I'm finally playing Gears of War. Thanks to Mass Effect, I'm finally able to grok combat, aiming, etc. (I failed the intro training mission so many times I gave up. Then again, I do have a gung ho, rush up style.)

It's awesome. It's like Vietnam: The Video Game. The exaggerated male figures and their dialog are awesome - I can understand why younger guys are addicted to the game.

Seanchai

I liked Gears a lot. I found that split-screen co-op gameplay was great -- you and a buddy, clearing areas, yelling orders and warnings at each other. Awesome experience. I keep meaning to try it on Xbox Live, but haven't gotten around to it yet.

The only problem I have with the game is the washed-out sepia look. It's a trend that I'm not thrilled with. I prefer the vibrant colors of BioShock or Uncharted. Also, the low-contrast color palette makes it harder to make out the details of your enemies. I love monsters, even if they're humanoids like the Locusts. Maybe there's a sniper rifle that you can pick up somewhere along the way that allows you to get a better look at the opposition. Still haven't beaten the game yet. Got sidetracked by BioShock and The Orange Box.

Quote from: RChandlerI love monsters, even if they're humanoids like the Locusts. Maybe there's a sniper rifle that you can pick up somewhere along the way that allows you to get a better look at the opposition.

Yep. I found one in the second act. But I tried it away.

Speaking of which, trading away guns irritates me. I'm having trouble controlling what's being traded and, save for an IGN walk thru, I really have no idea what the capacity of the weapons are.

Seanchai

I never liked the idea of trading guns. Admittedly, I have no idea where Gordon Freeman stashes eight firearms, six grenades, a crowbar, and a gravity gun, but frankly, I don't care. I just want to be able to access these during gameplay.

I found it to be absolutely and completely horrible through and through, and think that between this, and UT3, Epic have totally destroyed their credibility as a developer, while simultaneously proving that console gamers will buy up any mediocre shit that Microsoft or Sony through enough marketing money behind.

The gameplay mechanics were awkward and badly designed, the controls sucked, the levels were more painfully linear and railshooter-esque than Halo ( a fact even more enhanced by the way the gameplay mechanics play out), the game environments were ugly and monotone, and the enemy AI wasn't so much bad, as it was just so dull and predictable that combat felt like going through the motions.  

I can't think of a single game I have played in years more undeserving of the praise it's gotten.  Even Halo had a few glimmers of goodness in it, despite the mediocre level design.  Gears is just pure tripe.

But... did you like it?

*ducks*

Hey, nice Rabbid avatar. Just played that on the Wii the other night. Hilarious game.

Quote from: RChandlerBut... did you like it?

*ducks*

Hey, nice Rabbid avatar. Just played that on the Wii the other night. Hilarious game.

I wanna play it on the Wii so bad.  I had it for PC, but it's damn hard with a controller.  And yeah, it's fucking hilarious.

Quote from: J Arcanesnip

Thats odd, I enjoyed the game quite a lot. I like the levels, the monsters and the gameplay was really good.

Halo three however was poo.

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Halo 3 was the best ending for Halo2 evar! For reals though, the multiplayer is awesome in that game.

As for Gears of War. It's fun. It also has no right to be as fun as it is.

Did they ever patch the online play? I liked the game but the host advantage was ridiculous (and grenade tagging was way broken).