Gears of War 2 Title Update 6 Rolls Out With Triple XP Weekend Celebration

The team at Epic has just rolled out their sixth title update for Gears of War 2, and to celebrate the occasion, Microsoft and Epic Games are throwing a Triple XP Weekend Xbox LIVE bash starting Thursday, May 27, at 9:00 AM EDT and ending on Tuesday, June 1 at 9:00 AM EDT.

The biggest new addition available in the sixth update is a feature called Social Matches, that allows gamers to maneuver in and out matches without disruption, as well as granting their preformed parties the ability to join matches already in progress.

The Social Matches feature is only available to Gears 2 owners in possession of all four currently available DLC map packs. If you don’t have them already, you can pick up the “All Fronts Collection” via Xbox LIVE for a discounted price of 800 MS Points.

You can read the complete listing of improvements, updates, and bug fixes found in the sixth Gears of War 2 title update release notes outlined below.

Gears of War 2 Title Update 6 Detailed Release Notes

The following fixes and improvements are included in Title Update 6.

Improvements
Title Update 6 makes these new improvements:

• Adds a new public multiplayer match option called Social Xbox LIVE (aka player matches), open to anyone who owns all downloadable maps (that is, All Fronts Collection). We’ll be having a promotion that will dramatically reduce the cost of the All Fronts Collection.
  

  You can join Social Matches in progress and can quit any time without penalty, although players who quit a match early don’t receive earned experience (XP) from that match.

  Social matchmaking lets your party join a match in progress. If a match is not found, your party hosts a new match, filling any empty player slots with bots.

  Social Matches automatically cycle to the next map without further matchmaking.

  Teams are rebalanced between matches based on XP level without splitting parties.

  If you quit, your spot is taken by a bot until a new player joins the match. That new player can join while the match is in progress.

  If you join a match in progress, you are assigned a team based on XP level and party size.

  If you join a match in progress, you replace a bot at the earliest opportunity: at the first bot’s death for respawning game types (for example, Annex) and at round completion for Warzone, Execution, and Wingman.

  Social leaderboards become part of the War Journal.

• Renames Public Matches to Ranked Xbox LIVE Matches to differentiate these from Social Xbox LIVE Matches, and adds some improvements to these matches.
  

  Improved host selection using bandwidth testing and previous hosting data has been added.

  Before the match begins, teams are balanced based on XP without splitting parties.

• Renames Private Matches to Custom Xbox LIVE Matches and makes these matches invite-only.
• Adds the ability to join Horde sessions that are in progress.
  

  In Social Horde, you can join a session in progress through matchmaking and you are able to continue your session from the last wave you failed without starting over.

  In Ranked Horde, you can join a session in progress only through invites.

  If you join a session in progress, at the end of the session you receive the score you achieved during the time you spent in the session.

• Improves the precision of weapon selection using the D-pad.
• Improves client-side hit detection for ballistic weapons.
• Firing delays after roadie run and evades are virtually nonexistent. (confirmed as a fix by Senior Gameplay Designer, Lee Perry on the Gears of War 2 official forum)

Exploit Fixes
Title Update 6 fixes these possible exploits, where under certain circumstances:

• Execution rules could be ignored when using certain weapon types.
• On the Subway map, you could get outside of the playable environment by sliding into cover and rolling between a train car and the side of tracks.
• On the Blood Drive map, you could get outside of the playable environment in various locations.
• Players could grief other players on Submission, Annex, King of the Hill, and Guardian games by preventing the objective from being completed while racking up experience. Title Update 6 adds match time limits to each of these game types to prevent this practice.

General Fixes
Title Update 6 fixes these other issues as well:

• An issue that could cause your profile to be overwritten, erasing XP level, and achievement progress.
• An issue that could cause a campaign save slot to be overwritten if you previously chose to continue without saving and then signed in.

Balancing
Title Update 6 makes these balancing changes:

• Changes the Gnasher Shotgun pellet pattern to increase hit consistency.

Changes the Guardian game type to select the leader based upon XP level (highest to lowest).

The full press release from Epic Games and Microsoft announcing the sixth title update for Gears 2 and the Triple XP Weekend can be found below.

MOUNT UP AND JUMP BACK INTO “GEARS OF WAR 2” WITH NEW MULTIPLAYER MATCHMAKING FEATURES IN TITLE UPDATE 6

Social matchmaking update accompanies price drop of “All Fronts Collection” content pack along with Triple Experience Weekend kicking off on Xbox LIVE

Starting today, Title Update 6 gives a new reason for “Gears of War” fans to load up their Lancers and rev their chainsaws. The title update, available today on Xbox LIVE, introduces a new public multiplayer match feature called Social Matches that allows you to jump in or out of games without disruptions, including Horde mode matches. Social matchmaking also lets your party join a match already in progress or start a new match if there are no suitable matches to be found.

Social matching is open to anyone who owns all four downloadable map packs, available as a single download by purchasing the “All Fronts Collection,” now at the new discounted price of 800 Microsoft Points or bundled free with the “Gears of War 2: Game of the Year Edition” for $29.99 ESRP. Those looking for specific map packs to round out their collection will also find individual map packs on Xbox LIVE Marketplace at a new lower price as well.

To celebrate the new title update, Epic and Microsoft have also announced a Triple Experience Weekend on Xbox LIVE. Starting tomorrow, Thursday, May 27, at 9:00 AM EDT, fans can earn triple experience in any “Gears of War 2” multiplayer mode on Xbox LIVE. The Triple XP weekend will run until Tuesday, June 1 at 9:00 AM EDT.

In addition, the title update includes a host of general fixes, improvements, and balancing changes which are available to all players. Visit http://gearsofwar.xbox.com/tu6.htm for a complete list of Title Update 6 changes.

With the improvements in Title Update 6 and the wide availability of the “All Fronts Collection,” players have plenty of time to hone their skills before the launch of “Gears of War 3” in April 2011. Published by Microsoft Game Studios and developed by Epic Games, the “Gears of War” franchise has won over 30 “Game of the Year” awards, sold more than 12 million copies worldwide and redefined the third-person shooter genre for this console generation. The “Gears of War” series is exclusive to Xbox 360 and its riveting multiplayer action makes it one of the most popular titles on Xbox LIVE. More information can be found at www.gearsofwar.com.