Gears of War 2

[rmoxon]

I don't get why they made smoke grenades knock you down in the first place. Not only is it annoying when people leave them on doors or throw them at you, but it limits your ability to use them correctly i.e. for concealment when crossing open ground.

I like using the smoke grenades when protecting points on the map, as a well placed one will knock someone down when they go near it and you can kill them easily.

If they stop smoke grenades knocking people over im gonna need new tactics.

Course you can just go and find normal grenades still, but you start with a smoke grenade.

[peeveen]

I think the main grumble (certainly from me!) is that their primary use now is as a knock-down device. The actual smoke effect (which is too short-lived anyway) is only really of any use against CPU opponents, who seem programmed to only shoot at things they can see. Human opponents just run/shoot through it.

[Richard.John]

Nice Horde guide form Game FAQ. Nothing that the pros won't already know but still a good read.

http://www.gamefaqs.com/console/xbox360/file/938611/55499

[Silvergun X]

Ok, so.

Am I going to have to shell out for the map packs if I want to play this online now?

I've been sitting at the same screen for about half an hour now watching 'FOUND PLAYER' keep coming and going.

It took ages to find a party to play online at all, and now it takes even longer. If it finds one at all that is.

[Richard.John]

I cant even buy the maps for some reason. A region thing I am sure.

[peeveen]

I haven't bought Combustible (got Flashback free with codes), and haven't had any problems getting into games. I *have* noticed, however, that if I have anything else using my internet connection, no matter how trivial, it has a massive effect on Gears matchmaking and gameplay.

[TheForce]

played several hours online yesterday but we also had to wait quite long a few times to get a game going. Have to say I didn't have any of these problems the last 2 weeks while playing online.

The extra maps are very nice, so if you plan to play it online a lot it's def worth to buy them.

[cutmymilk]

I know I suck for being so late to the party but I'm currently playing through single player.

This morning I did the inside the worm level - probably the goriest level I've ever played in any game, ever. I don't get queezy very often but that was a LOT of blood! Good fun though!!

[Finsbury Girl]

I've also only just picked this up and have played only a little way through.

Overall my impression is great - I loved the first one and this is more of the same with some extra enemies weapons etc - can't go wrong (yet).

Is it just me of does Dom's voice sound different - and speaking of Dom - the story line re: his wife is a bit **** so far - I prefer the cheesy over the top macho stuff.

My aiming is terrible as I've just played R:FOM so need to get used the 360 pad again. I haven't done much online co-op yet but intend to do insane co-op once I've finished hardcore mode.

Anyways, loving it so far.

[egparadigm]

I'm interested if anyone else agrees with this statement: Gears of War occupies the half-way ground between an on-rails shooter and complex FPS games like Halo.

Just started this today and I'm enjoying it so far. I think the strength of the first game was how focussed the gameplay and story were. It may just be a dumb war game, but at least it knows it. The gameplay is tight and the story is simple but well told. The banter between the characters is fun, too.

So far it seems to be very similar to the first game, and that's a good thing in my books.

[egparadigm]

I'm a few chapters in (if that is, indeed, what they're called) now and I'm glad to see the game go the way of fantasy. Really expands on the universe nicely; sure it's grim, but at least it's not so brown.

[Neil]

Just finished off all the achievements on this (1175) and feeling slightly underwhelmed tbh, I hope come the update they put in some achievements worth putting the time in for. The new ranking system sounds promising, fuel depot coming back is a nice bonus but wheres Clocktower? has to be one of my all time faves. Don't see why they can't make all the Gears 1 maps available for Gears 2.

[Mayhem]

Nice going there... still got a handful left to get myself including Insane Campaign...

[Finsbury Girl]

Some great additions to the original - however for some reason I enjoyed the urban settings of the first than most of the outdoor/caverns of the 2nd.

Some features such as jump in and out co-op - excellent save system and you can see which chapters you've done in each difficulty etc.

One omission I'd like to see is somehting that tells you which chapters you've done as co-op and with which character. I like the progress bars on the achievements as well - these little things are quite cool & added together just makes the overall exerience a lot better.

It might just be me but I found it a lot easier to go online than the first - although I still prefer a RV6 type lobby - for me it's the best lobby around.

Really like Horde as well - as I way prefer co-op online.

For me this is as good as the first with the added benefit of some tweaks - the atmosphere in the first is better I think and as a single player experience story wise, I think I prefer Gears 1 - but still one of the best Xbox games for me - an easy 9 out of 10.

Now to try & get through INSANE!

[Kubrick]

Even after the latest update, far too many of my MP matches are still being ruined by lag. I was under the impression you would be able to filter games by region with the latest patch, but I haven't seen any option for it. Its bloody annoying because I really enjoy playing this online and would play it a lot more if there weren't as many issues.

On the positive side, I'm liking some of the changes that've been made, like quitters being replaced by Bots and I adore what they've done with Fuel Depot in the new map pack. That was always one of my favourites and now its even better.