Huge Gears 2 patch, map pack soon
Experience system, Achievements, more.
Epic has announced that it will release an expansive free patch for Gears of War 2 on 24th March, introducing a new experience system and associated Achievements.
This will then be followed by a new premium map pack, called Snowblind, on 31st March, introducing three new maps and a remake of Fuel Depot from Gears 1.
The patch - sorry, Title Update 3 - implements an experience-based ranking system and rebalances gameplay modes in order to give players a better sense of progression, rather than relying on Microsoft's TrueSkill system (although TS will still be used behind the scenes to some extent).
In an interview with GameSpot (thanks Kotaku), executive producer Rod Fergusson said it was "really a reward thing to make people feel better about their progression online".
Once the patch goes live, players will earn experience in subsequent matches that helps them advance through 100 levels, with significant milestones each getting their own unlockable Achievement. Along with four others introduced in the Snowblind Map Pack, these will account for an extra 250 gamerscore points.
The patch also includes an auto-balancing feature that drops in bots for people who drop out mid-match (dropouts also suffer an XP penalty), and resolves scoring disparities between certain modes (Annex throwing up more experience than Warzone, for instance).
As for the map pack, there's no word yet on pricing, but the last outing - the Combustible Map Pack - sold for 800 Microsoft Points (GBP 6.80 / EUR 9.60), which seems like a safe bet.
Fergusson has said that the four maps are Grindyard, a winter-themed junkyard processing plant and spiritual successor to Gears 1's Gridlock; Under Hill, a highway junction leading into a mountain, with an exposed mortar spawn to consider; and Courtyard, which features long sight lines and recalls Embry Square.
Fuel Depot, meanwhile, will be spruced up with a new wintry theme.
You can catch a glimpse of the Snowblind Map Pack and the experience system over in the Gears of War 2 screenshot gallery.
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Comments (35) Latest comment 3 years ago
Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!
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Private matches still rock though regardless. In fact a few people I play with on a regular weekly basis have never been public...
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It's complete rubbish, as any genuine XBL user knows. "
Erm...no it isn't....
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And, surprise, the "assholes" are certainly not limited to Americans.
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As Vanmunt suggested, maybe you just notice them more on US-based servers.
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The only reason for the precived lack of rabbit swear children is the hefty price point and the fact that in game chat is for all intensive purposes its not there or broken, everyone who gets a 360 has an mic for better or worse.
On that note Farty are you sure your not on some other Live channel? if you are can I join then I finally be able to use in game chat again. If its not some idiot singing its people in the same team engaged in a racist/sexual slur match. Live chat is a nightmare unless you stick with friends keep it on mute (tip for the day)
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The only reason for the precived lack of rabit swear children is the hefty price point and the fact that in game is for all intensive purpose not there or broken, everyone who get a 360 has an mic.
spot on there really.
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I've heard a few instances of kids mouthing off and various racial/sexual slurs but only a few in quite a lot of online time.
It's bull, basically. "
Rubbish! I mainly (these days) play random matches with no headset now as some of the garbage I hear (mainly from American or British mouths), is sad....
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"Rubbish! I mainly (these days) play random matches with no headset now as some of the garbage I hear (mainly from American or British mouths), is sad...."
I'm not going to say that there aren't arseholes but not more than anywhere else. I play most workday nights in the week and we always have a shitload of fun. If we can find one retard on a night, it's more than normal. We usually look forward to those people as it gives an extra incentive to kick the arse of a racist cunt.
Thinking that xbl has more retards percentage wise is just retarded and completely unproven. Quite rightly, it make you sound like a twit.
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But hey....we should be experiencing a somewhat better online GoW 2...which is no small thing, considering the original product was rubbish (online!)
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I do have KZ2 as well, I confess that I still yet to finish SP or try out MP and I certainly will do so, and will have interesting contrast with two very different games.
People saying GoW2 stinks is like perhaps Fartius or me saying KZ2 stinks to high heaven! Waste of time getting into that sort of slanging match!
Depends what you want from your games and both are rightly praised for the enjoyment they brings, even both have their shares of fault, bugs that dullen some shines. GoW/GoW2 will always hold a special place in my heart. In Edge 200th issue GoW2 get ranked as 58th out of 100 must have games of all time.
That is damn good when you see other games that get mentioned.
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Once they get that sorted they could concentrate on powering down that chainsaw and weakening frags and smoke grenades.
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The lag is definately less severe after the first patch compared to what it was like at launch, but it still needs improving. GOW2 was a game I was looking forward to for a long time, but I lost interest rapidly as the multiplayer was broken. Still find it shocking that such a high profile game was such a buggy mess on release. But then again they knew gimps like me would buy it regardless...
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Just because edge magazine put gears 2 in their top 100 games doesnt make it a good game, thats only their opinion. Personally i think gears 2 was seriously dissappointing and the online side to it was terrible.
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this just isn't true as a general rule anymore. The chainsaw doesn't drop when the user gets shot, not helped by dubious connection related drops in shotgun effect. Recent changes have weakened the melee attack of the shotgun, leaving you quite vulnerable. The hoover effect of the saw just pulls you in. It's broken and it's constant use drives me up the frigging pole. If there's room you can easily jump back and drop the lancer user, esp with the hammerburst; occasionally the shotgun blows the, umm, noob away in a cloud of guts (most satisfying). More often than not you're sucked in from a stupid distance away and then it's the 15 second delay until the process repeats. youtube
It's not as annoying as the frag grenades though
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Clearly you dont know what your talking about. fiery_jackass is correct. Ive lost count the number of times I have shot someone with the shotgun whilst they are running at me with the chainsaw, only for them to go right through it and chainsaw me.
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I too was looking forward to this game a long time. and lost all interest after experiencing the MP. It's a shame Epic are responding so slowly to ALL these issues.
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Also, i read on a dutch forum that Epic removed some code from GoW2 that now makes it possible for lagswitchers to use their exploit, whereas in gears 1 that would lead to a connection error on the side of the perp.
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fu*k Gears 2.
Epic really blew it.