Gears of War 2

[elrasho]

Its been getting good reviews over the net

Ive been playing it for a while now and it is an amazing game, more of Gears 1 stuff but multiplied by 10 which isnt a bad thing. Its just too samey for my liking. Gonna go through it on the hardest difficulty now :sniper:

[DiSTuRbEd]

So you've been playing the leaked copy? Cool.

[elrasho]

Not leaked, contacts ;-)

[DiSTuRbEd]

Yep game comes out Friday, and you've been playing it awhile......

K.

[elrasho]

errr yeah... anyways it playes just like the first one with a little more speed. It wont be GOTY but still good enough for a release day buy

[Bad^Hat]

One question - does the online lobby have a ping/latency indicator when you search for games? My one major gripe with the first game's online (at launch) was that it was extremely difficult to find local games, and lag was a real joy killer...

[VictimOfScience]

I never understood the draw of the first one besides the pretty shiny graphics. The gameplay bored me after a couple of hours. Part 2 looks to improve on everything from what I gather, so it may be a buy for me but certainly not day one as there is too much else out there that I have bought and have yet to buy. Hopefully MS will see fit to include it in their greatest hits series though. Gears 1 is still WAY too much money for a 2 year old game whose sequel is on shelves already.

[CptStern]

rental ..8hrs of gameplay not worth $60

[VictimOfScience]

rental ..8hrs of gameplay not worth $60
Agreed. Over $7.5/hr is too much for a game.

[elrasho]

Way more than 8 hours of gameplay... took someone 13 hours to get through 2/3 of the game.. mostly due to the fact when you die you have to start right at the beginning of the checkpoint

[B_MAN]

rental ..8hrs of gameplay not worth $60

well, i played the 1st game's multiplayer for over 4 months straight
so it's definitely worth the retail price IMO

[ailevation]

rental ..8hrs of gameplay not worth $60

True, If you plan on playin the single player campaign only.

[VictimOfScience]

True, If you plan on playin the single player campaign only.
Which I do as my 360 is almost never online thanks to the lack of wireless functionality built-in.

[ailevation]

the 360 has an optional wireless adapter. Or you can use an ethernet cable. Otherwise aint my problem.

[Shift]

Which I do as my 360 is almost never online thanks to the lack of wireless functionality built-in.

You dont know what you're missing.

[VictimOfScience]

the 360 has an optional wireless adapter. Or you can use an ethernet cable. Otherwise aint my problem.
Yeah, I tend to avoid optional stuff when it is ~$100. :| And having a 50 ft. ethernet cable running around the house from upstairs study to downstairs living room is decidedly less than ideal. I will be fine with renting it for single-player. :)

[ailevation]

Well that sucks for you I guess(or not). But, if you decide to finally get online, feel free to join a game i'm playing... whether it be coop, horde or MP. I warn you though, i'm a BEAST on MP, so you might want to be on my team :P

[Warbie]

GoW is all about the multiplayer. The co-op is fun, but it's the bloodletting with firends that makes it special.

[Bad^Hat]

Not to mention horde mode.

Any word on the lobby system? The IGN review mentioned something that led me to believe it might all be automated ala Halo... not exactly filling me with joy to be honest. I just want to be able to see the latency of a game before I join, automatic matchmaking never quite works for us southern hemispherians. =/

[CptStern]

True, If you plan on playin the single player campaign only.

I think I played about an hours worth of gow multiplayer ..it was just so boring/other games have better mp ..however I must stipulate that I did this offline, not on xboxlive. the game was mch more fun when your friend is sitting next to you ...so I'll rent it at some point

[ailevation]

oh definitely much more fun with a friend sitting right next to you, as you blast them away with the shotgun, their body parts turn into huge chunks of stew meat. The look of confusion, sympathy and anger for their character is so satisfying.

[B_MAN]

why do you have a 360 if you don't even bother to go online?!
wireless gaming sucks anyways
just run a cable to it if you have to

[TheAntipop]

Really looking forward to this.

[CptStern]

why do you have a 360 if you don't even bother to go online?!
wireless gaming sucks anyways
just run a cable to it if you have to


if you're talking to me it's because I havent found a game worth taking it online


plus I have no one on my friends list ;( ...mostly cuz my playtime is short and at odd times


oh definitely much more fun with a friend sitting right next to you, as you blast them away with the shotgun, their body parts turn into huge chunks of stew meat. The look of confusion, sympathy and anger for their character is so satisfying.

ya but the problem is that with only 2 players deathmatch is really boring ..especially since I almost always win against my friends :)

[VictimOfScience]

if you're talking to me it's because I havent found a game worth taking it online

plus I have no one on my friends list ;( ...mostly cuz my playtime is short and at odd times)

I think he is talking about me. :(

For the most part, I don't care about online gaming. The most time I have ever spent online was with CS:S but that was on PC. With the consoles, the most time I spend online is with LBP and really not much else. I am bad at FPS games with gamepads so the draw is a lot less for me. My 360 is for games like Fable 2, Mass Effect, Bioshock, etc that my current PC cannot handle well-enough for my liking. That will likely all change when I get my new PC early next year, so my 360 may not be that useful going forward because 99% of the "360 exclusives" wind up on the PC anyway....

[TollBooth Willie]

Can not ****ing wait.

[Warbie]

if you're talking to me it's because I havent found a game worth taking it online

To be fair it doesn't sound like you know what GoW is like online. Get two decent teams together and it is awesome - up there with the best teambased shooters.

[TheAntipop]

Anyone see this trailer before? (read: I really don't care if you have and I hate your face if you say ''old'') New to me!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0zCBg6Pmwyg

Pretty cool - looks like quite a few new baddies are gonna be around to blow apart now. Awesome.

[TollBooth Willie]

The Reavers look positively badass.

[CptStern]

To be fair it doesn't sound like you know what GoW is like online. Get two decent teams together and it is awesome - up there with the best teambased shooters.

I've played it online a few times for short periods but other shooters offer me more than what GoW did ..co-op was the most enjoyable aspect of gow imho. gow mp just felt like a last minute add on


I am bad at FPS games with gamepads so the draw is a lot less for me.

^- this ..I'm much better on a pc. even though most of the console games I play are shooters

[Bad^Hat]

Eh, GoW online was fun for a while, but it wasn't anything special in and of itself. Whereas it seems like they've gone all out with the multi on Gears 2, I think the first game's online was mostly good on the strength of it's core gameplay. It was a solid formula by itself, so naturally it worked well without too many extra tweaks or fluff, it just meant that the online was a little shallow on the whole. Looks like that's changing this time around, though. :)

^- this ..I'm much better on a pc. even though most of the console games I play are shooters
I really think that GoW is one of the few shooters that's truly designed for a console, though. Besides sniping (which I'm always bad at, pad or mouse) I never had any trouble aiming in it. Always felt completely natural, and my reactions were barely slowed by it because of how smoothly it controlled. That said I still kind of sucked, but I put that mostly down to lack of commitment... and lag. :P

[Warbie]

I like the fact that GoW forces teamwork. You can get away by running around on your own in most fps - CS and TF2 etc - but in GoW if you don't have someone watching your back, you're in the shite agains decent opponents. It's a bit like BIA, but more demanding/tactical.

[CptStern]

Eh, GoW online was fun for a while, but it wasn't anything special in and of itself. Whereas it seems like they've gone all out with the multi on Gears 2, I think the first game's online was mostly good on the strength of it's core gameplay. It was a solid formula by itself, so naturally it worked well without too many extra tweaks or fluff, it just meant that the online was a little shallow on the whole. Looks like that's changing this time around, though. :)


I really think that GoW is one of the few shooters that's truly designed for a console, though. Besides sniping (which I'm always bad at, pad or mouse) I never had any trouble aiming in it. Always felt completely natural, and my reactions were barely slowed by it because of how smoothly it controlled. That said I still kind of sucked, but I put that mostly down to lack of commitment... and lag. :P

I always do the sway left to right thing before settling on the enemy ..it's kinda frustrating as most games tweak this so you have to adjust to every game ..mouse just seems so much more fluid. part of the probelm is that I just get that immersed in a console shooter whereas on a pc I'm fully immersed ..I think it's the fact that I'm a foot from my monitor

[Bad^Hat]

Well, for lack of an HDTV, I actually have my 360 set up on my computer monitor, so I'm always a foot away. Who knows, maybe that helps. :P

I like the fact that GoW forces teamwork. You can get away by running around on your own in most fps - CS and TF2 etc - but in GoW if you don't have someone watching your back, you're in the shite agains decent opponents. It's a bit like BIA, but more demanding/tactical.
True, but that also makes it all the more frustrating to play with an unorganised team. Damn my lack of friends who own 360s...

Edit - Oh, nearly forgot what I came in to post in the first place.

http://www.eurogamer.net/article.php?article_id=281039&page=1

Okay, that review just got me right the **** hyped for this game. Eurogamer knows just how to get me in all my soft gamery spots. :D

Alsos, I came: http://images.eurogamer.net/assets/articles//a/2/8/1/0/3/9/g1.jpg.jpg

[CptStern]

Well, for lack of an HDTV, I actually have my 360 set up on my computer monitor, so I'm always a foot away. Who knows, maybe that helps. :P

I have a hdtv but use my older crt for console gaming (more convienet) or my pc monitor. it's certainly more immersive but I always break immersion when fighting the controls. mice just seem so much more natural that I dont think of it ...played mirrors edge demo the other day and by the end of it I was sweating and holding my controller in a death grip ..I shouldnt have to constantly fight the controls. I think part of it is the preciseness of a mouse so I over compensate when using a controller

[Bad^Hat]

Eh, guess I've just gotten into the habit of playing shooters with a pad, seeing as my PC has been so woefully behind grade for the past five years or so. :(

[Seppo]

I'm thinking of buying an Xbox360 + Gears of War 2 because they're selling them in a package around here. Costs around 270 euros. I've never owned a console besides 8bit Nintendo, but I'm definitely considering getting an Xbox360 because it's so damn cheap these days and I really really really want to get to play Halo 2+3. I've been playing the first Halo on my PC for 5 years now :D

[Combine Hybrid]

Gears of War 2 review from GT.

http://www.gametrailers.com/player/42155.html#comments_top

[DEATHMASTER]

Decent looking review.

[nipples]

Damn my lack of friends who own 360s...

I have a PS3 and ALL of my friends own 360s.

I envy you, in that aspect at least.

[bam23]

preordered this game. also go banjo kazooie coming too.

**** the haters!

[Wanted Bob]

Wow.

HUGE D: at the big boss shown in the GT review.

[GreatEmperor]

I have a hdtv but use my older crt for console gaming (more convienet) or my pc monitor. it's certainly more immersive but I always break immersion when fighting the controls. mice just seem so much more natural that I dont think of it ...played mirrors edge demo the other day and by the end of it I was sweating and holding my controller in a death grip ..I shouldnt have to constantly fight the controls. I think part of it is the preciseness of a mouse so I over compensate when using a controller

My problems with a controller are way more obvious, I not only dont aim very well but i sometimes just stop in one spot whenever i am attacked and barely strafe. I tend not to dive a lot or turn away to run to a safer location. I think it is due to how worried i get that I will become lost if i take my sights off the enemies. This is not a problem with the mouse because I can whip it around without concern and easily find the spot i was just facing.

[ĐynastҰ]

Ign give it a 9.2

Looks like its Gears Of War...but just more ***king BADASS.

http://uk.xbox360.ign.com/dor/objects/14232680/gears-of-war-2/videos/gears2_vidreview.html;jsessionid=bc83dr4gcd9n8

I came.

[TCfromBN]

That review told me exactly what I wanted to hear: If you're not a GOW hater, and you enjoy shooting the shit out of stuff, BUY THE ****ING GAME.

[VictimOfScience]

The review certainly helps, but it will still be a rental for me as short games that I have no interest in the multiplayer component of I can do without. I would buy it immediately if it were $30 though. :P

[FoxDie]

The review certainly helps, but it will still be a rental for me as short games that I have no interest in the multiplayer component of I can do without. I would buy it immediately if it were $30 though. :P
Agreed. I can't justify spending $60 on something that is only going to entertain me for a week.

Got Gamefly recently and it's been saving me quite a bit of money :D

[Pivovar]

Has anyone read the new Gears book? It's amazing.

[Musk]

I found GoW on PC so much easier to control. I was terrible at the 360. Really hoping this game makes its way to the PC at some stage.

[Pivovar]

Dude Huge said that there never will be a PC version because of piracy.

[Musk]

Yeah so they did but they may decide to later on. That's what Bungie said about Halo and it came.

[bam23]

I am so ****ing stoked about this game **** **** **** ****

[mastag]

Probably won't get it the day it comes out, many other games of interest right now, but I am definitely looking forward to it.

[Bad^Hat]

Bah, it's out here but I can't get into town to get it. Stupid lack of a car. Curse yooooou transport!

[TheAntipop]

Can't wait til tonight! :D

To trade in Fallout or to not trade in Fallout... hmm.

[Seppo]

This game is getting insanely good reviews everywhere. I haven't seen a single review with a score below 90, or if it's a 1-5 scale then the score is always 5 stars.

[mastag]

When was the last time a hyped game got anything but godly reviews?

GTA4's 9.5 on gamespot was bumped up to a 10 by the editors after the reviewer reviewed it for god's sake.

[ailevation]

I got 2 hrs and 44 minutes to go, but I gotta pay up at 10 pm. So i have to go early =/

[DiSTuRbEd]

I got my copy w00t!

[TollBooth Willie]

Picking it up tomorrow afternoon. **** yeah.

[Bad^Hat]

When was the last time a hyped game got anything but godly reviews?
Assassin's Creed?

Going in to get my copy now. **** yeeeeeah bitches.

[ailevation]

YEAAAHHHH bitches.

got mine, have fun yall.

[bam23]

got mine. wooooh****ing hoo

[Cormeh]

Going to have to trade in a few games to justify spending money on this, and it's just not teh same without an internet connection. D:

[TheAntipop]

Game ****ing rocks. Really enjoying myself so far. Just go 'under the surface' in a drill pod, think I'm gonna go save it and then check out MP. More details later!

[OmegaX]

Inserted game for the first time, got my 3rd RRoD. Whoo! Guess I'll run back to the store and get my money back for Gears 2.

[Musk]

Inserted game for the first time, got my 3rd RRoD. Whoo! Guess I'll run back to the store and get my money back for Gears 2.

Duuuude.. D:

[TollBooth Willie]

Holy ****ing shit this game is awesome.

[TCfromBN]

^ This.

[Cpt Tenacious]

Inserted game for the first time, got my 3rd RRoD. Whoo! Guess I'll run back to the store and get my money back for Gears 2.

Yeah you think that's bad. I just got my xbox 360 back from repairs last monday finally got to play Fallout 3 and Fable 2 (had them BOTH for like a week but couldn't play them) then, the day I get Gears of War 2, less then a week after getting my xbox back. MY ****ING POWER BRICK DIES! Out of nowhere! So now I have to wait 8 to 12 buisness days for them to send a new one. Only good news though, when I went to gamestop to pick up the game this guy I kinda know who works there (I only know him because I go to the store so much) I was telling him how my xbox broke and he gave me his code for the golden gun because he said he didn't really want it. I don't really think he gave me his he just went in the back and grabbed one. So I got exclusive midnight launch content and I didn't even go!

[Sedako]

Why is Epic a member of the "PC Gaming Alliance" when they have no plans of releasing this on the PC?

[bam23]

because of things like Unreal Tournament and Unreal Engine.

lets get some gamertags going cause i need a frickin coop partner. mines is domplez

[MultiVaC]

Why is Epic a member of the "PC Gaming Alliance" when they have no plans of releasing this on the PC?

Because they are two-faced sellout sacks of shit.

[ailevation]

because of things like Unreal Tournament and Unreal Engine.

lets get some gamertags going cause i need a frickin coop partner. mines is domplez

Perfect. i'll add you, i'm mightyhealthie.

Just got done playing a game of submission(meat flag) and my god, even though it's a minor tweak to Annex, it's addictingly fun.

[Gargantou]

My GT is Gargantou, my bro is hogging my 360 though so might not be on until tomorrow.

[bam23]

horde is ridiculously fun

[Bad^Hat]

Fahking awesome! Been playing and enjoying it all weekend. Horde mode is nuts, tried playing on insane with a group of friends and we couldn't get past wave 5. :D

Most noticeable improvement - the story. Not so much the plot itself (although it's definitely stronger so far - I'm near the end of act 3), but the delivery. I played through the first game again last week to "prepare" myself, and the one thing that stuck out that didn't really occur to me on my first play-through was just how bad the cinematics are. Completely hammy, often boring, and even badly animated most of the time. Gears 2 on the other hand, suffers little from these problems, and has actually been pretty damn epic so far.

Spoilers for (end of) act 2:

Holy shit the worm section. Oh god. D:

Also, NOOOOOOOOO CARMINE. God that was nasty... I hesitate to think how the other two brothers will end up dying in their inevitable appearance in the sequel(s).

[TollBooth Willie]

Horde mode is a load of awesome

Also Act 2

I don't want to think Carmine is dead just yet, but god damn I wasn't expecting Tai. :(

Edit: Uhh....scratch that. I just found Carmine. :(

[TheAntipop]

Horde mode is a load of awesome

Also Act 2

I don't want to think Carmine is dead just yet, but god damn I wasn't expecting Tai. :(

Edit: Uhh....scratch that. I just found Carmine. :(

Aye, both stopped me in my tracks a little, which is odd really, but also great. I do love how much GoW does feel like a real gritty and brutal war game when compared to others.

[bam23]

is it taking unusually long for anyone else to find a game? Takes me a good several minutes.

[Bad^Hat]

If I try to find a game late at night or early in the morning here it can take ages, but around peak time (evening-ish and just before) I can usually find one in a minute or two at most. Still a bit longer than I'd like to wait, but bearable.

Spoilers for end of act 3 -

Epic boss fight! But... lol, Resident Evil 4 much? I'm convinced the leaky old boat they were going to take at first is a direct reference to that, Cliffy's said he likes RE before and the influence is already apparent.

[CrazyHarij]

finished the game real quickly with a friend in coop.

if you have an xbox360, ****ing get this game

[TheAntipop]

is it taking unusually long for anyone else to find a game? Takes me a good several minutes.

Yeah, I do. Bit annoying - hope it irons out/is fixed in the next few days.

Horde is AWESOME, and just with me and one player on split screen on casual (he's never played before) it was really quite difficult but incredibly good fun all the same. Can't wait to go at it with four others.

Just started Act 3.

The start is identical to Act 3 from GoW 1, am I right? The atmosphere is, at least.

[bam23]

i actually haven't even started the single player campaign. im waiting to play it in coop. do appreciate the spoiler tags.

[Gargantou]

Aye, both stopped me in my tracks a little, which is odd really, but also great. I do love how much GoW does feel like a real gritty and brutal war game when compared to others.Was that an intentional **** up off the tags?:p

[bam23]

lol. my xbox live subscription just ran out and i completely forgot that it would.

:|

[Bad^Hat]

Just beat horde mode on casual, on the map River. Got messy a few times but on the whole it wasn't too difficult. Especially considering one of our team dedicated the last ten waves to shooting pillars. :|

On to act 5 now.

Act 4 was goddamn epic. Looooove the architecture in the palace area.

Didn't really like the Reaver section though. Not looking forward to doing that on insane...

[Sam]

Can you play more than 2 players on splitscreen?

[TheAntipop]

Was that an intentional **** up off the tags?:p

?

It wasn't messed up when I posted it. :| Or at least, not that I remember. I checked this thread a few times last night so unless a mod fixed it real quick or something then I really don't know.

EDIT: Wait, I'm looking at the wrong post. You've only made it worse by quoting it, y'know. :P

[Wanted Bob]

Man, the last bit of Act 2 was pure awesome. Also, loved the speech after the first chapter.

[Dumb Dude]

Ok so I'm on the beginning of Act 5 now and

Does it honestly expect me to attempt to shoot those rockets that are coming at us at like 1000mph while the camera is jerking every which way? Because I simply can't, I don't even think if I had a mouse I could pull that off, it only gives you like 2 seconds from when you see them coming at you to when they hit you AND the camera is jerking like mad preventing any type of actual aiming. WTF? Am I doing something wrong??

EDIT: Nevermind, I just realized you can actually control the stupid reaver with the right stick, yes I'm stupid.

[TollBooth Willie]

Near the end of Act 3 and

Jesus **** that moment with Dom and Maria left me kind of shocked.

[CrazyHarij]

Tollbooth Willie:

Yeah that was way good!

[TollBooth Willie]

I have to say, they've done a lot better with the story and everything this time.

[TheAntipop]

I just played through Act 3 and 4 with a friend on his hosted co-op game and we got til about mid-way Act 5. It was crazy fun, but I'm a little annoyed the saves don't carry over to my own files. I now have to do Act 4 on my tod again if I want to get to Act 5 and I seriously can't be arsed as I really didn't enjoy it that much. I loathe ancient enemy hives/palaces/ruins. So dull.

[Dumb Dude]

Well I finished the game and honestly, I thought it was pretty darn awesome. Insanely better than the first game but I can't help but feel that the ending didn't really close anything up. I mean, the Queen got away, the humans are left with no real city now, and did we win? Also, I thought the ending was fine even with all that but what I think ruined it for me was that BS voice clip of Marcus' dad at the end. Really? Grrrrr.

[Moods]

Game is pretty good.

[Bad^Hat]

Can you play more than 2 players on splitscreen?
Nope, don't believe so.

Near the end of Act 3 and

Jesus **** that moment with Dom and Maria left me kind of shocked.
Agreed. D:

I just played through Act 3 and 4 with a friend on his hosted co-op game and we got til about mid-way Act 5. It was crazy fun, but I'm a little annoyed the saves don't carry over to my own files. I now have to do Act 4 on my tod again if I want to get to Act 5 and I seriously can't be arsed as I really didn't enjoy it that much. I loathe ancient enemy hives/palaces/ruins. So dull.
It doesn't save which checkpoint you get up to as Dom, but it does unlock which chapters you completed. Go into solo/host coop, and press whatever button it is for "change chapter," then just go act 4 --> whatever chapter you're up to.

[Cormeh]

Traded in 9 old games yesterday and got me some Gears 2 for absolutely sweet **** all! Awesome.

Really enjoying it so far. Haven't run into any new weapons or 'nades yet, but it's only a matter of time. How awesome was:

Riding around with a Troika Gun wasting Brumaks?

:E

[B_MAN]

finished it with a buddy of mine last night
gotta say, as far as the campaign is concerned, cliffy B was right in saying it was gonna be "bigger, better, more badass"
now it's time to get back into MP!

[TheAntipop]

Some multiplayer annoyences I've found in the last 30 minutes or so.

- No leaving a game mid-play? My team was 3 men down against a really good team and it wasn't fun at all, and you can't leave the game. Suck.

- No continuing playing with folk straight after a game ends, or at least a choice to ala Halo 3 lobby.

- Straight back to the Horde menu if you're team fails on one wave. No re-try or punishment, just everyone gets kicked out and you have to play from the start. Baaah.

[B_MAN]

Some multiplayer annoyences I've found in the last 30 minutes or so.

- No leaving a game mid-play? My team was 3 men down against a really good team and it wasn't fun at all, and you can't leave the game. Suck.

- No continuing playing with folk straight after a game ends, or at least a choice to ala Halo 3 lobby.

- Straight back to the Horde menu if you're team fails on one wave. No re-try or punishment, just everyone gets kicked out and you have to play from the start. Baaah.

x2
wtf were they thinking? if you want to leave any public MP game you have to log out or shut down your console? wtf?!

[Bad^Hat]

Finished it. Final impressions:

It certainly is bigger, better and more badass. It suffers from a couple of the same shortcomings as the first game, but to a much lesser extent. Namely that the last act feels a bit rushed, and the ending was less satisfying than I'd have liked. Also there were a few bits that I just didn't really get into, like the Reaver riding section, but that might just be personal preference.

Besides that, loved it. The formula still hasn't worn on me somehow, even with only minor refinements. At this stage I'm pretty sure it'll still be fresh enough to carry me through Gears 3 (it was planned as a trilogy, right?), as long as they include some much needed answers.

Edit - It's a lot easier to set up and play private matches, so if you can find a community who plays it, add a lot of friends from your area just so you can join games from the what's up menu. The only down side is that you're at the mercy of the host to pick a game mode you want to play, but I'm finding it's worth it just to get a lag-free, wait-free game, not to mention with people who actually communicate and have fun sometimes.

They really could have done the matchmaking better, though. And your score resets on private Horde when you retry a wave, so I don't see why that'd be an issue on public.

[TollBooth Willie]

I thought the initial Reaver scene was a bit eh, but once it transitioned into fleeing to the surface while Skorge was chasing you on a Bull Reaver TRYING TO EAT YOU was pretty damn cool.

[TheAntipop]

Edit - It's a lot easier to set up and play private matches, so if you can find a community who plays it, add a lot of friends from your area just so you can join games from the what's up menu. The only down side is that you're at the mercy of the host to pick a game mode you want to play, but I'm finding it's worth it just to get a lag-free, wait-free game, not to mention with people who actually communicate and have fun sometimes.

They really could have done the matchmaking better, though. And your score resets on private Horde when you retry a wave, so I don't see why that'd be an issue on public.

The thing is, though, is that I shouldn't have to do that just to get a good game on the go. Yeah, it's an option sure, but in a game like Halo it seems very seemless to get through to a battle whereas here it's all abit rough around the edges.

Whilst I prefer multiplayer to be with close buddies with communication and an atmosphere of fun, and I probably will be going through the private Live lobby for the most part, it shouldn't be such a hassle to just get a normal game going. It's not on that things are a little hectic, really.

That said, not many of my friends have this. Anyone up for some 4 v 4, or just general shenanigans as a HL2.net team? I think Horde could be pretty sweet with a few of us. I just got off a game and we got to wave 17 til we died. I had to retreat from the frontline after going too far into enemy lines to get a minigun and I was pretty much living off of that. When the ammo dried up, I was rushed. But anyway, it's really gotten me pumped up for L4D thats for sure.

[Bad^Hat]

Oh yeah, definitely. I'm just saying the option's there. :)

Hopefully it gets patched sooner or later, anyway...

Edit - I'd be up for some hl2.net horde, provided I can bear with the lag. Do I have you added as a friend? It's BadHat NZ (formerly BadHat54).
I thought the initial Reaver scene was a bit eh, but once it transitioned into fleeing to the surface while Skorge was chasing you on a Bull Reaver TRYING TO EAT YOU was pretty damn cool.
Cool, but also frustrating. Kept dying because I couldn't see where the ****ers were amongst all the trees. Also because Dom's a bitch who enjoys soaking up my bullets a little too much.

[TollBooth Willie]

Oh yeah, definitely. I'm just saying the option's there. :)

Hopefully it gets patched sooner or later, anyway...

Edit - I'd be up for some hl2.net horde, provided I can bear with the lag. Do I have you added as a friend? It's BadHat NZ (formerly BadHat54).

Cool, but also frustrating. Kept dying because I couldn't see where the ****ers were amongst all the trees. Also because Dom's a bitch who enjoys soaking up my bullets a little too much.Good god, I spent a minute firing at a Reaver, not realizing it was Dom and Baird until Marcus said "Could you please move the f*ck out of my way?"

[Dumb Dude]

I'm a bit disappointed at the Insane difficulty. I'm not having any more trouble than I did going through Hardcore. Did they make it easier this time around? I remember being proud to say I did Gears 1 on insane solo but I can't help but feel that everyone will be able to do insane solo on this one.

[TollBooth Willie]

I dunno. Bloodmounts and Tickers + Insane =- GET THE **** AWAY FROM ME AHHHHHHHHHHHAAAAFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFGGGGGGGG.

[bam23]

i'm down for hl2.net horde. i'm using an alternate XBL account atm, gamertag is McFrags. Add me yoz.

[TollBooth Willie]

Finished it. I have to say
'
The ending was a bit weak, and a lot of questions were brought up, while few were answered. The campaign definitely delivered on the some of the emotion conveyed by the trailer imo.

[ĐynastҰ]

My bro owed me some money so has bought this for me and sent it on monday, havent recieved it yet, im gagging to get my claws into it!!!

[Dumb Dude]

Nothing here.

[ailevation]

i'm down for hl2.net horde. i'm using an alternate XBL account atm, gamertag is McFrags. Add me yoz.

So this is you on hl2.net. lol

That match we played was all right, have you played Gears of War? You said you suck, but you didn't do bad... especially when you caught me with that 2 piece.

[bam23]

i've only played the GoW campaign. only played probably a total of 8 matches on XBL so far lol.

[TheAntipop]

I'm still tackling the MP learning curve because I still keep getting lumped against better players. I really just need a few matches against people like me who have just started MP so that we can all plug each other a few times and not get constantly rushed by a group of better players. But really, I just need to play with people I know and can communicate with - thats where Gears 1 shone.

That said, I can dig Territories games because you don't have to wait for the next round when you die. I can't take Elimination game types where theres too much pressure to tay alive. I mean, I do like the concept, but I'm going to stick out of them for a while.

The Lancer and shotgun feels so goddamn useless in MP, too. Nnnngh.

[ailevation]

i've only played the GoW campaign. only played probably a total of 8 matches on XBL so far lol.

have you beat the campaign for Gears 2 yet? I'm trying to do a second run through with somebody to beat the game on insane.

[Bad^Hat]

So I'm having an odd... problem with multiplayer recently. I'm not sure if I should even call it that.

It keeps picking me as host. Which is great for me, but crap for everyone else since, not only is my connection a bit arse, I live in freakin New Zealand and keep getting paired with Americans. I have NO idea why it keeps picking me, but it's presenting me with an odd problem now - the game is too easy. Everyone else is so lagged that they present zero challenge with me as host. I can literally walk right up to each and every one of them and just shotgun them in the face and they can't do anything about it, the only time I ever die is by pure chance.

And it's... no fun. =/

I mean, yeah, it's less frustrating than actually being in a lagged-as-hell game and having no chance whatsoever (and not being able to leave, for ****'s sake), but it still kind of ruins the game... not to mention people keep submitting bad reviews about me because of it. :frown:

[DiSTuRbEd]

Matchmaking is ****ed atm in the game, so I sit and have to wait ranging from 2 minutes to about 15 or 20. Epic/MS NEED to fix the issue.

[B_MAN]

ya the MP can be a little intimidating at first
but stick with it, cause once you get the hang of it, it's oh-so satisfying

does anyone know how the rank system works? i swear i played like a million matches with AT LEAST a 1.1 k/d ratio and i JUST leveled up for the first time last night
is it total points? or just wins? can you be demoted?

[Bad^Hat]

Yep, okay, I ****ing hate the matchmaking. The first game's online was pretty shit when you couldn't find a decent game, but then they further ****ed it by not even letting you CHOOSE a game. OR LEAVE IT.

Also, I swear to god, how ****ing hard is it to include a goddamn LATENCY METER for each game?? CASTLE CRASHERS had an exact ping reading for every game for christ's sake, and how ****ed was the multiplayer in that?

God I hope this gets patched, and soon, before the community dries up again...