Gears of War 2: Overhyped, huge disappointment *SPOILERS*

[Scarlet Fire]

So I just finished playing through the campaign for GoW2. After all of the hype, and the huge build-up to this game, I must say, I walked away from it feeling cheated.

The first thing I noticed about this game was that it followed the same exact formula as the first game. Now, that isn't a bad thing in terms of the mechanics of the game play (i.e. the cover system, etc.) but the progression of the levels felt exactly like the first game. For example, the level where you have to search the hidden base (though it's really more like a warehouse) that just so happens to be infested with wretches. Didn't I play a level just like that in the first game? Oh yeah. I did.

Speaking of the cover system, I never really was happy with it. It's too clunky. It needs some more refinement. I lost count of the number of times I tried to duck behind cover only to have Marcus do a somersault right into the path of a boomer. Weak.

There was an attempt at some character development (mostly with Dom and the search for his wife). The writers were obviously trying to tug at our heart strings. Unfortunately, the story was entirely too predictable, the dialogue was weak, and at the big emotional climax of Dom's story, I was left with an overwhelming sense of sadness. Not because of the story, but because the consequences of it meant hours more of tedious, repetitive game play instead of doing something new and interesting.

This game also went on for far too long. Yes, there is such a thing as a campaign that is too long. After the fight with the Queen's body guard, the rest of the game felt like a chore. It was as if the writers said "hmm, I wish we could have an extra hour or so of game time to make the critics happy. Let's tack on another extremely repetitive and tedious mission!" Seriously, the game should have ended far before it did.

Which brings me to my last point: the ending. Horrible. Insulting, even. I just spent all of that time sinking a whole freaking city, only to get an ending that is a carbon copy of the first game's ending. There was no closure at all. It just screams "we're selling out and leaving you with a stupid cliffhanger ending so we can take more of your money in a year." Then, to cap it all off, at the end of the credits, you get to hear the voice of Adam Fenix saying "OMG that plan sucked! Big mistake, LOL!!!"

Really?

After all of the bull that I just waded through? You're telling me that the main objective of this entire freaking game was a mistake?

What a waste of time. I'm so glad I rented this game instead of buying it.

[Oreomeister365]

"That was a s---load of grubs!"

"More like ten s---loads..."

The dialogue was worthy of awards.

[Baryonyx]

Sorry, it's a mans game and you've gotta be pretty damn manly to appreciate it.

There is such glory and beauty in it, to fight a seemingly unwinnable war. And of course, the ending will not offer closure, that is because the series will continue in the next game.

perhaps you'd enjoy a game like this more?

http://games.teamxbox.com/xbox-360/2162/My-Horse-Me-2/

BTW, I thought it was awesome, 10x better than the original GOW. Can't wait for the next one!

[tplyons]

I wasn't a big fan of the first one, so I'll be waiting for my roommate to buy this one too.

[Happynoj]

I felt that the ending was too easy and predictable. As soon as you got your hands on a Hammer, it was simple and quite dull.

[Baryonyx]

Do you not see the simple juxtaposition between the traditional weapons you use throughout the game and the Hammer of Dawn at the end? It comes an allows you to decimate the Locust in your path, serving as a metaphor for man's triumph on the surface over his enemy. Not mention that you get the hammer for what, maybe 10 minutes?

[Happynoj]

Juxtaposition doesn't make the ending any better.





I didn't like Halo either.

[metallicafan18]

Originally Posted by Baryonyx

Sorry, it's a mans game and you've gotta be pretty damn manly to appreciate it.

There is such glory and beauty in it, to fight a seemingly unwinnable war. And of course, the ending will not offer closure, that is because the series will continue in the next game.

perhaps you'd enjoy a game like this more?

http://games.teamxbox.com/xbox-360/2162/My-Horse-Me-2/

BTW, I thought it was awesome, 10x better than the original GOW. Can't wait for the next one!

+100000

I love the Gears 2 campaign. It was my favorite campaign out of any game ever. Definetly a mans game. I'll admit the multiplayer on Live sucks, and GOW is better. But GOW2 campaign is better. Amazing game!

[Ben Lesser]

GoW2 is fun. Get a friend and play the campaign co-op, or play the Horde mode. It's a fun game.

[Scarlet Fire]

Originally Posted by Baryonyx

There is such glory and beauty in it, to fight a seemingly unwinnable war. And of course, the ending will not offer closure, that is because the series will continue in the next game.

I understand that this was supposed to be a major theme in the game, but the story was, to be frank, told very poorly. Want an example that shows this idea brilliantly, and truly immerses you in the game at the same time? Try Half Life 2.

And, as for the ending, the writers said earlier this year that the end would give closure. That clearly didn't happen. In fact, they pretty much copied the ending from GoW 1. All it had was a different backdrop and slightly different dialogue.

Do you not see the simple juxtaposition between the traditional weapons you use throughout the game and the Hammer of Dawn at the end? It comes an allows you to decimate the Locust in your path, serving as a metaphor for man's triumph on the surface over his enemy. Not mention that you get the hammer for what, maybe 10 minutes?

You're looking for hidden symbolism when it simply isn't there. That entire sequence felt tacked-on and entirely unnecessary.

[steve21]

If you want a good game, buy Fallout 3 instead.

Oh my ****ING god.

[Baryonyx]

Originally Posted by Scarlet Fire

I understand that this was supposed to be a major theme in the game, but the story was, to be frank, told very poorly. Want an example that shows this idea brilliantly, and truly immerses you in the game at the same time? Try Half Life 2. (1)

And, as for the ending, the writers said* earlier this year that the end would give closure. That clearly didn't happen. In fact, they pretty much copied the ending from GoW 1. All it had was a different backdrop and slightly different dialogue. (2)



You're looking for hidden symbolism when it simply isn't there. That entire sequence felt tacked-on and entirely unnecessary.(3)

(1) It's possible to argue that Half Life 2's story is just as poorly told, if not more so. It's full of holes and "***" moments if you haven't played Half Life and it's expansions. Gears of War is just as immersive, unless by immersive you mean "doesn't use cutscenes". For an action game, I find GOW to have a very well paced story, which is told intelligently and often discreetly. One good thing about Gears is that the story never hinders the action, yet there is a rich universe to indulge in if one wants. And the story involving Dom and his wife shows not only that EPIC can handle difficult subject matter with sensitivity, it adds a new level of emotional depth and attachment to the player. So, good show!

(2) Half Life 2 had no closure in it's ending. In fact, the ending to Episode 1 is ten times as abrupt and jarring as GoW2's is. It offers no closure whatsoever. We all had to wait for the next episodes (as we will have to wait for Gears 3), and even then, completing the latest Half Life 2 Episode doesn't give you closure on the story. As it happens, we've been waiting nearly 11 years to see questions answered and story arcs closed that were raised in the Original Half Life. So it's clear to see you're applying a double standard to your opinions of the games.

*NB never trust what a developer says about a game. Peter Molyneux touted Fable 2 as the best thing ever when it was in reality far from it. Given the ever-developing nature of games, what a developer says one day isn't neccessarily true the next. Live with it.

(3) The symbolism is there if you want it to be. But it doesn't even have to be about symbolism. Think about what that weapon offers to the game, especially when granted to you at a late stage: a change of pace, a change of combat dynamic and a sense of power previously unhad. Such a small thing as being given an extra weapon impacts on the game in a number of ways, and it's a shame that this isn't apparent to you!

[Scarlet Fire]

Originally Posted by Baryonyx

(1) It's possible to argue that Half Life 2's story is just as poorly told, if not more so. It's full of holes and "***" moments if you haven't played Half Life and it's expansions. Gears of War is just as immersive, unless by immersive you mean "doesn't use cutscenes". For an action game, I find GOW to have a very well paced story, which is told intelligently and often discreetly. One good thing about Gears is that the story never hinders the action, yet there is a rich universe to indulge in if one wants. And the story involving Dom and his wife shows not only that EPIC can handle difficult subject matter with sensitivity, it adds a new level of emotional depth and attachment to the player. So, good show!

All stories have holes, Half Life and Gears of War included. It's very unlikely that a big game is going to be air-tight. I absolutely have to disagree about Half-Life having poor presentation, though. The story is very complex, and because of that, it can be quite confusing at times. That's exactly the point, however. You ARE Gordon Freeman. You're not just guiding him through a pre-determined path. Therefore, knowing the back story would be just plain wrong. You are nothing but a mere weapon for hire. You are pulled in and out of stasis as needed. Therefore, since Gordon doesn't know what's transpired over the 20ish years between Half Life 1 and 2, neither do you.

The Gears of War series doesn't appear to be the thinking-man's kind of game. It's more of an interactive movie than anything (due in part to the 3rd person nature). Because it's a 3rd person game, though, it becomes quite difficult to be truly attached to any part of the story. There's no personal investment anywhere. They try to create that sense, but they never quite succeed with it. They're making a valid attempt at touching on serious issues, but I don't believe they quite know how to go about it just yet.

There were several parts where the story really interrupted the action, however, the most blatant example being, once again, Dom's little side trip to the labor camps. The whole time, we had been building up to storming the Locust stronghold, and right when we get to the front doorstep, we're forced into a run-around-and-search-for-something-while-defending-against-x-amount-of-waves-of-bad-guys-trying-to-kill-us-mission. IT was a huge detour from the story that was not handled well enough to warrant the diversion.

(2) Half Life 2 had no closure in it's ending. In fact, the ending to Episode 1 is ten times as abrupt and jarring as GoW2's is. It offers no closure whatsoever. We all had to wait for the next episodes (as we will have to wait for Gears 3), and even then, completing the latest Half Life 2 Episode doesn't give you closure on the story. As it happens, we've been waiting nearly 11 years to see questions answered and story arcs closed that were raised in the Original Half Life. So it's clear to see you're applying a double standard to your opinions of the games.

Not having closure to Half Life 2, as I was getting at above, is a critical part of the story. Half Life revolves around the idea of being an employee of the mysterious G-man. Even the ending for Episode 2 was more effective than that of Gears 2. As infuriating as it was, at least it gave us a clear sense of what we needed to do next, and what our ultimate objective was. The ending of Gears basically said "Oops. Bad idea." They make no attempt to make that idea fit into the story you just played through for the entire campaign. As far as I was concerned, that war was over when we flooded the caves (again). Why was what we did such a mistake? What are we going to be doing next? What's the new objective? No effort was made to address any of those questions. THAT is a lack of closure. The ending of Gears was neither abrupt nor jarring. It was simply empty. We had been building up to it for the entire game. We knew it was coming. It was, I would argue, even drawn out too long. But it just wound up with a very empty feeling.

*NB never trust what a developer says about a game. Peter Molyneux touted Fable 2 as the best thing ever when it was in reality far from it. Given the ever-developing nature of games, what a developer says one day isn't neccessarily true the next. Live with it.

(3) The symbolism is there if you want it to be. But it doesn't even have to be about symbolism. Think about what that weapon offers to the game, especially when granted to you at a late stage: a change of pace, a change of combat dynamic and a sense of power previously unhad. Such a small thing as being given an extra weapon impacts on the game in a number of ways, and it's a shame that this isn't apparent to you!

It's not unapparent to me. It just felt like a tacked-on sequence that was a cheap attempt to give you some sort of vengeance. Half Life 2 was guilty of the same thing with the super-charged gravity gun. That was my only complaint with that game. I was ready to fight my way up to the top of the Citadel, not plow my way through.

[Scarlet Fire]

Originally Posted by steve21

If you want a good game, buy Fallout 3 instead.

Oh my ****ING god.

And yes, Fallout 3 was incredible. I'm already on my 3rd play through and STILL finding new things.

[Baryonyx]

Originally Posted by Scarlet Fire

Not having closure to Half Life 2, as I was getting at above, is a critical part of the story. Half Life revolves around the idea of being an employee of the mysterious G-man. Even the ending for Episode 2 was more effective than that of Gears 2. As infuriating as it was, at least it gave us a clear sense of what we needed to do next, and what our ultimate objective was. The ending of Gears basically said "Oops. Bad idea." They make no attempt to make that idea fit into the story you just played through for the entire campaign. As far as I was concerned, that war was over when we flooded the caves (again). Why was what we did such a mistake? What are we going to be doing next? What's the new objective? No effort was made to address any of those questions. THAT is a lack of closure. The ending of Gears was neither abrupt nor jarring. It was simply empty. We had been building up to it for the entire game. We knew it was coming. It was, I would argue, even drawn out too long. But it just wound up with a very empty feeling.

When I refer to the backstory of Half Life, I of course mean the first games. The fact that Gordon is brought out of statis after 20 years and finds earth under totalitarian Combine control is apparent enough. But for someone picking that game up without any prior Half Life experience, they will simply see an average FPS with a confusing, silly story. As much as I like Half Life, I can't help but think that the ending of it will be a massive let down (if it ever comes). The G-Man and the idea of cosmic powers using Freeman as a tool of intervention sounds good on paper but I get a feeling I'll be underwhelmed when the cat finally comes out of the bag (though Valve have set themselves up for a fall with that).

I don't see how you could, in any way, argue that the ending of any of the Half Life 2 episodes is better than that of GoW2. Especially when Half Life 2 Episode 1 was released on the Xbox, finishing with the explosion and the G-man freezing things. That, IMO, was nothing short of an insult.

I It is hard to argue that the ending of Gears of War 2 is unsatisfying, because if you have actually paid attention to it, it makes a few things clear. First of all, it indicates that the human/locust conflict is is not just a skirmish, it is a war. It also indicates that the stakes have been raised.

Because neither the humans nor the locust have a stronghold anymore, it is now a bitter fight to death from which there can be no retreat, simply because there is no way to go. It creates, as everything that is going to have a sequel should, a platform for the next chapter to be even more exciting. The ending sequence of GoW2 is neither thrilling nor wildy exciting to watch. However, it's implications make it a brilliant way to conclude GoW2 IMO. I'll take that any day over suddenly being frozen and having the G-man say "ride's over pal, there goes your £40".

[Araillac]

Originally Posted by Baryonyx

Sorry, it's a mans game and you've gotta be pretty damn manly to appreciate it.

There is such glory and beauty in it, to fight a seemingly unwinnable war. And of course, the ending will not offer closure, that is because the series will continue in the next game.

perhaps you'd enjoy a game like this more?

http://games.teamxbox.com/xbox-360/2162/My-Horse-Me-2/

BTW, I thought it was awesome, 10x better than the original GOW. Can't wait for the next one!

Man's game huh? Guess I don't want to play that. Not that I'm not a man, I am, although a young one, but I like Gamer's Games. Not stuff like Guitar Hero or those real easy cheesy games that anyone can play and win or those one's where if you die, no problem, we'll just jump you back up on this cliff where you fell off and you keep going like nothing happened. No, I like a game where you beat it without losing, or there's save points but they are far and wide and you really gotta do the work to get to that other save point to be safe. I like when you save in a town and walk across 2 or 3 maps of spontaneous battles and going around monsters, reaching some npc's in the middle of no where, going into a cave or something for a mission, getting to the end and fighting a boss, not to mention there's probably a mini boss in there before the big boss. Now here's the fun part. The pressure is on. If you lose at the boss, you don't get squat, you go back to the start. If you win, then you're going back to the NPC's just begging for a save point, finishing the mission then going back to town or to the next one over and finally saving. You gotta know what you're doing or you're screwed. I like a challenge. I don't want that crap that most games are becoming now. Games are starting to be made to attract the people. Games made to attract the gamers are becoming rare.

[KeithBMI]

My dad is getting it for Christmas. I'm getting Fallout 3.

[Baryonyx]

Originally Posted by Araillac

I like Gamer's Games.

I like gamers games as much as anyone. I ardently fought for Ninja Gaiden II against the legions of people who just wern't tough or good enough to play it. As far as hobbies go, gaming is everything to me. Music is just something I do on the side.

Now of course, games are being made for a winder audience than ever (though this is mostly handled by the tat that comes out for the Wii). However, gamer's games are still being made, moreso than ever before. Gears 2 is the summer blockbuster and not the Asian art film. It's made to appeal to a wide audience, it's big on thrills and light on deep, mentally engaging gameplay. But if you appreciate it for what it is, you'll enjoy it a lot more than simply disliking it for what you think it represents.

Now more than ever, computer games have the technical prowess and fanbase to be consider a serious medium for entertainment. Remember, before the Sony Playstation was released, new consoles were unveiled at Japanese toy shows. Since then, we have experienced yet more growth in the industry, and we're coming to the point where the entertainment even of the year is not a Hollywood movie or an album by whatever band, but a video game. Halo 3, Gears of War 2, etc etc, these are the events of the year that hae huge cultural impact. It's pretty nice to think that such marvellous things are happening with your Xbox 360!

[Araillac]

Well I still only have a PS2 lol. I'll probably move up to PS3 though. More of the games I play tend to be on the playstations.

[BruisedOoze]

Originally Posted by Baryonyx

I like gamers games as much as anyone. I ardently fought for Ninja Gaiden II against the legions of people who just were not tough or good enough to play it.

I love that game. The whole trilogy on the NES to be precise. I wish my NES still worked :\ I guess I can ROM it and hook the laptop up to the TV.

Beat it a number of times. But I remember the amount of time I played it become intimately familiar with the levels to insure I had enough life to beat the boss. I remember the first time I worked myself to the last level and left the NES on but disconnected from the TV and my mother turned the machine off

I'm still proud of beating Contra without the Konami code. Makes me feel fuzzy and warm when I hear the statement the game was impossible without the code.

What really irritates me is games where you have to unlock the hard mode. I find I put games down more frequently before finishing them these days because of this.