throwing a smoke grenade, and then...things...getting...kind...of...choppy. This was in GoW gold, so hopefully they made some last minute changes?
I've popped smoke a couple times in online matches and havn't noticed any framerate dips

Velvet Elvis writes:
i noticed in the gametrailers videos that a lot of the colors are kinda washed out, is it like that when playing the game?
The colors are kinda washed out, but I think its more a style choice than anything

wootboot writes:
What fps would you say is Gears of War most like and why?
Um...  Thats actually a really tough question..... Really, I can't compare it to anything outside of KillSwitch because they use a very similar cover/blindfire system... It has obvious similarities to the upcoming Rainbow 6 title, but beyond that its kinda all alone in what its trying to do.

Hawkes writes:
Have you tried in SD to see if there's any difference?
Havn't gotten around to it yet, lol

polysign writes:
Hi, now what are the MP types of matches?
Gametypes are Warzone, Execution and assasination...  They're all variations on deathmatch/counterstrike style short 5-8 minute matches

Is it possible to create a party and play against anyone LIVE in an unranked match, or does that only work with friends you have to invite?
The way they're handling this is to have public games with private slots.   The system is very similar to CoD2 in that way.

Dante of Smeg writes:
n single player, how many enemy are on screen at once, do you have an starship trooper/pain killer moments..

"zulu's thousands of them, wait til you see the whites of there eyes lads"

Most i've seen onscreen at a time is bout 6-8 besides my squad of 4.   I am relatively early in the game though

Fon462 writes:
In your opinion do you think any of the weapons might be to powerfull or have an overwhelming advantage over others? Which is your favorite, and which is your least favorite?
at first glance, the shotgun is pretty damn uber in multiplayer... Nothing else has jumped out at me yet

Dan writes:
Is there a language filter to tone down some of the swearing? My wife doesn't appreciate having to listen to guys cuss at me while I cut down my enemies. And if there is one, is it broken out into gore and language or is it just one setting?

There is an "Extreme Content" filter that turns off language (I assume, just turned it on and am testing it now)  unfortunately, it isn't broken down into a "Gore" and "Language" section.... No swearing = no guts

SPOnG Lupos writes:
dear game Randy, do you fidn the sniper rifle to be usefull? do you forsee a bunch of campign whores is will ti be less of a problem due to the style of play?
The sniper in multiplayer is powerful, for sure.... in Gears more than any FPS i've played people tend to stay in one spot for longer and just pop up and down which is exactly what good snipers like ;)    The weapon is balanced by its reload (after every. single. shot.) and the fact that the only sure kill with it is a headshot.  Since the health system is regenerative, a body shot just warns your target that he's being sniped and lets him duck behind cover to regain health.

FalconX Writes:
How is the gore / language filter? Do the "Spark" effects look really nice?
The Gore/language filter does its job, though I did hear Kim say "shit' even with it on.   The "spark effect" does indeed look very nice ;)  Oddly enough, this game actually looks BETTER in multiplayer than it does in single player.

rd4 writes:
Co-op play aside, are there any options for split screen multiplayer?
Yes, there is split screen versus as well... I'm pretty sure it's limited to 1v1 though... Yep, just checked - 1v1 only for same-console

raisedbyflames sends tons of questions:


FatGit writes:
This has been hyped like mad - does this live up to all the hype and warrant a purchase either instead of, or alongside, CoD3 and R6?
I had my doubts about how long the multiplayer would appeal to me, with the limited amount of game modes and I really can't say since we've only been playing since 1am this morning, but yeah.  This game is worth the hype.

Gibbs writes:
How is the language in the game? Is it very vulgar? "F" bombs?
Its pretty vulgar, but not that bad -  Its like 5% of Saints Row

chris writes:
how different are the online maps, is there a big differnce or is it the same old shit, different people?

The maps, while all small and most of them symetrical, are pretty damn different.  I think i've put significant time in on 5 of them so far, and to be honest, I havn't hated any of them.   This is directly contrary to my normal stance with FPS maps, where I find 1 or 2 that I like and avoid the rest like the plague (Can we say Russia in CoD2?)  There are power weapons scatter around the maps that make the game super interesting..... More details on the maps come thursdays Illiterate Gamer Review for Gears of War

Geraldog writes:
simple question about the settings : can you set the camera options so that the camera looks over "the other shoulder"...
Nope Geraldog, me and Mike just looked - you're stuck with the right shoulder.