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Gears 2 Screenshots Click the link below for the latest promotional screenies from Gears of War 2's single player campaign and multiplayer experience. More >
Gears 2 Released, Reviewed November 7th has passed and Gears of War 2 is now on sale throughout the world! Check out our extensive single player and multiplayer reviews to find out what we thought of each aspect of Epic's latest and greatest. More >
GoGoRacer Beta Put your pedal to the metal in GoGoRacer.
Gears 2 MP Review Check out our review for the lowdown on Gears of War 2's multiplayer offerings.
Gears of War 2 Single Player Review Read our extensive review of Gears of War 2's single player experience to find out of Epic Games has topped the original Gears with this highly-anticipated sequel.
Tuesday, 16 December, 2008 � Gears of War News
Sticky: Gears 2 Videos Page Updated[ Comment ] 7:02 PST | RaptoR | Print News Check out our newly-revamped Gears of War 2 videos page, where you'll find all the Gears 2 trailers, teasers, video documentaries and gameplay footage you could ever wish for.
The three maps in the Combustible Map Pack are pretty much what you'd expect from a Gears of War 2 map pack. None of the levels present a large deviation from standard Gears 2 multiplayer conventions. Gold Rush does this to a fault. It's good that Epic was able to get this pack out the door before people submerge into holiday eating and lethargy and the fact that Gears 2's map count is now larger than Halo 3 is impressive.
Is it worth your 800 Microsoft Points? Well, as with any of these map packs it depends on how much you enjoy Gears 2's multiplayer. Thankfully the patch fixed most of my matchmaking issues and the maps, while traditional for the most part, fit in nicely with the rest of the herd.
The winners of SpikeTV's Video Game Awards have been announced - congrats to Epic for scooping the Best Shooter and Best Xbox 360 Game awards!
Gears 2 Dominates November NPDs[ Comment ] 4:55 PST | RaptoR | Print NewsGamingToday reports that Gears of War 2 placed at the top of November's sales charts with an impressive 1.56 million estimated sold. The closest competition was Call of Duty: World at War with an estimated 1.41 million.
Gears of War 2 Combustible Map Pack Released[ Comment ] 4:51 PST | RaptoR | Print NewsAnnounced and released at last night's SpikeTV Video Game Awards, here's Gears of War 2's first downloadable content - the Combustible map pack, now on sale for 800 of your magical Microsoft moon points.
Explosive action takes center stage in these three new Gears 2 multiplayer maps: Flood, Gold Rush, and Fuel Station. Flood features a rising flow of Imulsion that drives the fight into close quarters. Infiltrate an Imulsion factory in Gold Rush, where multiple levels and volatile materials guarantee memorable encounters. Fuel Station delivers a dangerous battle around an abandoned refueling facility.
The interesting thing about spinning the 27-track CD is how well the music stands on its own. If you enjoy bombastic orchestral music then this will fit in nicely in your background music play list. If you play a ton of Gears 2�s multiplayer, you have heard the opening piece �Return of the Omen� more than a lot. Other stand out pieces include �Hope Runs Deep,� �March of the Horde� and the second to last track, �Finale� with chorus voices in full effect. If you have a gamer on your holiday gift list and you are on a budget, the soundtrack album to �Gears of War 2� would be more than appropriate. If they don�t have a 360, well� get one and put it in a really big stocking for them too!
Music4Games, in association with Microsoft and Sumthing Else Music Works, is proud to announce an exclusive giveaway competition for one reader to win a ZUNE digital entertainment player and Gears of War 2: The Soundtrack signed by composer Steve Jablonsky. 4 runners-up will also receive a signed copy of Gears of War 2 - The Soundtrack.
1st Prize:
ZUNE 80 GB Digital Entertainment Player
Gears of War 2: The Soundtrack signed by composer Steve Jablonsky.
4 Runner-Up Prizes:
Gears of War 2: The Soundtrack signed by composer Steve Jablonsky.
New Poll: How's Matchmaking for You?[ Comment ] 4:34 PST | RaptoR | Print NewsEpic has tweaked its matchmaking servers and patched Gears of War 2 to improve matchmaking times and try to get you into the game faster. In our latest Planet Gears poll, located to on the right sidebar, we're asking you how matchmaking is working for you with these latest tweaks and fixes.
Casual fans and hardcore gamers alike should brace themselves. Spike TV�s 2008 Video Game Awards, airing LIVE on Sunday, December 14th at 9pm, is premiering some of the most highly anticipated games in the industry � and the only way to see them is to tune in.
6th Annual Celebration To Include Mind-Blowing World Premieres Of Grand Theft Auto IV: The Lost and Damned, God Of War III, Br�tal Legend, Fight Night Round 4, Mafia II, Terminator Salvation, Uncharted 2, Watchmen: The End is Nigh, A Special Gears Of War 2 Announcement And Other Surprises.
The show will be hosted by Jack Black and you can find out more at www.vga.spike.com. Also, visit Spike TV�s press site for the latest press releases and hi-res photos: http://www.spike.com/press-detail/video-game-awards/23733. For Quicktime versions of promo videos and Game Sneak Peeks, click here. If you do post the above information on your site and it�s not too much trouble, can you please send us a link?
I'm guessing something relating to DLC. Hit the comments link at the top of the post and tell us what you think.
It seems that for some, Gears of War 2 is replacing Halo 3 as the new golf. Maybe it should be Left 4 Dead instead, since you learn about the other players much more quickly. Each time it's a new tale, pleasant or not.
As of Tuesday of this week (Dec 9th), we successfully completed the reconfiguration of our matchmaking servers allowing us to have more players per server. This optimization allows us to take greater advantage of our Nov 27th title update. Based on what we're seeing so far, matchmaking times have improved significantly. To be realistic though, there will still be times when a particular playlist is low on available players or there isn't a party of the right size to merge with yours but overall, you should get into a match much quicker than before.
We're really excited to see just how many people are playing Gears 2 multiplayer. Execution, with over 1.8 million matches so far, has finally surpassed Horde as number 1 with its 1.7 million.
And we're not done yet. As we get more data, we're continuing to monitor and adjust the process to try and make it as streamlined as possible.
Again, we want to thank everyone for their patience and we're looking forward to playing with you online.
Epic engine guru Tim Sweeney and Design Director Cliff Bleszinski are among their top deck...
Jack of Spades: Tim Sweeney, Epic
No other game engine out there has had such an impact as Unreal Engine 3. It is more ubiquitous than even Renderware was in its heyday, and lawsuits and quirks aside, there's got to be a reason nearly everybody uses it. Tim Sweeney, as the main architect of this beast, has opened up the market for developers looking to cut costs and prototype early, while also supporting the company's own original software.
Sure, it may not be cheap, but this little "side business" has turned into Epic's largest contribution to game culture thus far, and given Sweeney's history in game tools (see: ZZT), it's only to be expected.
3 of Clubs: Cliff Bleszinski, Epic
Most critics and developers agree that the game industry needs "faces" in order to be accepted by the mainstream in the way movies are. Gears of War's Cliff Bleszinski is such a face.
He's personable, perceptive, and with a successful enough game series to wind up on television, but also with the intelligence and care for the industry to actually say something interesting once he gets there. Bleszinski may be a little smoother than the average INTJ game developer, but for the future profile of the game industry, isn't that a good thing?
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