Squad ordering dropped for Gears 2

By Tom Bramwell Published 22 May, 2008

But are more characters playable now?

By now we all know that Gears of War 2 will be "bigger, better and more badass", but what it won't have is the original game's system for issuing orders to squad-mates, according to design director Cliff Bleszinski.

If you're struggling to actually remember a system for issuing orders to squad-mates, that's kind of it, as Bleszinski explains in a video interview with Gamerscoreblog: "In Gears 1 we had kind of an orders system, and in Gears 2 we honestly decided [makes throat-cutting gesture] we gotta axe that," he said. "We really didn't feel like it was leveraged that much in Gears 1."

The emphasis instead is on you and your experience of the campaign, whether in single-player or co-op, Bleszinski said. Interestingly, he concluded his point by saying "you're basically being Marcus and you're being other squad-members throughout the campaign and it's not really kind of a Full Spectrum Warrior RTS type of experience".

The second player in Gears 1 got to play as Dom, but if the "you're being other squad-members" thing means what it sounds like, that could be opened up - and Epic has so far declined to address speculation about co-op for more than two players. Then again, he might not have meant it that way. We'll see.

Elsewhere in the interview, Bleszinski also talked about how he's inspired by other games (like kill.switch, perhaps). "We don't steal, we are inspired by - that is the correct term," he said with a smile. "Whenever the mood hits, whenever something just catches that little part of your head, and you say, 'You know, I like that idea, but we can do that with a new twist and we can do that better'. That's when we use it, that's when we leverage that."

Check out our recent Gears of War 2 preview and interview with Cliff Bleszinski and Microsoft's Kudo Tsunoda (also including video) for more on how the game's shaping up ahead of its November release on 360.

Picture of Tom.

About Tom Bramwell

Tom is Operations director of Eurogamer Network and Editor-at-Large of Eurogamer.net. He joined the company in February 2000. Follow him on Twitter.

Read more articles from Tom by visiting the Tom Bramwell archive page.

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Comments (19) Latest comment 4 years ago

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  • The-Bodybuilder #1 4 years ago

    >"If you're struggling to actually remember a system for issuing orders to squad-mates, that's kind of it"

    I was genuingly trying to remember the squad commands before reading that quote.
    Edited by The-Bodybuilder at 22/05/08 @ 11:45

  • Quint2020 #2 4 years ago

    Lol same here.

  • DrDamn #3 4 years ago

    Yep it's a good move. I think by disconnecting from it they are also maybe hoping to get away from the the whole "DomAI" thing too. Which I now regularly use as a phrase to describe annoying or shite AI in a game.

  • Monkey #4 4 years ago

    Na, can't think of the squad commands either! lol
    :)

  • Machiavel #5 4 years ago

    Perhaps the button presses (whatever they were) will be re-assigned to fist-pounding, buddy-hugging and badass-humping.

  • skillian #6 4 years ago

    Exactly like Half-Life 2 then.

    Had squad commands in original HL2, but nobody used them and they weren't very good, so they dropped them from the sequels.

  • sneetch #7 4 years ago

    @article
    "We don't steal, we are inspired by - that is the correct term," he said with a smile.

    I was tempted to "inspire" my neighbours car last night, too much GTA IV. ;)

    I too forgot about the team orders, I just hope the useless bugger won't get knocked down in too awkward a place. :)

  • DFawkes #8 4 years ago

    So I guess I'm the only one that used them. I remember on bit in particular where i couldn't get passed on insane, I started using the commands and since then loved them.

    They weren't any use on the other diffficulty settings though, so I'm sure I could live without them.

  • Lexx87 #9 4 years ago

    I used them on that stupid cave part with the um, exploding crossbow shooting things with perfect aim.

  • mossychops001 #10 4 years ago

    Post deleted at 11:49:27 04-05-2012

  • jachap #11 4 years ago

    "Perhaps the button presses (whatever they were) will be re-assigned to fist-pounding, buddy-hugging and badass-humping."

    Well, if he's inspired by Army of Two... maybe.

  • Darren #12 4 years ago

    Please axe that horrendous running camera too or at least make it optional as I found it frequently annoying as it restricted my vision, particularly during the climatic boss fight at the end of the game. I thank you.

  • dr_faulk #13 4 years ago

    0_o There were squad commands in the first one!?
    I finsihed it without knowing that!

  • asphaltcowboy #14 4 years ago

    Please axe that horrendous running camera too or at least make it optional as I found it frequently annoying as it restricted my vision, particularly during the climatic boss fight at the end of the game. I thank you.

    I'm pretty sure that was the point! I thought it worked marvelously well.

  • Darren #15 4 years ago

    What you mean you thought it was great because it was intended to restrict your view and frustrate you? I always thought it was included more because it looked cool and not because it was actually practical. In that sense it works well but when I'm playing the game it annoyed me so much that I actually activately avoided running unless it was absolutely necessary.

  • GordonCaladan #16 4 years ago

    The only time I really remember using it was during the emulsion plant fight on insane difficulty. It helped to be able to "form up" to stop Dom from storming the entrance and aggroing all the Theron Guards.

    Speaking of which position the checkpoints after dialogue scenes, plx...
    Edited by GordonCaladan at 22/05/08 @ 13:44

  • DAN.E.B #17 4 years ago

    I also liked the running camera it looked brilliant

  • davisorle #18 4 years ago

    Post deleted at 20:44:35 16-04-2012

  • Triggerhappytel #19 4 years ago

    Did you know Scene It! Lights, Camera, Action was 'inspired' by BUZZ!?