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Epic has released the details for the upcoming Gears of War 2 Update 4, which will prepare the campaign and multiplayer modes for the Dark Corners downloadable content, add XP gain to Horde mode and allow for a bunch of other bug fixes and improvements.

The release date for Update 4 is still unknown, but will no doubt be released before Dark Corners comes out on July 28. The Dark Corners downloadable content will come available by itself for 1200 Microsoft Points, or in a 1600 Point All Fronts pack with all previous DLC’s included. Hit the jump to check out all the details for Update 4. Read more…

As Shacknews reports, the gigantic Unreal Tournament 3 patch and Titan pack has been released for free for PC and PS3 users today. Steam and PS3 users can simply let the game update itself, and non-Steam users can either register the game to Steam or download the files from Fileshack. The extra content includes 19 new maps, two new game modes, and a myriad of vehicles and items. Hit the jump for the (frankly, titanic) full release notes.

[Update]The game is set to be free this weekend on Steam, and a 40% discount is in place until 15 March.
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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…

G4TV’s Adam Sessler shares his words of wisdom with us once again in the latest edition of Sessler’s Soapbox. The gloves come off as Adam delves into the often shady reality of exclusive content and washes it down with a tall glass of New Yorker/Gears of War kick-ass. Sessler in COG armor is enough to scare even the biggest locust back underground.

Hit the jump and prepare to be rant-ified. Read more…

If a mob of Locust rushed you while playing Gears of War 2, chances are you’d know exactly what to do, but what if a similar creature kicked in the door to your bedroom interrupting your dream right as Jessica Alba was about to say “I do”? My guess is you’d shit your pants, and I’d be right there with you. Not literally, although a Jessica Alba dream does sound nice.

What’s this all about you ask? Well, I noticed an advert on our site for something called “The Last Stand” sponsored by Gears of War 2. Eventually curiosity kicked in. What the hell, I hit “unmute” and started to watch the documentary which polls various experts (and a Gears 2 scribe for good measure) on future threats to the human race such as a biological warfare and extraterrestrial invasions.

If the guys over at Epic were looking to scare us up a bit in time for Halloween — mission accomplished. My lancers on order and my can of Lysol is well within reach. Check out the first part of the documentary after the jump and let me know what you think. Read more…

So yeah, I was bored and the lack of news coming over the wire convinced me to pop open Adobe Photoshop and mess around for a while. One thing lead to another, and a few hours later I ended up with my own little Gears of War Movie poster. Dan Landis added his two cents on the casting over Skype.

Yes, we know that Kilmer is currently a bit on the heavy side, and Batista may not be the best actor on the face of the planet, but we figured what the fuck — they sure as hell look the part. Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and Lester “Terry Tate” Speight were obvious choices. To be perfectly clear, the Gears of War movie has NOT been officially cast yet, these are merely our “shooting the shit” selections.

Hit the jump for a high res version and make sure to let me know what you think of it in the comment section below. Thanks guys. 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…

Mere days after Gears of War 2 began popping up on various torrent sites there has been an arrest made in the case.

Rodney Gray, 43, is a security guard employed by Technicolor, the Memphis Tennessee company that packages and distributes games and DVD’s in the U.S.

According to a Memphis Police Department affidavit, Gray stole hundreds of copies of Gears of War 2, as well as Fable II, and was selling them on the black market. He and another unidentified person of interest are currently under investigation for stealing and selling the games from the plant, but neither have been formally charged as of yet.

Detectives followed Gray from a Memphis apartment and pulled him over for driving related offenses. After doing so, they performed a cursory search of the vehicle and discovered 31 games in a red bag.

Memphis P.D. estimates the net worth of the theft to be more than $60,000.

Source: commercialappeal.com

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.

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Just a few hours ago, we reported that Dreammastah, a Neogaf forum user, posted photos of himself holding up a Gears of War 2 disc and playing it on his Xbox 360. The release date breaking renegade took it a step further today.

In an effort to accommodate the requests made by other users on the Neogaf forum, Dreammastah is currently offering a live stream of himself playing Gears 2.

Have at it after the jump. Read more…

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…

Gears of War 2 hits shelves in a little over two months now. With the release date quickly approaching, the full achievement list has now been revealed, as well as the rewards for the previously revealed linked achievements.

Check them out after the break. Read more…

According to the official Gears of War website, the Microsoft booth will be hosting 5V5 Gears of War 2 multiplayer matches during this weekend’s Penny Arcade Expo. Read more…

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…

There are case mods, and then there are freaking epic case mods. This bad boy not only screams Gears of War, it looks like it belongs in the damn game itself. Dark and gritty with a fiery glow inside — if I didn’t know any better, I’d think it had a few Locust inside ready to surface at any moment.

While the mod looks like it was forged on the blood stained soil of Sera itself, the highly detailed work is that of 24 year old Dallas Texas based artist, Frank Gonzales (DFW Monkie). Kudos to Frank. This is hands down the best Gears case mod I’ve ever seen.

Hit the jump for a video and a few more detailed photos of the case. Read more…

The 1980s gave birth to Murdock, B. A. Baracus, Hannibal, and Faceman — better known as The A-Team.  An elite special forces unit, shunned by the military they served, for a “crime they didn’t commit”.  Sound familiar Marcus fans?

Well, some creative minds took the original audio from the A-Team intro, and mixed in various Gears of War footage.  The result is something worth checking out.  In fact, I “pity the fool” who refuses to watch this video! Read more…