We guess it would be best to say that off the get go that Gears of War 2's multiplayer component will be very familiar to Gears of War fanboys in terms of gameplay and feel, but that's really where the comparisons end. With new modes that actually add variety to the Gears formula AND are actually fun to play (we're looking at you Annex), a bigger weapons arsenal, some enhanced gameplay tweaks and an array of features, Gears 2 is definitely a step above the original. It's as if GoW2's multiplayer is the end goal that Gears' multiplayer somehow could never fully achieve.
First, let's pick apart the multiplayer game modes including the four we played, Guardian, Wingman, Meatflag Submission and the five player co-op mode Horde. Of all the modes, we instantly fell in love with Guardian which is actually a tweaked version of Gears' Assassination mode, but instead unlimited respawns are available as long as your team's Leader is still alive. If your Leader gets dead, then kiss your respawns goodbye. Oddly enough, it just works and this little change to the Assassination formula makes a huge difference. Too fun. Wingman is typical no-respawn 2v2v2v2v2 deathmatch where teaming up with a partner means tactical doubles action. Not all that bad of a gametype, it's just that we couldn't really communicate with our partner due to the loud nature of the event, so any doubles strategy wasn't possible. Next up, Submission, the game mode that I initially thought would be fun after hearing about it, then (after playing it) found it to actually be quite fun. Think a game of capture the flag where your flag is an angry man (who gets a name like "Clyde" at the beginning of the game) wielding a shotgun and isn't afraid to use it. To score, you have to down and take him hostage, escorting him back to a designated area. The games I played ended up being quite the long endeavors, but that was mainly because all the players focused on killing eachother rather then escorting the Meatflag to the goal. Finally, the not so multiplayer focused mode Horde, where killing waves of Locust is the name of the game and variety is the spice of life. We really didn't get too much into Horde, because we honestly would rather play against real-life people in multiplayer. But that doesn't mean Horde is a total bore, as you rack up points for every kill you manage, cooperatively taking down all types of Locusts including a brand new Butcher Locust variant. He looks looks to be the size of a Boomer, isn't affected by a chainsaw and wields a giant meat cleaver. Wicked stuff. All in all though we truly think Gears 2's game modes are well thought out and well implemented. We have a feeling there will be much more playlist dabbling when Gears 2 releases.
Moving onto the multiplayer maps, we got a chance to try out only two including Avalanche and Day One, though we did see other attendees playing Gridlock and Security. What's interesting is that it looks like Epic is giving each multiplayer map its own recognizable "hook" that helps differentiate it from the other maps all while switching up the gameplay using environmental factors. An example of this is seen in both Avalanche and Day One, where in Day One, every minute or so a giant Seeder pops up in the middle of the map, causing an earthquake and blocking shooting angles. Avalanche is our favorite map hands down, because about two minutes in, a giant avalanche barrels down on the courtyard killing everything in its path (to stay alive, you have to keep to the sides) all while totally obstructing any view of the war that's taking place for ten seconds due to the snow cloud. The avalanche in Avalanche also changes the environment, dumping ten plus feet of snow on the ground allowing access to a Boomshot which was high atop the gazebo roof, but after the ten feet of snow, is now accessible. Looking at the environments as a whole, the textures are very detailed (as you'd expect from Gears), the lighting is top notch and each map has a nice amount of polish already on it. Though, we do have a sad bit of news. Gears 2's destructible environments aren't really all that destructible. They're more used for "decorative destruction", where destructible wood paneling is placed on a pillar or brick outlines a ledge. They blow off the physical objects themselves, but don't really affect the game. It's all for the explosive looks.
Next up on the agenda, weapons, and Gears of War 2 isn't lacking in variety. There's a brand new mortar type weapon (sorry, its name we couldn't get) that makes your character walk like he has thirty pound weights on his ankles, but the weapon's long distance destruction makes up for it. Same goes for the new shield, it'll slow you down a bit when behind cover, but it has its benefits. That said, we didn't really utilize the new portable shield cover or the hostage option, because A) walking was too slow, B) we could only use a pistol and C) we had an itch to use our Gnasher. There's also that new "Mauler'esque" weapon (again, the name slips us) and is totally a tool of destruction. Active reload with it and you're in business. And if we had to pick between the Locust's semi-auto Hammerburst or the COG's Lancer, we'd go Lancer. From our experience, the addition of the chainsaw pays off in the long run. Sadly, we didn't get a chance to try out the new Scorcher or the Longshot. Oh, we almost forgot, grenades! The new smoking stun grenades work just as intended, literally rag-dolling anyone who's near them, flinging 'em through the air. Surprisingly enough, this stun effect really adds a new element to Gears 2's multiplayer and will instantly make you change your mind about the value of the smoke grenade to your death dealing arsenal. Especially when used as proximity weapons. As far as poison grenades go, yeah we saw them detonated (and what a pretty detonation effect they have), but we didn't get to experience their effects.Talking about how the party system works, it's a pretty straight forward lobby system like Halo 3 where a host chooses the game options, players can see said options and get ready to play. This time around though players can switch characters AND their starting weapon (Locust Hammerburst or COG Lancer) before the game begins. Another interesting feature is the team switching option. Once a player requests to change a team, another player from the other team must make a request before the team change occurs. Then, once both teams have a team changer, they simply switch spots to prevent uneven teams. Fun!
Now that we got the basics out of the way, we were keen to a few other Gears of War 2 multiplayer nuggets of goodness that we wanted to share. First being that team Epic added a nifty little weapon shine effect to the weapons when they're laying on the ground which helps recognize them from a far distance. In regards to the stopping power of ammo, we can confirm that it's real, it's effective and totally prevents players from ambushing their enemy with a Gnasher like in the original Gears. Stopping power is a great feature add. Though, that isn't to say the Gnasher has been nerfed, because it hasn't. We actually found ourselves still using the trusty shotgun when things got a little too involved.As far as our "problems" with Gears 2, yeah, we have some. We experienced some frame rate issues when the battle got intense, there was texture pop-in at the load of the match, once a player has the Submission meatshield they are way too difficult to kill and the destructible cover isn't as destructibility pleasing as we would have hoped. The animations too weren't perfect, sometimes we'd go for a finishing move and be left with an animation where we'd be UFC pummeling the concrete sidewalk instead of our foe's face. Hopefully though, these issues will be fixed by launch. Funny thing is that even if all these annoyances aren't fixed, we'd still praise Gears of War 2's multiplayer and rank it among the best multiplayer experiences we've ever had. It's really that good, being everything Gears was, but with so much more depth that somehow keeps that traditional Gears feel in tact. Fellow fanboys, November just cannot come soon enough.
