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Gears of War 2 celebrates first anniversary with triple XP

by David Hinkle { Nov 5th 2009 at 8:45PM }

Now that Epic's rolled out TU5 for Gears of War 2, it's geared up to celebrate the game's first anniversary of existence with a triple XP event spanning the next nine days. Starting tomorrow at 9 AM EST through Monday, November 16 at 9 AM EST, all players will not only get triple the delicious experience points, but also access to a new tactical mode across all game modes -- which adds increased weapon damage and decreased ammo counts. On top of that, there's going to be "a few subtle tweaks," including a longer down-but-not-out phase for revivals and individual playlists that will allow you to play the exact gametype you want.

For you masochists out there, Epic will crank up Public Horde's difficulty to hardcore -- and if you've been playing Gears of War 2 through all of its changes, odds are you kinda are.

[Thanks, Nick!]

Halloween brings spooky Gears 2 double XP weekend

by Richard Mitchell { Oct 26th 2009 at 1:35PM }

In celebration of Halloween and the impending release of a new title update, Epic's Rod Fergusson has announced that Gears of War 2 will be hosting a double XP weekend starting this Friday, October 30. In addition to awarding double XP in all multiplayer modes, the game will be featuring an extra "scary" lineup of Locusts in Horde mode. Specifically, Fergusson notes that Horde mode will feature lots of extra Boomers, including some waves comprised entirely of Boomers. An entire squad composed of Flamers, Grinders and good old Boomshot Boomers?

Yeah, pretty scary.

[Via VG247]

Gears of War 2 TU5 passes cert; Epic passes along list of fixes

by David Hinkle { Oct 23rd 2009 at 1:45PM }

Epic's latest list of fixes to Gears of War 2's online multiplayer aims to satisfy what seems to be an ever-growing community of dissatisfied gamers.

The new Title Update (#5) reverts the roadie-run camera back to its state in the first Gears of War and fixes an exploit where "a player could modify the game's behavior due to a security vulnerability introduced in an earlier title update." The update also kills the ability to use turbo controllers with the game -- something folks have been using to increase their rate of fire -- and turns off the ability to mantle the shield in competitive multiplayer matches, eradicating the ability to escape the map or glitch certain pieces of geometry.

The fixes sound all well and good, but is it enough to bring folks back to the game and satisfy those still playing with a chip on their massive, hulkish shoulders? We'll all find out when the update goes live, which Epic's Rod Fergusson says could happen as early as today or Monday.

Rumor: Epic to announce Unreal Engine 3 for consumers

by David Hinkle { Oct 23rd 2009 at 11:05AM }

Like our sister site Big Download, you may have been asking yourself, "What was going on at Epic Games yesterday?" Well, we think we have the answer: According to the Joystiq Mole™ -- the same mole who accurately predicted NBA 2K10 Draft Combine and LucasArts' Lucidity -- the epic announcement will be the release of an Unreal Engine 3 PC toolset for consumers.

Our mole tells us that the toolset will ship with example objects, like weapons and maps, and will show users how to build their own custom assets. Odds are, the kit being a product for consumers (read: nonprofessionals), that the cost won't be all that high. Of course, knowing who's going to get their hands on this (again, read: nonprofessionals), we're totally frightened by the inevitable flood of Delta Squad fanfics that will unfold on YouTube.

Ogle Chair's hand-drawn Shadow Complex map

by Justin McElroy { Oct 14th 2009 at 1:15PM }

It's a sad testament to how much we loved Shadow Complex that we were able to spend several happy minutes simply poring over Chair's hand-drawn proto-map for the game, as obtained by MTV Multiplayer. As an added bonus, we got to hear the story of Chair staffers playing the game with their imaginations, tracing a stick figure's journey through a giant-sized version of the map as they tried to perfectly balance the experience.

Golly! Imagination? Non-electronic games? What will video game developers think of next?

Epic prepping TU5 for Gears of War 2

by David Hinkle { Oct 9th 2009 at 4:15PM }

Cheaters beware! Epic's Rod Fergusson recently popped into the Gears forums to let everyone know that Gears of War 2's fifth Title Update is currently in the works and will hit Xbox Live sometime soon. The new update will not only add some new features to the game -- no more "sticky walk" and you'll be able to see friendly grenade plants in Tac/Com -- but will also put an end to a rather nasty cheating hack that surfaced shortly after TU4. Cheating in Gears -- who'da thunk it?

We'll be sure to let you know when the TU5 is available.

[Thanks, Kyle B]

Mark Rein: future Epic games will have 'some' Natal support

by David Hinkle { Oct 9th 2009 at 11:40AM }

Epic and Microsoft have long been cozy bedfellows, comfortably sharing the covers with each other for years. Now that partnership has extended to Microsoft's proposed game changer, Project Natal. Speaking to Epic's marketing maestro, Mark Rein, OXM asked what Natal's use of the Unreal engine implied for the futures of both companies.

"I think any future Xbox games we make will have some Natal support," Rein commented. "We always want to have something that exploits the unique capabilities of a platform." While Rein had no idea what type of game Epic would make with Natal, he did have some ideas on how Natal could improve the hardcore experience -- namely, simplifying the controls.

An example he used was taking one's hand off the controller to mimic throwing a grenade, or using a hand gesture to signal your squad move to a certain location. On paper it sounds great, but we have to question how much such controls could improve on what is arguably one of the easiest things one could ever do: pushing a button.

UT3 is FTP on STW

by Griffin McElroy { Sep 17th 2009 at 9:00PM }

Oh, sorry -- do you lack the cryptologic know-how to decipher that headline? Excuse us as we get our Layton on:

UT3 is not a shorthand way of saying three urinary tract infections -- rather, it's the acronym commonly used to refer to Unreal Tournament 3.
Though the internet-savvy may assume FTP stands for File Transfer Protocol, that doesn't make much sense with the previous piece of the puzzle in place. However, "Free-to-Play" fits quite nicely.
STW obviously means "Steam this weekend." If you couldn't figure that out, you should probably go jump off a cliff or something.

Every puzzle has an answer -- this time around, the answer is "Unreal Tournament 3 is free-to-play on Steam this weekend," beginning today at 1PM PST. Unfortunately, we've got no Picarats to distribute. As any true gentleman knows, cerebral satisfaction is its own reward.

High praise and high action in latest Demon's Souls trailer

by Andrew Yoon { Sep 9th 2009 at 6:00PM }

Atlus isn't exactly known for big-budget epics, but that's exactly what Demon's Souls feels like in this latest trailer. From Software's hardcore RPG touts some rather unique online connectivity, and this trailer teases the functionality, along with a bevvy of overwhelming praise from various media outlets. Why no quotes from us, Atlus? Oh, that's why.

Shadow Complex sets week-one sales record

by James Ransom-Wiley { Aug 31st 2009 at 5:40PM }

That's, um, sales of single-player games (multiplayer ones don't count!). And, uh, you know, we're just talking about Xbox Live Arcade titles -- not that clarifying this awfully specific sales record is an attempt to take away from the much-deserved success of Chair's excellent Shadow Complex or the 200,000-plus downloaders (much of the Joystiq staff included) who didn't wait long to cash in 1200

.

Still, we're not going to label Shadow Complex's sales Achievement® (as Microsoft does) the "New Era of Downloadable Games." It takes far too much effort to produce a decent Metroidvania experience than it does a mediocre dual-stick shooter, after all.

We will, however, join in on the not-so-subtle peer pressuring. Seriously, you still haven't purchased Shadow Complex? Shame on you. (So ... just direct deposit that check, cool? Thanks Microsoft!)

Gallery: Shadow Complex

GOG.com offers good ol' deal on Unreal titles

by Randy Nelson { Aug 28th 2009 at 11:00PM }

Believe it or not, there was a time before Unreal Tournament III when the series was (gasp!) not purely about multiplayer. It had ... a story. This story is about how the purveyors of good ol' games at GOG.com remember these less competitive times, and want their patrons to, as well. So, from now through next Monday, August 31, the site is offering the plot-driven Unreal and Unreal II: The Awakening for $8.49 a pop.

Of course, if you're still keen to revisit the transition into a tournament-play franchise, the first Unreal Tournament and still-quite-excellent Unreal Tournament 2004 are also being sold at the same low prices, through Monday. Us? We'll be playing other games, but are still glad we managed to make it through this post without referring to GOG.com's sale as an "unreal deal." (Wait, did that count?)

Retailers list Gears of War 2: Game of the Year Edition [update]

by Alexander Sliwinski { Aug 25th 2009 at 9:30PM }

The cogs of retail agree: a Gears of War 2: Game of the Year Edition will soon emerge. The package will allegedly bundle the full game with the $20 All Fronts retail compilation which includes the Flashback, Combustible, Dark Corners and Snowblind map packs along with the deleted "Road to Ruins" campaign chapter.

GameStop currently has the product listed at $40 while Amazon has it for $37; what they both agree on is that the GOTY edition has a September 1, 2009 release date. We're currently confirming the release date, price, and existence (!) of the GOTY edition with Microsoft and will update as soon as we hear back on our coms.

Update: Microsoft has confirmed the bundle will release September 1 for $40 in the US.

[Thanks, crazeeseal]

Gallery: Gears of War 2 'All Fronts'

Xbox Live Top 10 dominated by Shadow Complex, CoD: World at War

by David Hinkle { Aug 25th 2009 at 12:30PM }

Major Nelson has revealed the latest figures for Xbox Live activity, which once again sees Call of Duty: World at War being the most played Xbox 360 Live title. That's not to say it's all business as usual, as the Lost Planet 2 co-op demo managed to claw its way onto the list, along with a new Xbox Live Arcade pair, Shadow Complex and Trials HD.

Both titles made it onto the top two spots on XBLA's most played list, with Chair's Metroid-inspired adventure making its debut in first place. The remainder is comprised of usual suspects Battlefield 1943, Marvel vs Capcom 2 and 'Splosion Man.

X3F TV -- XBLA in Brief: Shadow Complex

by Richard Mitchell { Aug 19th 2009 at 3:15PM }

This week's XBLA in Brief is a little different. Normally we only take the trial version for a spin, but we were lucky enough to get our hands on the full version of Shadow Complex last week, so we've spent quite a bit of time with it. We've already handed the game a great review, now you can see what all the fuss is about.

The full version is 1200

($15).

Download the trial version of Shadow Complex

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Shadow Complex launch trailer

by Richard Mitchell { Aug 17th 2009 at 6:45PM }

You know that Shadow Complex is good, right? Yeah, well, it is, and this trailer aims to make sure you know it. Apart from a liberal sprinkling of impressive-sounding critical quotes, there's also some gameplay in there, too. If you hold an Xbox 360 controller as you watch it, you can pretend that you're playing it right now. If you take a controller to work, you can pretend to play at work, too!

Until you can actually play the real thing, It's really the only sensible thing to do.