Gears of War 2

[Morph]

Actually, not really. Maybe a tweak or two. The game has far worse issues than that!

The invincible executions are a main issue, and gladly fixed; the sniper active reload I don't like and needs less power; sometimes coverlinks don't work as you expect, but that's the mapping rather than the game itself.

Biggest issue with the game is the Live latency but I'll leave that alone

The sniper is already a slow reload weapon the active is its bread & butter - they could reduce the time you get to use the active reload or introduce a 2nd active bar for when the weapon is fired also rather than down an opponent it could temporarily stun and severely damage (opponent could tap A button to speed up recovery) instead but thats about it, besides you can now crawl away when down so that would make it harder for a sniper to finish you off. I think they could definitely improve the code for network performance handling and come up with some solution for host having an advantage but again without dedicated servers no solution will be perfect.

[Matt]

I think you were right the first time - a much smaller active reload spot for the sniper. It's all too easy to get it time and time again, and with an active reload it's effectively an insta-kill weapon. When you're down in warzone, you're easy to finish off. In Execution, downed 3 times and you're dead anyway.

I think it breaks the games flow, but that's just my opinion.

Sniper weapons are traditionally headshot insta-kills, the active makes it too versatile and much easier to use.

And don't get me started on the sniper melee attack again

[Morph]

exactly that would be the simple solution funnily enough this is what they did with the Magnum - quite tricky to get the active but overall I find this weapon useless anyway and if thats not tricky enough then a 2 stage active reload sequence should do it. Its one of those things you have to implement and tweak to see which works best, a worthy job for the testers at Epic.

[Matt]

Those will be the same testers who didn't notice the original 'nade tagging bug, and apparently are / were happy with the chainsaw vortex

I think a 2 stage approach may be too convoluted. I can see where you're coming from and it's a good idea, but I feel a single stage is enough. Just make it a bugger to hit.

[Uli]

Actually, not really. Maybe a tweak or two. The game has far worse issues than that!

The invincible executions are a main issue, and gladly fixed; the sniper active reload I don't like and needs less power; sometimes coverlinks don't work as you expect, but that's the mapping rather than the game itself.

Biggest issue with the game is the Live latency but I'll leave that alone

i guess it all depends on how you prefer to play the game. i've never had a problem with these "invincible executions". i can't even remember one happening, although i haven't touched the MP much i have to add. but good to hear they fixed it.

i like to efficiently use my arsenal of weapons, especially grenades to quickly seal the emergency holes. so given the very limited amount of grenades you can carry the aiming and resulting efficiency is an issue for me. but, oh well, maybe it's just me being too stupid to make good use of them

[Matt]

Nah it's not you. They don't go quite right, I think it's partly because it's difficult to see where exactly they'll end up - ideally the camera would lift up giving you a bit more of an aerial view, but in mp that wouldn't be advisable.

MP and SP are completely different. I doubt the invincible executions are an issue in SP. It's just so frustrating, you see your teammate getting cut in half, so you shoot the boomer at the enemy. It does nothing! Glad it's fixed

[Morph]

Those will be the same testers who didn't notice the original 'nade tagging bug, and apparently are / were happy with the chainsaw vortex

you're right they must of been if it made it to the game. Thing is Gears was a new franchise and its only until the public put it through its paces that the problems truly come out they should have learnt lots from all the stuff people are doing in Gears and I see no reason Gears 2 can't reach a near perfect in balance. I wonder if they'll allow you to use downed enemies as body shields in multi player you know it makes sense to, added with the risk you could go down and downed could be revived - could create some very interesting scenarios hey

[Matt]

Yeah I'm hoping down enemies can be used as meat shields as well. Dead bodies will work I'm sure. Thing is,if it's a live opponent they need to escape somehow. Balancing the meat shield will be tricky, let's hope it works as it's a great idea.

Also I'd like some sliding move to pickup weapons quickly.

[MJ]

I found this today:

A few weeks ago, The Escapist's Team Humidor visited Epic, for an exclusive, unprecedented, uncensored look at how the award-winning studio operates. We sat in on a meeting with Gears of War 2 department heads, ate in their kitchen, played on their lawn, spoke with Cliff Bleszinski and saw never-before-seen footage of Gears 2. We also brought a camera.

http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/editorials/4901-Video-The-Escapist-Goes-to-Epic

There's an embedded video on the page above.

Edit: Two words "party system." Bring it!

[MJ]

Another interview:

http://www.eurogamer.net/tv_video.php?playlist_id=10367

Hurry up November!

[Akira]

Also I'd like some sliding move to pickup weapons quickly.

As opposed to people using the sliding glitch to pick up weapons? i say leave it as it is.So many good battles revolve around people trying to get the sniper,boom,etc,but can't cause they know how vunerable they are when picking up said weapon.

No,no.Leave it as it is,please!!

[Largo]

Has there been any word on improving the netcode?

[Matt]

None I have read. Again I have to say I believe the problem is not Epics netcode but Live. The issues that affect Gears are in every Live game, just more obvious due to the nature of the Gears combat system.

Epic know netcode having done it for longer than most other companies. I don't believe they'd have dropped the ball on the first game.

[TIKKAROMA]

That being the case and nothing having changed with regards to the live infrastructure then no matter what they do with 2's netcode those intrinsic problems will still be there (for you).

[Matt]

Well they could try client side hit detection but I don't recall ever seeing that really working in game.

The obvious thing is to nerf the host.