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Gears of War 3 Title Update 2 Drops – What it Fixed

Garrett Hartman — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 05:00:04 +0000

Epic Games has delivered the second major title update for Gears of War 3 in as many months. While some gamers have complained about the online exprience as too ‘noob friendly’ there is no denying that online matches have run much more smoothly when compared to the disappointing Gears of War 2 debacle.

Accompanying this update are exciting new fixes and improvements. A new spectator mode has been added, a few exploits fixed, and quite a few general issues are addressed.

Here are the full patch notes below courtesy of the Epic Forums:

Improvements

A spectator mode option has been added to private versus matches for broadcasting by gaming leagues.
- One player on each team will be able to choose spectator mode during match set up.
- The matches will be 4v4 with two spectators
The Leader and Vengeful medals are now easier to acquire.
The mutators Roadie Comet and Regen Enemies are now easier to acquire.
Added an option to disable the HUD during multiplayer games for machinima and video creators
Added a visual indicator of the next ring’s location during the last 10 ring points in KOTH.

Exploit Fixes

The Onyx Field Engineer medal can no longer be prestiged.
In Capture the Leader, the overhead Beams on DryDock are no longer accessible.
While affected by the Smoke Grenade stun, players will no longer be able to take hostages, pick up weapons or revive teammates.

General Fixes

If there is a host migration during Horde, the match will resume at the same wave.
Also during Horde, the Combat Engineer ribbon can now be achieved once per wave instead of once per game.
The Ranked Disconnect stat will no longer increase when quitting a standard Horde or Beast game.
The cringe from the Mortar will no longer cause players to drop their primary weapon.
The Hail Mary ribbon is now correctly awarded for long distance Boomshot headshots.
Maps will no longer be immediately repeated when choosing random map selection.
If the host pauses during a private versus match the game will continue for other players.

The game will still pause in the Campaign, Beast and Horde.

Potential fix for the rare lost progress issue.
Potential fix for the rare profile freezing issue.
Beast leaderboard screen no longer refreshes while sending challenges

Gears of War vs. Resistance – An Epic Rivalry Concludes and Everybody Wins

Garrett Hartman — Wed, 21 Sep 2011 03:00:16 +0000

In early November 2006, one of the greatest franchise fights of this console generation began: Gears of War vs. Resistance. It started as a battle between exclusives to showcase the capabilities of each respective console. Surprisingly, both series had many parallels and further cemented the rivalry by releasing each successive game in the same month, with release dates often less than two weeks apart. Two Sci-fi shooters designed by respected studios featuring characters fighting for humanity’s survival against far more powerful mutated alien invaders. While there is no doubt that the Gears of War series proved more dominant, the Resistance series has more than held its own in many respects as one of the PlayStation 3′s standout franchises.

The rivalry has included six games, three from each studio: Gears of War, Gears of War 2 and Gears of War 3 from Epic vs. Resistance: Fall of Man, Resistance 2 and Resistance 3 from Insomniac Games.

Origins

Back in November 2006, the Xbox 360 had been basking in the sun for a year as the only “next gen” console. This was soon to change with the coming release of the of the Nintendo Wii and PS3. Out of the new contenders the PS3 was considered the more likely rival with expected greater computing power and graphical capabilities.

Prior to the PS3′s release, two major exclusives were being trumpeted to showcase the system’s prowess : one being the now infamous Killzone 2 “gameplay” trailer and the other being Resistance: Fall of Man. Both were hyped to be superior to anything found on the Xbox 360.

ORLY?!

At the time, Microsoft had not released a console defining game. Halo 3 was still in development and would not debut until 2007. Microsoft knew they needed a champion – a showcase title to release as a counter to the PlayStation 3. Luckily a young and ambitious developer from Epic games named Cliff Bleszinski had an idea for a 3rd person shooter which involved using cover and tactics. It was a new approach Cliff came up with after enjoying paintball outings with friends. Rather than a simple backstory, the ambitious Cliffy B created a complex sci-fi adventure featuring inhabitants of the earthlike planet of Sera in a desperate situation fighting for existence against a recently emerged overwhelming menace – the Locust. As the first Xbox 360 game using Epic’s propriety Unreal 3 engine, early in development Gears looked amazing and after it won several “Xbox 360 Game of Show” awards at E3 2oo5, Microsoft was sure they found their champion.

Sony was also in a desperate position. The PS3 launch needed marquee titles and as the launch date came closer more than a few expected titles would be delayed. Luckily Insomniac’s Resistance: Fall of Man would be ready. Resistance was developed as a “Halo Killer”. Insomoniac looked at the popular FPS’s of the time: obviously the console king Halo and World War 2 shooters such as Call of Duty. What they created was an alternate timeline sci-fi shooter which took place in 1950′s England. This world, while similar to ours, never experienced the second World War. Instead they faced an alien invasion which extended beyond simple miltary conquest with futuristic weapons, as the enemy Chimera could spread by virus. The focus would be entertaining and innovative weapons. Sony had found its first “killer app”.

The stage was set for battle with the success of each competing title tied at least some part to the success of their consoles. The two Sci-fi shooters with more than a few similarities debuted just a week apart.

This is 'Slightly' More Scary A Nazi Invasion

Resistance: Fall of Man vs. Gears of War

Gears of War debuted first on November 7th, 2006 to universal critical acclaim with an aggregate score of 94% on Metacritic. Critics praised the game for its graphics, solid gameplay, innovative cover system, multiplayer and reload mechanics. Resistance released ten days later on November 17th as the most celebrated launch title for the PS3. Fall of Man received generally positive reviews from critics. The game received an average score of 86% on Metacritic as reviewers enjoyed the game’s setting, story, variety of weapons and 40 player multiplayer.

Although Gears of War outscored Resistance by an average 8% points, many critics were divided as to which exclusive was superior. Furthermore, Gears lead in sales which could easily be attributed to the higher install base at the time of Xbox 360s.

Screw You Major Nelson!

Head to head, both had their strengths and weaknesses. Critics praised the story in Resistance while many described Gears as being “shallow” and a “missed opportunity”. Clearly, Gears had better graphics and distinguished itself with a excellent cover system, but Resistance had more interesting and varied weapons. Both games had excellent but far different multiplayer components however.

All in all both titles could claim victory because both had accomplished their individual goals. Gears of War raised the bar for console graphics proving that Microsoft’s console would be able to compete, while Resistance gave the the PS3 the killer app it would need to sell consoles in the first place.

Like with any good fight, the first round ended, both combatants had gotten a feel for each other and adjusted their tactics for round two.

Gears of War 3 Epic Media Blowout – Videos, Gameplay and Much More

Chris Carlson — Sun, 03 Jul 2011 21:26:52 +0000

Epic Games has just announced……wait they didn’t announce anything. Unless you were out partying all weekend you would know the full version of Gears of War 3 has been leaked online.

Following the leak, tons of videos have made their way onto Youtube showing tons of footage from the game. Now of course we’re going to keep this spoiler free but that doesn’t mean there’s not a shit ton of content to share with you. Keep in mind these videos may be the full game but it’s still unfinished and bugs will be present.

This video confirms that Gridlock will be making an appearance in Gears of War 3. It also got a huge make over and looks even grittier than before. Wether or not this will be a shipped map, or if Epic will offer a “Flashback Map Pack” code with copies of the game similar to how they did Gears of War 2 is still unknown. Just knowing this classic Gears map is making a return is good enough for me.

This next video showcases a new outfit for Marcus titled “Civilian Marcus” and shows off boat load of additional unlocks. Players will receive exclusive weapon skins for playing Gears of War on PC, Bulletstorm, and all three Gears of War campaigns. Avatar items is also listed which suggest the game will feature Avatar Awards which is nice because many games don’t support this feature. Last but not least the infamous Seriously 3.0 is a confirmed achievement, but we really didn’t need to tell you that right? Seriously……..we didn’t need to right?

Previously noted in the last video was certain exclusive unlockable skins for your arsenal. This video displays quite a few of the weapon skins but no details on how to unlock them. The skins range from a beautiful nice set of flowers to a blood red covered Lancer. Then there’s your classic camos like urban, jungle, pink etc.

One of the new weapons announced was the Vulcan Cannon, however Epic didn’t go into much detail at all. So now I present you with this beautiful fucking beast of a weapon and just how dangerous this baby is. Words can not describe this beauty, just watch.

Was that not enough for your blood pumping Gears of War veins? Check out some actual gameplay from some of the new maps not playable in the beta below.

Mercy

Azura

Dry Dock

Hotel

Overpass

Rustlung

Sandbar

Gears of War 3 is set to release September 20th, exclusively on Xbox 360.

Gears of War 3 – New XP System and Unlockables

Garrett Hartman — Sun, 10 Oct 2010 07:44:39 +0000

Epic games has decided to do something new with Gears of War 3 multiplayer by introducing a more “unified” XP system.

First of all, experience will be gained in all game modes. In multiplayer completing specific tasks will earn ribbons- for example getting the first kill. Earning a number of ribbons gets you a medal. Medals are worth experience points and expand XP beyond simple multiplayer point totals.

Another part of the new unified XP system involves executions. Every weapon has specific executions that can now be unlocked by competing challenges. Completing more advanced/complicated executions will earn more XP points than a simple kill.

Other item players will be able to unlock include different skins, and uniforms. The Cole Train’s thrashball uniform is said to one of them.

This looks to be a turn in the right direction. While many Gears of War players would like to see more depth, many enjoy that every player comes into a match equal: without perks or special weapons.

Source

Gears of War 2 Labor Day XP Event Revealed

Rangebar Merani — Thu, 19 Aug 2010 20:17:24 +0000

Gears of War 2 executive producer Rod Fergusson recently revealed on his Twitter that those who play the game’s online multiplayer over Labor Day weekend will receive bonus XP, but there’s a catch to it.

Fergusson tweeted that the XP multiplier during Labor Day weekend will depend on the number of people who ‘Like’ the official Gears of War page on Facebook divided by 1,000. Told you there was a catch.

At the time of this writing the number of Facebooks fans on the page is currently 16,882, so you can expect to see some huge XP bonuses by the weekend. Get around and spread the word!

Soure: Joystiq via Twitter

Gears of War 2 Set to Offer 20x EXP

Bryce Wilson — Sun, 18 Jul 2010 03:01:53 +0000

Gears of War 2 has an insane level cap, there’s no denying it. Getting to Level 100 is an event so unrivalled it’s worthy of a plaque and monument in the town of any gamer who can achieve it. Thankfully for us less than pro players Epic Games offers increased experience events like they’re going out of fashion. The latest in a long line was decided by the amount of gamers that followed Rod Fergusson, the Executive Producer at Epic Games, on Twitter.

Well the numbers came in and Gears of War 2 players the world over are set to gain a whopping 20 times the regular amount of experience points. Levelling up to Level 100 could only take a weekend, and not weeks of endless playing and hoping you get host. Fergusson officially announced the event by saying;

So 20x XP SDCC Event is going to run exactly SDCC hours – July 22nd, 12:30 PM EDT till July 25th, 8 PM EDT. Get your wings!

Let the chainsawing begin. Ripten might see you on the battlefield…

Halo 3 Offering 2X XP, Gears of War 2 8X XP for 4th of July Weekend

Rangebar Merani — Sun, 04 Jul 2010 04:44:00 +0000

Not partying this weekend for the 4th of July? Maybe no plans? Not invited to the local pool party? Well, sorryboutcha, but at least there’s plenty of gaming to be done this Independence Day weekend with special events from both Halo 3 and Gears of War 2 to celebrate.

Halo 3 is offering double experience points for it’s popular bomb detonation game, Grifball, while Gears of War 2 totally blows the lid off with eight times the experience points across all multiplayer gametypes. Yes, I said eight times the experience points. Now that’s a crazy-ass promotion. Too bad I’ll be busy tomorrow grillin’ out, drinking and, of course, chillin’ poolside with the ladies. Ooowww!

Happy Independence day to you all, have fun and please be safe!

Gears of War Tick, Tick, Boom Super EXP Event Announced

Bryce Wilson — Mon, 28 Jun 2010 13:56:05 +0000

Looking to finally get to Level 100 in Gears of War 2? Who am I kidding, of course you are. Damn it takes forever. Luckily Epic Games has been “epic” enough to provide us with countless double and even triple experience events to ease the pain that is grinding game after game after game …

Starting on July 1st and running through to July 6, the “Tick, Tick, Boom Event,” which coincides with Fourth of July and officially kicks off on Canada Day.

The double experience will stack on the quadrupled experience, granting players a whopping eight times the normal experience during this event. In addition, you’ll have access to a Horde Mode filled with nine levels of nothing but Tickers, and one Boomer filled level batting clean-up. Hence the Tick, Tick, Boom.

Below is a list of all experience rewards from the various match types:

Annex: 1000 points = 1840 XP
King of the Hill: 1000 points = 2000 XP
Submission: 1000 points = 3040 XP
Guardian: 1000 points = 5600 XP
Execution: 1000 points = 7840 XP
Warzone: 1000 points = 8000 XP
Wingman: 1000 points = 9440 XP

Will you be partaking? If so, I’ll see you on the battlefield.

[Source: Abstract360]

Nine Modern Games Like Gears, Killzone, & LBP Get Retro NES Cover Treatment

Chad Lakkis — Tue, 01 Jun 2010 21:43:54 +0000

Ever wonder what your favorite modern day games like Gears of War, Little Big Planet, or Call of Duty might look like had they been released on the Nintendo Entertainment System back in the 80s? Well, the nifty piece of retro pixel art should give you a pretty good idea.

[Thanks AGB]

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

Chad Lakkis — Wed, 26 May 2010 20:07:35 +0000

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.

Gears of War 2 Gets Sixth Title Update

Chad Lakkis — Tue, 18 May 2010 21:00:44 +0000

Gears of War 3 Executive Producer, Rod Fergusson, threw on his Super Moderator hat today and posted the following Gears of War 2 title update list on the game’s official forum.

Notable highlights include a new public multiplayer match option exclusive to those who own the All Fronts Collection of maps, proving that in life as well as video games, the rich continue to get richer. The update also corrects a couple buggy aspects and makes a few other enhancements to client side hit detection and weapon selection accuracy with the d-pad.

A last minute addition to the list was made by Senior Gameplay Designer, Lee Perry, stating:

“…firing delays after roadie run and evades are virtually nonexistent.”

Have a look at the full list 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.

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).

Source: Gears of War Official Forum

IGN Sums Up Gears of War 1 & 2 In Five Minutes

Chad Lakkis — Tue, 27 Apr 2010 17:22:43 +0000

If you’ve already played through both of Epic Games’ Gears of War titles, you’re definitely going to want to watch the hilarious plot summary below written and narrated by IGN Editor Ryan Geddes. It should go without saying (but I’ll say it anyway) that if you haven’t played both games this is going to spoil things just a tad. Enjoy.

Gears 2 Update 5 Fixes Glitches & Security Hole – Plus Halloween Double XP Weekend

Chad Lakkis — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 17:56:48 +0000

Epic Games has put out the 5th title update for its third person shooter Gears of War 2 resolving a slew of glitches and a security hole that arose in the fourth patch. Plus, just in time for the Halloween Holiday, Epic is also treating gamers to another double XP weekend event Friday, October 30, through Monday, November 2.

Hit the jump for the full list of release notes via the official Gears forum.

Improvements

Title Update 5 makes these new improvements:

Adds the ability to view friendly-planted grenades in Tac/Com.
Removes the cringe caused when a smoke grenade forces a player to drop a meatshield.
Adds bonus points to the winning leader’s score in the Guardian game mode if the leader successfully survives the winning round.
Changes the postmatch Invite button to only invite former teammates, so a player can create parties more easily instead of trying to create a Private Match that includes both teams from the former match.
Returns the roadie-run camera movements to the way they were in Gears of War 1 by decreasing the dampening values.

Exploit Fixes

Title Update 5 fixes these possible exploits, where under certain circumstances:

A player could modify the game’s behavior due to a security vulnerability introduced in an earlier title update.
A player could use a turbo controller to artificially maximize their rate of fire.
A player could mantle a planted shield in competitive multiplayer to hide inside geometry or to travel outside of the map. The ability to mantle shields was removed in competitive multiplayer but remains in Horde and Campaign.

Title Update 5 also fixes a number of other, lesser-known exploits.

General Fixes

Title Update 5 fixes these other issues as well:

An issue that contributed to the “sticky walk” problem, where a player’s avatar could stutter after the player picks up a weapon.
An issue that could prevent players from hearing the “boom” telegraph from Boomers.
An issue that could cause looping audio to continue playing after the player who triggered that sound is killed.
An issue that could cause multiple names to be highlighted yellow on the scoreboard instead of the name of the player viewing the scoreboard.
An issue that prevented the game from granting the earned experience points from the fiftieth wave of Horde.
An issue that caused players at level 100 to see the “congratulations” message after every match.

Source: gearsofwar.xbox.com

Gears of War 2 Dark Corners and All Fronts Collection map packs now on Xbox Live

Rangebar Merani — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 22:36:45 +0000

Today mark’s the release of the highly anticipated Gears of War 2 Dark Corners and All Fronts Collection DLC. The Dark Corners DLC features seven new multiplayer maps and a bonus deleted single-player chapter, “Road to Ruin,” from the Gears of War 2 campaign. In “Road to Ruin,” Marcus and Dom face the Locust but can either choose stealth or the usual run and gun action to survive. The seven new multiplayer maps include a new War Machine (the classic Gears 1 map), Allfathers Garden, Highway, Memorial, Nowhere, Way Station and Sanctuary (a favorite from Gears for Windows).

The All Fronts Collection DLC is geared towards players who have yet to download any of the previously released DLC map packs. Along with the “Road to Ruin” campaign chapter and the seven new multiplayer maps, the All Fronts Collection DLC will also contain all maps included in the Flashback, Combustible and Snowblind DLC.

The Dark Corners DLC will run you 1200 Microsoft Points ($15), while the All Fronts Collection will run you 1600 Microsoft Points ($20).

Celebrate the 4th of July with umm…a Gears of War 2 Double XP weekend

Rangebar Merani — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 16:27:23 +0000

So after just posting the announcement of a Call of Duty: World at War double XP this weekend to celebrate the 4th of July, I found out that Epic Games is doing the same thing with their own title giving Gears of War 2 it’s own double XP weekend from July 3 to July 6, as well. During ranked matches on the public playlist, everyone will receive double the XP, and the winning team will also walk away with an additional 500 XP.

In addition to the double XP promotion, the latest update for Gears of War 2 will be released sometime before the weekend allowing for some changes to the Horde mode (most notably the addition of experience points). Speaking of the Horde mode, Epic will be celebrating Independence Day with it’s own fireworks by adding Tickers to every wave in Horde, and on the 10th wave of every Horde match, there will only be Tickers.

So, which double XP promotion will you be enjoying this weekend? Call of Duty: World at War or Gears of War 2?

Source: Joystiq

Gears of War 2 Update 4 Details

Rangebar Merani — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 16:52:42 +0000

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.

Improvements

Title Update 4 makes these new improvements:

Adds the ability to collect multiplayer experience by playing Horde mode. Players currently gain experience at this rate:

50 points per completed Casual wave.

75 points per completed Normal wave.

100 points per completed Hardcore wave.

125 points per completed Insane wave.

Adds the ability to restart Public Horde from the current failed wave instead of having to start over from wave 1. Title Update 4 also allows the host to kick players from a Public Horde session.

Increases the frequency of downloadable content (DLC) maps showing up in map voting if all players have shared map packs.

Adds a message at the end of the match to explain to players that they should wait before quitting so that they avoid an experience penalty for quitting early.

Adds support for the new campaign chapter, “Road to Ruin.”

Adds 13 new achievements worth 325 points. All of the new achievements require the Dark Corners Map Pack, a set of seven new maps and a deleted campaign chapter to be released July 28. The 13 new achievements are:

“My Way or the Highway” (25 points): Without being detected, complete the “Road to Ruin” deleted scene after choosing the stealth option.

“Highway to Hell” (25 points): Complete the “Road to Ruin” deleted scene after choosing the guns-blazing option.

“Two for the Road” (25 points): Complete the “Road to Ruin” deleted scene in co-op as either Marcus or Dom.

“Be Careful What You Wish For” (10 points): Reach level 5 in multiplayer and complete waves 1 through 10 on the War Machine map in Horde (any difficulty).

“Ride It All Night Long” (10 points): Reach level 10 in multiplayer and complete waves 1 through 10 on the Highway map in Horde (any difficulty).

“No, But His Face Rings a Bell” (15 points): Reach level 15 in multiplayer and complete waves 1 through 20 on the Sanctuary map in Horde (any difficulty).

“Lost in Transition” (20 points): Reach level 20 in multiplayer and complete waves 1 through 20 on the Way Station map in Horde (any difficulty).

“Like Father, Like Gun” (30 points): Reach level 30 in multiplayer and complete waves 1 through 30 on the Allfathers Garden map in Horde (any difficulty).

“Am I Only Dreaming?” (40 points): Reach level 40 in multiplayer and complete waves 1 through 40 on the Memorial map in Horde (any difficulty).

“Blood on the Sand” (50 points): Reach level 50 in multiplayer and complete waves 1 through 50 on the Nowhere map in Horde (any difficulty).

“Afraid of the Dark” (20 points): Play a multiplayer match on each of the seven Dark Corners Map Pack maps (any mode).

“Did Not Go Gentle” (30 points): Win a multiplayer match on each of the seven Dark Corners Map Pack maps (any mode)

“Is it Hot or Is That Just You?” (25 points): Kill 25 Bloodmounts with a Scorcher Flamethrower while playing Horde on a Dark Corners Map Pack map (any difficulty).

Exploit Fixes

Title Update 4 fixes these possible exploits, where under certain circumstances:

A player could copy game progression data from one profile to another.

A team could use the 50-point revive bonus to artificially increase its score in Horde. Going down but not out (DBNO) in Horde now subtracts 50 points, so there is no advantage to using the revive-bonus technique.

A player could get 2 points for each kill in Wingman.

A player could continue to shoot the Flamethrower while performing special movements like evading and mantling.

A player could cause heavy weapons to spawn continuously while playing Horde.

Title Update 4 also fixes a number of lesser-known exploits.

General Fixes

Title Update 4 fixes these other issues as well:

An issue that could cause players to lose all achievement progression if they signed in during a loading screen.

Issues related to the Smoke Grenade causing a player to cringe instead of knocking them down. If hit by a Smoke Grenade with cringing turned on, players will now:

Drop the Boomshield, even if aiming while carrying it.

Drop a heavy weapon, even if it is deployed.

Cringe while roadie running.

Cringe while in cover.

An issue that prevented players from shooting around the lower left side of a planted shield.

An issue that could cause a DBNO player to not appear as DBNO.

An issue that prevented Gears players from inviting players of other games to join them in progress in a Private match using DLC.

Issues that caused rich presence information to become inaccurate.

An issue that caused the overall achievements progress bar to not reflect the latest achievements.

An assortment of localization bug fixes.

Additional miscellaneous bug fixes.

Balancing

Title Update 4 makes these balancing changes:

Adds a 30-second delay in map-based weapon spawning at the beginning of a Wingman match.

Adds more future server-side balancing options.

Source: Shacknews

Gears 2 Set for Fourth Title Update

Sal Romano — Sat, 25 Apr 2009 20:04:33 +0000

Joe Graf, Epic Games’ technical director on the Unreal Engine 3, has confirmed via the official Epic forums that Gears of War 2 will be receiving a fourth title update.

As of now, nothing is known about the newly heard of update, but Graf does confirm that a broken message in the game regarding the map packs will be fixed in the patch. Stay tuned for everything else.

Gears of War 2 “Snowblind” DLC Map Pack Flanks Xbox 360 March 31st

Chad Lakkis — Thu, 26 Mar 2009 18:42:15 +0000

The boys and girls at Epic Games have been working hard on some new DLC to extend the life of your Gears of War 2 purchase. Gamers will be able to get their grubby mitts on the Snowblind Map Pack, containing four new multiplayer maps (Grindyard, Fuel Depot, Under Hill, and Courtyard), March 31st for 800 MS Points.

Cold gas and hot lead don’t mix. Remember that.

What In The World Is GOW2: Dark Corners?

Demi Adejuyigbe — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 00:17:09 +0000

The image you see above comes straight from the Asian Xbox Live Marketplace site, where intrepid net-surfers found a product page for the upcoming Gears of War 2 DLC, titled Dark Corners. You remember Dark Corners, right? The DLC that gives you.. stuff.. with the, uh…darker…

Yeah, no, I’ve never heard of it either.

According to Kotaku, the advent of said GOW2 DLC at GDC is right in line with GameTrailers TV’s Geoff Keighley Twitter, where he said that we could expect some new GOW announcements at GDC. As Kotaku also points out, the GOW2 Snowblind DLC is being released at the end of March, so it wouldn’t make sense for Dark Corners to be another set of maps. It’s likely that GDC will herald an extension of the Gears campaign instead. I guess we’ll find out soon, when either Microsoft or Epic makes the announcement at GDC. And make it as garish as possible, guys- anything less than pyrotechnics, and I’ll be disappointed.

Halo 3 Mythic DLC and Gears 2 Snowblind DLC Coming Soon

Demi Adejuyigbe — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 03:45:10 +0000

The 1490 entrants of our Halo 3 Mythic Map Pack contest that didn’t win can soon take solace in the fact that the Halo 3 Mythic Map Pack (as well as the Gears of War 2 Snowblind DLC) will soon be hitting XBL. Major Nelson announced today that the Gears of War 2 DLC will be available on March 31st for 800 Microsoft points, while the Mythic map pack for Halo 3 will be available on April 9th for 800 Microsoft points.

The GOW2 content comes with 4 brand new maps, Grindyard, Courtyard, Fuel Depot, and Under Hill, as well as new Achievements and a brand new progression of ranks. Meanwhile, the Halo 3 content comes with 3 new maps, Assembly, Orbital and Sandbox, as well as a brand new Forge that allows you to start construction completely from scratch. Fancy!

Anyone out there in Ripten Land planning to slap down 10 bucks on this DLC, or are you gonna wait until it starts hitting the digital bargain bin? It doesn’t really matter for me, since I no longer own these games, but if I were you, I’d probably wait on the GOW2 pack and pick up the Halo 3 pack, if not for the new Forge alone. It’s very, very classy.