Finally, we can purchase our own severed Locust heads
by Ludwig Kietzmann 
{ Nov 7th 2008 at 7:30PM }
Whether you're looking to get a little more pizazz out of your wig stands or simply hope to scare family members with your devotion to all things Gears of War, we're certain you can find a spot in your house (and your heart) for this charming and oversized Locust Drone bust. The folks at Project Triforce will start shipping out these 20lb monsters before the end of the year. Joking aside, the only scary thing about this toothy guy is the fact that he's far from being a low-cost locust. The chance to own this snarling mix of Emperor Palpatine and Alien Nation's Det. Sam Francisco will set you back $550.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
untitled @ Nov 7th 2008 7:40PM
Would make a nice conversation piece for grandma.
Ayman @ Nov 8th 2008 10:05PM
Granpa?
i'd be more concerned on how would you explain this at the airport? the decurity guy checking with the X-ray
Specially if it is a carry-on and the person next to you in the plan is a 6 year old kid.... mohahahaha
Ridgecity @ Nov 7th 2008 7:40PM
Thanks. That reminded me to go brush my teeth...
Linkario @ Nov 7th 2008 7:51PM
I don't recall licensing out the likeness of my mother-in-law.
Will @ Nov 7th 2008 7:51PM
Why would they release this AFTER Halloween? This would make a great decoration for someone extremely rich =P
Chin-Poh @ Nov 7th 2008 8:03PM
Do Marcus Fenix and the rest of the gang put these over their fireplaces instead of mooseheads while sipping tea?
Linkario @ Nov 7th 2008 8:06PM
I'm sure by "tea" you mean "whiskey" and by "sipping" you mean "chugging".
Sora @ Nov 7th 2008 8:14PM
Oh great, now I'm picturing Marcus Fenix sitting in a leather chair in a dimly lit room in front of a fireplace wearing a maroon/red robe wearing eyeglasses and narrating something with a British accent...
Osman @ Nov 7th 2008 8:15PM
no I think he meant "tea" and "sipping", I can imagine marcus coming home after a long day of locust killing, going to sit down in front of the fireplace, sipping some tea.
Sora @ Nov 7th 2008 8:16PM
Whew, run-on. Also, "wearing a maroon/red robe wearing eyeglasses " doesn't mean that the robe is wearing glasses; I intended for it to mean that Marcus was.
Esat Dedezade @ Nov 7th 2008 8:42PM
Whew, thanks for clearing that up Sora, I can finally get to sleep now.
ExMcCloud @ Nov 7th 2008 9:47PM
That thing is creepy? Its 9:46Pm and I just finished the Campain....GOTY point blank period....If you love action games GOW2 is your savior...It really feels like a movie...Especially the last Chapter....Once you play that chapter you will thank god for giving Cliffy the talent to make this game....And I haven't even played Horde yet....
Alex @ Nov 8th 2008 6:06PM
I hate you.
But I hate the very 'well' timed RROD on my 360. YESTERDAY.
F YOU MICROSFT AND YOUR SHODDY COMPONENTS!*
I still love my Exey-Boxey.
The Dark Wayne @ Nov 8th 2008 10:31PM
I hate myself for not springing for 1 day shipping, or even 3, I have to wait until wednesday! Not only do I have to wait, but i'll have to manage my time with it between it and CoD 5! Damn!
monkey3 @ Nov 7th 2008 10:21PM
They call themselves Triforce yet sell no LOZ wares? what gives?
Courtney @ Nov 7th 2008 11:27PM
Maybe they're still working on collecting all the pieces of the Triforce?
monkey3 @ Nov 8th 2008 12:03AM
well they need to hurry up! I WANT!
The Dark Wayne @ Nov 7th 2008 11:47PM
"O Hai grndwlkr" is now my favorite "im in ur base klln ur manz" style statement ever
Bitter Kevin @ Nov 8th 2008 3:29PM
The LOLcust seriously made me laugh out loud.
Kspraydad @ Nov 8th 2008 12:31AM
Is there a hybrid queen one?
Sackolantern PSN ID: johnnynumber5 @ Nov 8th 2008 12:34AM
I already blew $140 on a lancer replica ... pass
Xepo Theory @ Nov 8th 2008 1:10AM
thatd be nice to have pop of a box at christmas family present time
Gally @ Nov 8th 2008 2:01AM
If you put a bright pink wig on him, you'll have a lovely Britney Spears tribute bust that will be a fabulous conversation piece. Perfect.
YouTube izLeSene @ Nov 8th 2008 2:19AM
thatd be nice to have pop of a box at christmas family present time. thanks
scooterbaga @ Nov 8th 2008 4:50AM
This would go fantastically next to the Lancer... Shame it's way too expensive.
offday @ Nov 8th 2008 9:13AM
For 550 bucks it better be a real locust head, and a soft serve ice cream machine.
Dr.Nerd @ Nov 8th 2008 10:44AM
YAAAAAAAY
Capgun @ Nov 8th 2008 11:36AM
They also apparently have a $950 lancer replica...
Dr.Nerd @ Nov 8th 2008 11:36AM
My review is a 9/10 for the full game. I really love how the games graphics have been enchanced greatly and my favorite map Gridlock is back and all prettied up of course.
Weapons 6/10
The guns are better prettier and have a better feel using them. The chainsaw can now have duels which I think is a major improvement then whoever starts theirs first. But for some button mashers this will be a total piece of **** for them. So I guess it deserves a 8/10 or a B. The mulcher is a strange idea like a chaingun have I seen this before? Ah! Of course Halo 3. Even though its quite unoriginal its still has a different way of taking them down. Well I guess that's how it got its name. It decembers your sad opponent. But it moves slowly so it's a double edged sword. I guess I'll give it say umm... A 6/10. The hammer of dawn. It does tons of more damage along with destroying cover so you pestering opponents will have a harder time to get away. But, like the first GOW if they get to you your about dead, or you can hammer of dawn them and you! I'm pretty sure it still can't blindfire and if it could though if your the victem you'll be reduced to bits almost immediately. So it deserves a hard earned 7/10. The artillery is what we use in the campaign to destroy the oversized brutes. It showers upon your enemy and destroys packs of them possibly the whole team (if their stupid enough to stay in one whole pack). But like the hammer of dawn it takes time to shoot and if two people crowd on to you with shotguns you'll have no time to get out your shout gun before they riddell you with at least three bullets. But unlike the hammer of dawn its slow and bulky to lug around with you. A 6/10. The shotgun is still a fast,strong, and devastating gun to unleash to your opponent. Its still takes only 1-3 shots to destroy your opponent and is good for taking out people with things like the hammer of dawn or the mulcher and artillery. But a one on one match with both people having shotguns is completely decided by whose a better gamer. But its still one of the best weapons in the game. A huge SPLAT is always comforting to the human body. So with nothing bad about it a 10/10. The burst pistol is one of the gayest newest guns in the game but not the deadliest. The gun shoots many bullets at once so if your opponent is good enough and is in cover and does enough somersaults around the place you'll run out of bullets extremely fast and while you reloading your opponent if he's close enough can land a chainsaw attack on you, or they would just get out a shotgun aim for the head and even if they miss the next hit will kill you inless you focus on running and running only like a total douchebag you'll be dead before you can say I got a bullet jammed! And it totally suck with a meat shield because with those small bullets and reloading problems if he can run around enough hell get a good grenade in and you cant run away fast enough without the meatshield and if you snap his neck you'll still be hurt and still have your cruddy gun in your hand and without the meatshield your defenseless to a shotgun near you head so with no good thing at all I call this complete crap and give this gun a 0/10. The pistol on the otherhand is far superior to the piece of crap burstpistol for it has a 1-2 shot K.O. if you aim for the head. So aiming for the head and even is even better with a meatshield. The whack is so-so but good for finishing off people with a meatshield in xboxlive meatflag. Way better than the burstpistol but not the weapon you would take to the battlefield but none of the pistols are. So laughing superiorly at the burstpistol a 7/10. Then the flamethrower its new and it definetly packs a punch it damages your opponent to the max at close range and burns with them for a while usually if they get away (if they charged at you at first its likely for them not to get away) they will proable be down so its good for a meatshield or the many finishing moves added to the game instead of just the curbstomp. But from long range its crap. They can easily just get out any long range gun and kill you before you can change weapons. So a 6/10. The boomshot... Ahh one of the weapons in the game where you can blow your enemy to bits along with yourself (only if you shoot it close range that is) firing from long distances can destroy multiple people and whacks down or kill your enemies. But it doesn't go straight so a lot of newplayers to GOW2 will have a hell of a lot of trouble taking enemies out with these. There is only one bullet per shot so you'll have to reload after one fire which is shit if your near someone with a shotgun. So a 6/10 there's not much different stuff about this. So that concludes the weapons there stronger in someway but some guns are clearly just stuff Cliff just thought of out of his huge imagenation they could have been better but I guess were lucky to have any at all.
Campaign 9/10
There's no question that storyline plays a much more important role than it did in the first game. Characters are more emotional, more is revealed about the Locust and where they come from (as well as a look at the Locust Queen), and there are also plenty of new story threads that are opened up. Some of which are wrapped up in the end, most of which are not. The focus of the story is Dom's search for his wife, Maria. It's important to note that while Marcus Fenix is still the main character of Gears of War, hearing him say some of the emotionally charged lines that come out of Dom's mouth would have been just plain strange. It was a good decision to go with a character who not only has a normal speaking voice, but whose personality is more conducive to being naturally emotional. That having been said, there are plenty of moments when you'll crack a wry smile at what you just heard on-screen.But those not looking for a story intensive experience might be a bit turned off by the increased number of cutscenes and dramatic outbursts. There's certainly more to watch than in the first game, nothing like a Metal Gear Solid title, but there are frequent breaks in the action that rely on the player investing in the characters in order to hit home. Fleshing out the Gears of War universe goes much deeper than simply expanding the scale of emotions and unearthing some back story for the Locust horde. Instead Epic took things further by expanding the all-important scope and scale of the action. It's there that Gears of War 2 separates itself from other videogames.Players are fighting in a massive planet-wide war and in Gears of War 2 you feel the importance of your actions in a big way. The battles are massive and enemies that only made brief appearances prior are now being thrown at the player in droves. Brumaks and Corpsers are dispatched with ease and even the common courtyard battles are bigger and a bit more intense than before. Some of that is to do with the new enemies – including the likes of Raam's replacement, Skorge – and their number on-screen being much greater than in the first, sometimes stretching into the hundreds. Luckily all of the skirmishes aren't designed in the mold of Gears of War 1. Gears 2 does a wonderful job of differentiating its levels and keeping things as fresh as possible without ever deviating from what we all love about Gears. There are vehicular levels, each with its own mode of transport; there are also ice levels, water levels and even one that goes out of its way to show off the new meat physics.But all is not well with the structure of the campaign mode. The first four acts are wonderful and exciting and the fifth act is too, up until the last few chapters. The last boss is a complete joke and the ending feels just a tad too abrupt. I'm not talking Halo 2 style cliffhanger or anything, but the climax to the storyline and the action happen just a bit too early. Also, while there's no doubt in my mind that we'll see a Gears of War 3, I still would have liked to have a few more of the plot threads tied up before the curtain closed. There are also plenty of new moves that blend seamlessly into the already established foundation. It would have been a disservice to exclude new executions from the list of additions so Epic did their best to come with some of the squishiest, gushiest and most disgusting moves possible. Different weapons now have different finishers, as well as different active reload benefits, and Marcus and company have new abilities like taking downed enemies as meat shields and utilizing new, bigger weapons than were available before.Mobile cover is another new advent to the world of Gears. There are three main types: the Rockworm, the Boomshield which can be carried and planted, and the retractable cover that makes an appearance later in the Locust lair. The Rockworm is probably the most unnatural feeling of these new forms of cover, but it's still an interesting creature to see. The Boomshield will be used the most and is great when you're stomping towards an enemy who can only continue to futilely try and shoot through the metallic cover. Moving between pieces of the environment is also much more fluid than it was before.There are also a few smaller changes like having more environmental interactions with the chainsaw and giving the player more organic choices when it comes to which path to take. There are a few instances were two paths are presented without requiring players to press the Left and Right Trigger to choose which way to go (though those moments are also present). Instead you make your choice simply by going in that direction. There are also more boss fights this time around and, disregarding the disappointing final encounter, these battles are an excellent addition. The Brumak and Reaver riding levels that everyone is probably wondering about also perform fairly well. The Reaver level is an on-rails stage that feels similar to Rogue Squadron or Panzer Dragoon. You can move around the screen a bit, but your main course is guided. The Brumak level also houses some impressive destruction and could be representative of what's be possible once Unreal Engine 4 rolls around. Sadly the improvements that have been made to Unreal Engine 3 don't exactly pan out in the way that I would have liked. If you remember the GDC demo from earlier this year, you know there are a handful of additions to what is being called Unreal Engine 3.5 by some. First, the destructible cover. Pretty much everything that you can take cover behind can be deformed in some way. It's a nice visual dressing but doesn't impact gameplay at all. It would be nice if you could take away cover from players (ala Battlefield: Bad Company) so that the strategy of Gears changed a bit, but sadly that isn't the case. The campaign mode in Gears of War 2 is, in a single word, fantastic. I'm a big proponent of a strong narrative to push an action game forward and draw the player in and, for me, Gears 2 delivered that. The characters, while not extensively deep, expose the environments and situations around them very nicely. The second game, in what is sure to be a nearly endless series of titles, does a wonderful job of sidestepping what I call "Halo 2 syndrome" and doesn't delve into uninteresting beliefs of the Locusts or the COG. Instead we get some nice twists and turns that will hopefully play out in unpredictable ways. Oh, and while I've said it several times before, stay until after the credits. It almost makes the disappointing ending acceptable. The co-op campaign is very similar to the campaign, but you get the added human component for strategy purposes. It feels just as natural as you remember; online or playing split-screen. One distinct change to the co-op is that each player can set their own difficulty level. It doesn't actually change the way the enemies react to you, but instead your health bar and the damage you dole out have been beefed up, thus easing the experience. The co-op features the same branching paths mechanic that was in the first, and they perform as you'd expect. I'd personally like to see the design take a totally organic route (something I mentioned earlier) as some of these situations do feel forced.
Those who played the first Gears will remember that there AI squad mates used to have some simple controls to move them around the battlefield. Those have been completely removed and you likely won't miss them in the slightest. You no longer feel like you have to babysit the rest of your COG friends as their health bars have been intentionally beefed up so they can take a beating in battle and come back for more.
Everyone played Gears of War 1 knows that the campaign is a window dressing to the world of multiplayer. While that's less the case this time (the campaign has plenty of substance) the world of Xbox Live will certainly be buzzing with Gears 2 for months and years to come thanks to the impressive package that comes on the disc. This ending he campaign talk and now on one of the thing that made gears famous the Xbox live.
Xbox live 9/10
For starters, there are fifteen maps; five of which are downloadable remakes from Gears 1. The recreations are familiar territory but feature some nicer lighting and an overall smoother look than the original articles. The other ten newly created works range from the awesome Avalanche and Hail with their environmental hazards to the more traditional Jacinto and Pavillion maps. Ruins has some cool retractable cover that changes things ever so slightly. What everyone really wants to know about is how the game plays online. That's where Gears of War 2 took a bit of a stumble for me. Not as much as the first game's host advantage epidemic or buggy gameplay, but there are certainly remnants of that slightly defunct base. I encountered a hint of host advantage and considerable lag every so often, which was disappointing.The most interesting of which saw one player model floating in the air while still alive and invisible to everyone except those who were already dead and were watching through the ghost cam. Needless to say that round ended in a stalemate. I've also seen upside down enemies in Horde, my player model sliding around (not user controlled), and shots not registering properly.When the game was running smoothly I've been able to have some great encounters. The five-on-five gameplay heightens the intensity ever so slightly and the matches are more fun because of it. The new weapons like the grenades that can be turned into proximity mines and the big guns help make it feel nice and different while still retaining the core stop-and-pop gameplay. The matchmaking for Gears of War 2 is totally different from what was available in Gears 1 and works very well. Players are matched according to their rank and, once matched, must then vote on the gametype and then the map. There are two choices for each and your options depend on which playlist you select initially. The playlist selections are a little odd. I had hoped for an option to just play the new modes, while there are mixes that are close, none provides exactly that. That's too bad because the new modes really are what you'll be playing for the most part in Gears of War 2.Submission places an AI-controlled Stranded character in the middle of the map. He's the flag. It's your job to get his shotgun-touting ass back to the capture point. And he's not exactly friendly. It's a wonderfully creative mode that is made all the better by giving the AI his very own line of statistics. Guardian is a bit more traditional and ups the intensity of a standard deathmatch by giving one player control over the rest of the team's ability to respawn. If he's alive, you can come back from the dead. If he dies, then you're on your last life. It's very interesting to see how strategy changes when the two VIPs start dropping. The new modes, coupled with the older content, come together for one hell of a good time. For as good as the whole competitive multiplayer portion of Gears 2 is, it's slightly overshadowed by the new cooperative Horde mode. Horde is a non-stop adrenaline rush that throws upwards of thirty enemies at you, the exact number of which is dependent of how many of the five possible player slots you fill. There are 50 waves to storm through and the enemies level up damage, health and accuracy every ten waves. It runs fairly well; I only ran into one bug and I've invested well over ten hours into Horde.
Horde mode is an unbelievably simple and addictive mode that lets you compete not only against swarms of different enemies but also against your friends. Each map has its own leaderboard and you'll probably need to get through all 50 waves without your entire team dying to even come close to being at the top. My only complaint with Horde mode is that the mix of enemies is the same for every ten waves. Meaning that Wave 11 contains the same enemies as Wave 21 and 31, they're just tougher later on. Oh, and where are the Reavers and Brumaks?
Limited Edition Set 10/10
In my thought the limited edition set is much better than the regular or the collectors edition and why? Well let me tell you PRICE. For an extra 10$ than the regular edition you get a much better deal. The Limited Edition for Gears of War 2 houses the requisite fancy slip cover and metallic game case, complete with an extra disc of bonus content, a photograph of Dom and Maria (the same that Dom carries in the game), a cool art book with notes from Cliff and a code for a gold-plated Lancer for multiplayer.The most important pieces of content are undoubtedly the lengthy documentary that comes on the bonus disc as well as Steve Jablonsky’s four original tracks that were recorded for the game. There are also progression galleries that show the evolution of the art style for the main characters and two sets of gamer pictures – one for COG and one for Locust. The documentary is a cool and deep look at the making of the game, but for whatever reason it doesn’t use the Xbox 360’s standard DVD controls. There’s no option to fast-forward or rewind, instead you can only pause. Jablonsky’s score is very well done and it’s cool to be able to just sit down and give it a listenThe other additions to the Limited Edition are the photo of Dom and Maria and the gold-plated Lancer. Neither are huge additions, nor are they worth the extra ten bucks, but Gears nuts will appreciate being able to put the picture in their wallet and use the Lancer in multiplayer. Nothing in the Limited Edition is of extreme worth but for a extra 10$ is a deal. The documentary has solid production values and it’s a nice and long look at the development process, the team, and the history of the studio but, like the rest of the frills in the LE, likely won’t be taken advantage of by anyone but the most diehard of fans. Also there's the collectors but the biggest diehard fans will get it. It costs a whomping 209.98$ so its a lot more worth it for limited edition. That concludes my review for one of the best games in the world.
Jakka @ Nov 8th 2008 11:42AM
tl;dr
Cannon @ Nov 8th 2008 11:46AM
Wow. This is not the place for a review.
Dr.Nerd @ Nov 8th 2008 11:47AM
What?
Dr.Nerd @ Nov 8th 2008 11:54AM
I didn't want to place a review here but if I put it somewhere else that had to do with GOW2 nobody would see it. So then I wasted a lot of typing and the review is pretty decent isn't it???
DomKillsMariaandtheQueenishuman @ Nov 8th 2008 2:40PM
Accounts at blogger are free fuck chops.
philmcphail @ Nov 8th 2008 12:38PM
YOU took up the whole PAGE!
Titanium_Orchid @ Nov 8th 2008 1:17PM
Text... Text!?!? TEEEEEEEEXT!!!!!!!!
Ridgecity @ Nov 8th 2008 2:04PM
Your review is awesome dude! you nailed it!
you should start a site where you can post your reviews...
Dr.Nerd @ Nov 8th 2008 2:47PM
Gee thanks Ridgecity maybe I will. I always thought of that but then I thought I would be overpowered by websites like IGN, 1up, or OXM but maybe I should do reviews.
EMaster @ Nov 8th 2008 11:47AM
Wow. Some virgin can display this thing beside their Halo Helmet and make the outragious claim "I killed that guy huhuhuhuh". I dunno man, posters, maybe little figurines here and there from a game or action figures are ok but life sized busts and guns???? H'NnnneeeeeeEEERD. News flash. Invite chick over to ur house/(grand)parent's basement and she sees this she goes "eeeeeeeeeeek We're never having sex even though u paid me up front" and runs away.
The Dark Wayne @ Nov 8th 2008 10:27PM
I suppose my life size General Grievous bust is never gonna get me laid either?!
MillRecover @ Nov 8th 2008 1:23PM
Now I realize why they use the chainsaw!!
If I saw that thing running at me,
I too would try to slice it in half.
then give it a toothbrush
and some crest white strips.
Arnon @ Nov 9th 2008 4:45PM
God I am so in love with this game..