Gears of War (video game)

Gears of War
File:Gearsofwar.JPG
Developer(s)	Epic Games
Publisher(s)	Microsoft Game Studios
Designer(s)	Cliff Bleszinski
Engine	Unreal Engine 3.0
Platform(s)	Xbox 360
Release	US: November 7th, 2006, at select stores; November 12th, 2006, at major retailers. Europe: November 17th, 2006 Australia: 23rd November, 2006
Genre(s)	Third-person shooter
Mode(s)	Single player, System-Link, Online Multiplayer, and Co-opererative Modes

Gears of War is a tactical third-person shooter video game developed by Epic Games. Developed using the Unreal Engine 3 technology, it was released for Xbox 360 on November 7, 2006 in select stores in the United States and will be released in major retailers on November 12, 2006. It will be released on November 17, 2006 in Europe outside of Germany, where the game was banned after being denied a rating. According to Microsoft Game Studios VP Shane Kim, the preorder sales were expected to reach $100M USD, second only to Halo 2 in videogame history.

Gears of War centers around protagonist Marcus Fenix, and the conflict between the human inhabitants of planet Sera fighting a subterranean enemy known as the Locust Horde. The game is available in both standard and limited editions.

Cliff Bleszinski cited Resident Evil 4's quick pacing and emphasis on "memorable moments" as a major influence on Gears of War in an interview with Game Informer, and promised the game would have set-pieces and a variety of enemies comparable to its inspiration. He has also stated that the presentation of this game is cinematic in scope, and chaotic, destructible environments are an important aspect of gameplay.

The game has been stated by Epic Boss Mark Rein to have cost around $10 million to make.

Gameplay

Unlike other notable games by Epic, Gears of War is a slower-paced shooter, focusing on sound tactics rather than brute force. As such, the player is only able to carry only four weapons: two primary weapons, a sidearm, and a limited supply of grenades. Some levels feature multiple paths, in which the player's squad is split into two, with each half following one of the paths. The paths run parallel (more or less), and players can assist their teammates through windows or holes in walls.

On harder difficulty levels, being exposed to enemy fire for only a few seconds can result in the player's death. To help survive, the developers have placed great emphasis on cover in a similar fashion to games like Full Spectrum Warrior or Kill.Switch. Players have a wide assortment of ducking and rolling maneuvers at their disposal, and even a full sprint, known as the "roadie run", which can help traverse exposed ground quickly. During this time, the camera pulls back and bobs considerably, as if the camera were being held by another person running behind the player.

Cooperative play

Co-op in Gears of War allows two players play through the game from start to end. Gears of War offers the ability to invite players on the users’ friends list and have them instantly pop in the player’s game to help them out.

Cooperative Play differs from the single-player game in some ways. On the sections of levels that offer multiple paths, players are separated and each tackle separate parts of the level. Player One takes the role of Marcus, and Player Two is his friend, Dom. The player who has the best statistics in each level, such as most kills or bosses killed, is the one who receives the Xbox achievement for the level.

Multiplayer

In Gears of War, multiplayer supports up to eight players (four COGs vs four Locust Horde) engaging in battle over Xbox Live. Three modes have been developed: War Zone, Assassination, and Execution.

War Zone is similar to a Deathmatch in other games, except that each player gets one life. This limit changes the focus of the game from large-scale firefights to more tactical search and destroy gameplay. Bleszinski noted that he "doesn't really want the game to devolve into a deathmatch...if you have no fear of death, then you just run at each other."

In Assassination, teams win by killing the other team's designated leader while protecting their own. The leader is the only player that can pick up weapons during play.

In Execution, you need to kill an opponent with an up-close-and-personal move, such as the chainsaw or a close-range headshot. Otherwise, the opposing player revives himself after a certain amount of time in which the host designates before the match starts.

Cover, like the single-player game, will be necessary for this mode if the player wishes to survive. Each team starts out with their standard weapons, but there will be more powerful weapons laid out across the level such as sniper rifles and rocket launchers.

The game was supposed to ship with 8 multiplayer maps, but in early October the games lead designer confirmed that it will be shipping with 10 maps: the two extra maps were originally intended to be part of a free download on Xbox Live Marketplace after launch.

The complete lack of any convenient method to join a friend's ranked match has drawn much criticism from gamers. Bleszinski has stated that it was Microsoft's wish to avoid a Halo-like party system in order to reduce cheating. However, an article from the 1UP Network suggests that this issue may be addressed in the future, via update. For now, to join a friend's match, it can be done in the unranked multiplayer mode.

Weapons

The player begins multiplayer rounds with an assault rifle/chainsaw (called a Lancer rifle), shotgun, pistol, and a single smoke grenade. Singleplayer missions can begin with a number of different weapons, usually depending on what weapons the player had in the previous act or chapter. Additional weapons can be picked up, though only 1 pistol and 2 "large" (basically anything that isn't a pistol or a grenade) weapons can be carried at a time. Other weapons, such as the Boomshot (a combination grenade/missile launcher) and Long shot (standard sniper rifle), are also available. There are also more unique weapons in the game such as "Torquebows" (technologically advanced bows that shoot explosive bolts) and a weapon called the Hammer of Dawn, which plays much like the Ion Ray in Epic's previous Unreal games.

All weapons that require reloading are optionally allowed to "Active Reload." This entails hitting the right bumper on the controller at the right time to quickly reload the weapon. If timed particularly well, the portion of the ammo reloaded in the next clip will gain a damage boost and be reloaded faster. If timed badly, the gun will jam momentarily and the reloading process will take longer than it would if Active Reload was not attempted. Choosing not to use the Active Reload feature simply causes the character to reload at an average speed.

Some levels include usable, heavy-duty stationary machine gun turrets named "Troikas" capable of literally cutting enemies (or players) in half.

Story

The enemy in the game is a race called the Locust Horde. They are a bug-like race with many different species working together. They arise from under the planet on what is called Emergence day and wreak havoc on the humans. The planet the story takes place on is not Earth but rather on a fictional planet called Sera. The main plot of the story is that Marcus Fenix, the protagonist, is humankind's last chance for survival on the planet, of which most life has been eradicated due to the Locust's invasion and the countermeasures made to stop the Locust Horde.

The game starts off with you, Marcus Fenix, being busted out of jail by your friend Dom. You are handed a weapon and are forced to blast you way through the prision until you get to the escape helicopter. You are to rendevous with Alpha squad and locate an item in their possession, the resonator. The resonator is a sonic explosive designed to map the locust tunnels and creat launch data for the lightmass bomb. By the end of Act 1, you have met up with Alpha squad and retrieved the resonator. Now the quest becomes to plant the resonator. The target is an underground pumping station/power plant. In order to get there, your team needs a vehicle. Act 2 has you looking for said vehicle as well as defending a "stranded" stronghold. Act 3 opens with your vehicle dying and you proceeding the rest of the way on foot to the factory. Your team must gain entrance to the factory then mavigate through it to find access to the underground caverns. Once underground, you will have to journey quite a while to get to the pumping station/power plant. Once you successfully plant the resonator Act 3 finally ends. Unfortunately, the bomb did not do the trick. Then somehow, Baird finds something from somewhere and "hacks" into it. They learn that there is a hidden lab at Marcu's estate which has a map of all the locust tunnels. Act 4 has you running all over the Phoenix estate and mansion looking for the lab. You mission in Act 5 is to plant the NAV data into the lightmass bomb. Once the bomb goes off, it still does not kill all of the Locust. Semi-cliffhanger ending for Gears of War 2. Template:Spoiler-end

Characters

• Marcus Fenix
• Dominic Santiago
• Colonel Victor Hoffman
• Lieutenant Mihn Young Kim
• Augustus "Cole Train" Cole
• Damon Baird
• Lieutenant Anya Stroud
• Private Carmine
• General Raam

Reception

Leading up the game's release, Gears of War has been very highly anticipated as the one of the biggest Xbox 360 games of 2006. The game has seemingly lived up to the hype, unanimously receiving positive reviews from critics. Currently, the game has an average score on Metacritic.com of 94%. Featured reviews include a 9.4/10 from IGN, 9.6/10 from GameSpot,, 8/10 from Eurogamer, 10 from Official Xbox Magazine, 9.1/10 from Game Trailers,, 4.5/5 from Yahoo! Games, 9.6 from TeamXbox,, 5/5 from X-Play, 9.5 out 10 from Game Informer, and 98% from GameBrite. As of November 12th 2006, Gears of War has a 94.1% ratio on GameRankings making it currently the 23rd highest rated game of all time and the number one rated game so far this year.

Critics have remarked that the game arguably features some of the best graphics of any video game ever made.

Limited Collector's Edition

A limited collector's edition was released alongside the standard edition. The collector's edition will include an art book titled "Destroyed Beauty" and a bonus DVD that includes the MTV Special "The Race to E3" which aired this summer, as well as an hour plus long "Making Of" documentary. It will be shipped in a tin case and is expected to retail for $69.99 USD.

Awards

At E3 2006, the game won the Game Critics Awards for Best Console Game.

A list of awards Gears of War has won can be found on this page at the official site.

File:GearsCase.jpg

The tin Collector's Edition case for Gears of War.

Trivia

• The song used in the recently airing commercials is a cover version of "Mad World", performed by Gary Jules and Michael Andrews for the 2001 film Donnie Darko. The original was by Tears for Fears. Also available, the HD quality version of the ad.
• The game's achievements include many references to movies, and current events. For example, an achievement obtained by beating a Berserker on the Hardcore difficulty is named "My love for you is like a truck," a reference to the 1994 cult film Clerks. Other references are taken from the movie Brokeback Mountain and the infamous metaphor used for net neutrality, Series of tubes.
• One of the weapons found in the game is a type of compound bow that fires an explosive device. Players who master and become efficient with this weapon are awarded the "Nuge" Award. This is a reference to Ted Nugent, who is a hunting and bow aficionado. Ted Nugent has given his consent to the game creators to use his name in the game.
• The "Is it a Spider" achievement, given for "tagging" people with grenades references episode 11 of Red vs. Blue, wherein Donut is stuck with a plasma grenade, and not knowing what it is, asks his teammates "Is it a spider?!".

External links

• Official site
• Gears of War Review at 360Zine, a free downloadable magazine
• Gears of War Review at GameBrite
• Gears of War at 1UP
• Gears of War at IGN
• Gears of War at GameSpot
• Gears of War at Metacritic
• Multiplayer Gameplay Footage MP Gameplay Videos
• Interview with Gears of War composer Kevin Riepl at TheGeekZine