Some of you may already be familiar with the fact that I didn’t play through the campaign mode of the original Gears of War the first time around, and instead spent countless hours lost in the game’s multiplayer mode. Well, being that I was going to review Gears of War 2, I felt the need to go back and complete Gears of War 1 first.

With the assistance of Dan Landis, I cleared through the Gears 1 campaign in co-op mode, and then played through the Gears 2 campaign in single player mode over the course of two nights. In terms of multiplayer, I ran through a few of the classic formats and tested out Horde Mode with Dan, Zung, Dlyan, and some 14 year old kid I’ll refer to as “Superman” because he almost always decided to run off and save the world from Locust on his own.

Alright, enough small talk, let’s “dig in baby”. Read more…

The Gear loving crew over at G4TV spent their weekend “working” very hard in the name of better gameplay. Yes, this means they played lots and lots of Gears of War 2. The list after the jump outlines the issues they came across while playing single/co-op campaign, straight up multiplayer, and horde mode. Read more…

If you’ve been anticipating the release of Epic’s Gears of War 2, you may want to avoid gaming news site N4G for the time being. People (likely PS3 fanboys) intent on ruining fans’ Gears 2 experience – we’ll call them “assholes” – have been spamming N4G with phony news articles containing Gears 2 spoilers. Read more…

The two minute Gears of War 2 cinematic intro paints a picture of human ignorance fueled by a “hunger for power” — soldiers marching without hesitation into a war that the narrative suggests they brought upon themselves. Pretty darn deep for a game centered around albino skinned monsters who live underground.

Hit the jump for face full of Locust and things that go BOOM! Read more…

The word on the Locust infested streets of Sera is that Legendary Pictures is looking to purchase Epic Games. No clue as to whether or not the companies would change their name, but they might as well go for “Uber,” I can’t really think of any thing else that tops Epic or Legendary (Artifact perhaps?)

The two studios have been working closely with each other on the film adaptation of Gears of War, and apparently have bonded over a love of Chainsaw Bayonets, leading to speculation that the purchase is at the very least being discussed seriously. Read more…

I recently interviewed Metacrtic founder, Marc Doyle, about what many were calling a suspiciously low LittleBigPlanet user score of 6.3 on his site. Those unfamiliar with Metacritic need only to know that it aggregates the scores given by critics on various websites around the web into one “metascore” and also allows users to submit their own scores which are aggregated into a separate user score.

The total amount of users who had submitted a score for LBP at the time of my article was upwards of 2,200 and the result apparently motivated a group PlayStation 3 fanboys to retaliate. The current user score for the upcoming Xbox 360 exclusive, Gears of War 2, is a laughable 4.1 comprised of roughly 375 submissions. Read more…

Where to begin. I had originally assumed that the “Rendezvous with Death” trailer was going to be commercial that introduced the world to Gears 2, but I was wrong. As Keane pointed out earlier, the “Last Day” spot is without a doubt Epic’s sequel to “Mad World”.

As an enormous fan of the commercial that started it all, I wasn’t initially as impressed by Last Day, but after watching it over a few times and realizing the level of depth the creative team was able to portray in such a short period of time, I quickly changed my tune. Speaking of tune, the Last Day trailer features a song titled “How It Ends” which follows the trend set by Mad World and cranks it up a notch.

Last Day is hands-down, the best Gears of War trailer yet. It’s one minute of pure emotion from start to finish. I enjoyed it so much that I wanted to share my impressions as well as a brief run down of the events that take place in it. Here goes. Read more…

There’s a new Gears 2 TV spot/trailer that hit today - it’s another minute-long meditative piece in the vein of Gears 1’s “Mad World” spot that captured the hearts of so many. It’s got the same somber but pretty soundtrack, Marcus looking glum, minimal exposition, the works. Personally I think it’s a much better piece of advertisement than its predecessor, but the jury’s out on the larger consensus among gamers.

Now, the Gears of War franchise being something that’s very male, I wondered if maybe this ad would have enough artistic sway to win someone over who’s not exactly into big dudes with soul patches and chainsaw bayonets. Someone like my girlfriend.  After all that’s what these ads are designed to do - make the game seem like something more sophisticated than dudes killin other dudes.

Hit the jump to watch the clip, and to hear what my better half has to say. Read more…

I’m sorry to say that while I consider myself a fairly loyal Gears of War fan, it’s my opinion that the gang at Epic overcomplicated their most recent attempt to market Gears 2.

I have tried to focus long enough to figure out what the hell the mystery COG tags point to, but despite the multitude of posts around the web claiming to have all the answers, I simply can’t bring myself to give a fuck any longer.

Seriously, unless cracking the code grants me a few hours alone in the Playboy Mansion grotto with two handfuls (you read that right) of Playboy Bunnies, it’s just too much work.

What do you think? Are you interested in complex marketing attempts, or would you prefer that companies “keep it simple stupid.”

In a previous interview with DasGamer.com, Cliff Bleszinski mentioned in passing that he thought the Dom and Maria act along with pace of gameplay was what might attract a female audience for the Gears games. He said his “gut feeling” was that women love Gears, judging this of course by the number of friend requests on his MySpace.

Cliffy B has pushed the campaign further and launched into the world of nude male modeling in an effort to win over the ladies. He also made sure to tag the photo with “sexy” and “awesome” for clarification.

Read more…

With the release of Gears 2 quickly approaching, I decided that it might be a good time for me to take a quick roadie run down Sera Lane — one that involves a three-hour “I refuse to accept no as an answer” road trip. Those who know me won’t be surprised, but looking back, even I wonder what the hell I was thinking. Read more…

Today in WTF! news, Gears of War 2 is announced as having gone gold (which means the game has been finalized), and just a few hours after that, the game surfaces in the hand of a mysterious figure on the popular Neogaf gaming forum.

Coincidence? Bullshit? It doesn’t matter. What matters is that every time something like this happens the collective butt-cheeks of software executives clench in unison.

Eventually, games will come with remote detonators that sense a premature case ejection. Removing a game from its container before the specified release date will cause it to explode violently, and affected individual will have a hard time convincing anyone that they didn’t deserve every piece of gaming shrapnel they end up having to dislodge from their face.

Hey, I love reporting news and rumors as much as the next guy, but if continuously pushed, it’s not far fetched to think that developers will find better ways to protect themselves and the media they create at the expense of time and resources that could have been spent developing better content. Everything comes with a price.

The latest installment of the Gears of War 2 Developer Diaries, titled “Never Fight Alone”, gives us an inside look at some of the changes made by Epic to improve the mulitplayer aspect of Gears 2.

Highlights include the addition of stopping power when firing at advancing targets, crawling when you’re down, new multiplayer modes, maps, and a candid discussion regarding the influence of psychological warfare.

Have at the video after the jump. Read more…

First there was the Lancer Assault Rifle replica. Now, for your consideration, the brain trust at Globe skate footwear bring you the Gears of War Special Edition Co-op shoe. Chainsaw bayonet not included.

The website declares that:

“Globe has teamed up with EPIC and their Gears of War video game, one of the best selling combat video games of all-time, to bring you a Special Edition Co-op shoe based on Globe’s Fusion Model. This one comes with a big pop of the Gears of War icon inside and out.”

What exactly is a “shoe of war” made of? It features spandex, breathable mesh, and kinetic EVA cushioning for flinging oneself behind strategic cover whilst taking fire.

The shoe is planned to be priced $70 - $80 and comes in sizes men’s sizes 5 through 14. Must have for the fashionable shod gamer – or 15-year-olds who have too bilked too much money from their parents.

No work yet on whether or not Gears commando Marcus Fenix has endorsed the shoe, but early word from his publicist is that “the triple stitching aids in the crushing of Locust trachea quite nicely.”

Have something you think we should show on Geeked-Out? Email it to us.

Source: globe.tv

Two off-screen videos featuring Gears of War 2 multiplayer gameplay footage have made their way onto the web. Imagine that.

From memory, it appears that the scope design when zooming in for a sniper shot has been redone, but that may just be the lack of any recent Gears 1 gameplay speaking.

The sequel packs a decent amount of new features, and for that reason, I am really excited about the upcoming release of the game — but to be completely honest, these two videos did very little for me. The meat shield is utilized early on in the first clip and the second features some snazzy arcade machines, but other than that the gameplay looks a lot like the original.

Hit the jump to see for yourself. Read more…

Honestly, if you want to see the design of the booklet (like me) then this may amuse you, but beyond that I am not sure it has much use — unless you want to practice the button combos to prepare yourself for the upcoming challenge. If so, you may want to throw on some Eye of the Tiger and do a few laps around your living room to build up a sweat before you dig in like a mad man.

Of course, there is the slim chance these are not real, so bear that in mind as you drool. Scans available after the jump. Read more…

A new Gears of War 2 game footage video has made its way onto the web, further confirming in my opinion that the sequel will be better than the original and revealing a few new features as well.

In addition to the meat shield ability which lets you use your enemy’s body to absorb bullets fired in your direction, the video highlights what appears to be a new feature allowing you to reposition in game items and create cover on the fly. Specifically, Marcus flips a table onto its side during a fire fight with the Locust. Pretty cool.

Another new addition in Gears 2 is what looks like in-game achievement status update system. You can see an example of this at the 42 second mark in the clip.

If you don’t mind seeing a few spoilers in the way of cut scenes, have at the video after the jump. Read more…

Delta Squad family photos. Get to know them personally whether you want to or not.

Though Cliffy says that your goal in Gears 2 is to kill the Locust “potentially once and for all”, something tells me that the more people that try to kill them on the game’s release date, the more likely they will resurface again and again. Just a hunch.

The latest installment of the Gears of War 2 Dev Diary digs deeper into the plot behind the sequel, promising  a plot that extends beyond Marcus focusing more on the Delta Squad as a whole.

The “angry white man”, the “half hispanic” jokester, the “charismatic african”, and the “caucasian anti-hero” will be fleshed out for your gaming enjoyment soon enough. My popcorn is ready, and my sixty bucks is in a safe location waiting patiently.

Check out the video after the jump. Read more…

Joystiq’s Dustin Burg is reporting that lead Gears of War 2 scribe, Josh Ortega, promises that the highly anticipated sequel will have “a fulfilling ending.”

The apparent concern voiced by Joystiq was whether or not the game would follow in the footsteps of Halo 2 (not sure why they thought it would but lets go with it), and the answer they received from Ortega was essentially no. He stated that the game would “get nice closure”, but was quick to add that it would not get “too much [closure]” in the event they wanted to “expand” on the franchise yet again.

So it seems that the guys behind Gears are confident that we will like their ending. I am not this is really shocking news, but at least it gives us a set of feet we can hold to the fire in the event we hate it.

Source: Joystiq

Electronic Arts has just signed a deal to publish an all-new IP from Epic Games, the creators of the Gears of War and Unreal series. The new IP is currently being developed by Epic’s People Can Fly studio in Poland, the team behind Painkiller and the Gears of War PC port. Read more…