Microsoft brings it's Big Guns out...

[The LBTN Express]

Gears of War Emergence Day Revealed

Microsoft reveals the date the Gears of War start turning.

by Wade Steel

August 3, 2006 - Ever since the announcement of the Xbox 360, one game has consistently been held up as an early "must-have" for Microsoft's next-generation console -- Gears of War. For nearly two years, gamers have watched as Epic Games' third-person shooter tempted and teased with its promise of a dark sci-fi plot, incredible graphics powered by Unreal Engine 3, and brutal, visceral combat. Today, that wait comes to an end as Microsoft and Epic announce that "Emergence Day" -- the day Gears of War ships and gamers finally get to engage the terrifying Locusts -- is November 12, 2006.

Sony's PlayStation 3 is set to launch November 17.

According to the companies, Gears of War promises to deliver a "harrowing story of mankind's struggle against the the monstrous Locust Horde" and "an intense storyline on the scale of a blockbuster movie."

Shane Kim, general manager of Microsoft Game Studios, claims that the game combines "the best in innovative gameplay, next-generation graphics and interactive storytelling" by harnessing the next-generation power of the Xbox 360 to create a "powerful and immersive entertainment experience."

For his part, Cliff Bleszinski, lead designer at Epic and the man most repsonsible for the Gears of War concept, states that Epic sought to create with the game a "one-two punch of cinematic action paired with a thrilling and compelling interactive experience."

The game will be available in a standard version which will retail for $59.99 and a metal-boxed limited collector's edition available for $69.99 which will include an official "Destroyed Beauty" art book and a bonus DVD featuring an inside look at the making of the game.

[Momo]

Good thing i'm not looking for the launch titles then.

On topic, Gears of War looks like Halo with improved graphics and based on an Apocalyptic Earth. The main protagonist looks like your stereotypical dude with a minigun (Unreal). Storyline wise, it'll probably turn into Aliens invading Earth for religious reasons and eventual Domination of the galaxy (Halo).

Has anyone noticed that most games on the X-Box are either sports, racing or FPS?

[The LBTN Express]

Has anyone noticed that most games on the X-Box are either sports, racing or FPS?

[Momo]

Oblivion provides online Multiplayer right?

and as for Star Wars: I won't say whether it is good or bad, i've just never been interested. I'm a Final Fantasy Man.

Also, i struggle to find a good FPS on any console. Computer has the best FPS's, i just don't have a good enough computer to run them. I've only ever liked the Burnout games for Racing and i have them on the PS2 and Sports games to me are pointless. If someone wants to play sport, go outside and do it there.

For GoW, even with all the previews and features it is 'including', i still fail to see the uniqueness in it. After reading the first preview, i was hyped, but it quickly became a just a stereotypical FPS developed by Microsoft.

[Ruckus]

Oblivion is strictly singleplayer

[Momo]

That's strange, my friend has it and he's always playing it or WoW online, is it only online for the PC version.

[Vilge Duin]

The only thing online about the PC version of Oblivion is modding stuff. Solely a single player game.

But it's a great RPG? Oblivion was absolute shit.... Meh, my opinion of Oblivion is summed up best with a post I have elsewhere.

"I bought into the hype for once and got conned by many places (mostly Gamespot.... how many damn features do you honestly need on a game?), so I bought it. I watched my girlfriend play through the first dungeon part and sewers... That's all she's bothered with. Hmm, I figured we spent cash so I may as well try to see what its like myself.

Played up to Kvetch. And the first Oblivion gate blew my interest out the window. Kind of like a hurricane blowing a feather around. I swear I was back 13 years ago playing Doom again. That's what the Oblivion gate reminded me. And it was so dull and boring.

I then took a detour off the main quest after I got Martin to that temple. So I embarked on a career as a thief. Oh how fun that was. Here I am risking my neck, losing lock picks like mad to "Very Hard" chests... so I can get a watermelon and a piece of cloth? Wow, that is so worth it. I then decided to take a chance in the arena... and became grandchampion an hour later at level 1... Wow, it felt good.

So I decided... maybe I can go find something interesting... And I then realized that this entire world was friggin' forest. Sure, you got some "beach" and some snow in places with slight hue and tint alterations... but forest, forest FOREST!!! I friggin live near woods and go for hikes regularly. I don't want to walk around in friggin lifeless forest in a game for hours. Ugh.

And finally I came online... To which I read up about a lot of stuff and realized why I didn't like the game much. The world and dungeons, the leveled up system, the sheer boringness of the "skill system", the utterly stupid "radient AI" etc. etc. Heck, the "radient AI" was accomplished in stuff like Animal Crossing and Knights of the Old Republic. Well what they pulled off at least.

However for one last go at it, I tracked down the cheats and maxed out my stats and gave myself the best everything (while deliberately keeping my level at 1 for amusements sake). Ah, a few hours of wandering around and senselessly killing every single person I came across... Which then felt empty and unsatisfying. If only for the meagre selection attack animations, the horrible rag doll effects and crappy physics.

And who considers this an RPG anyways? After playing it, it damn well reminds me of a horribly put together and shoddy FPS with atrocious swordplay in place of guns. Seriously, how is this any different from Farcry but with added "stats" that do absolutely nothing?

It isn't even that good looking. At least to me. Sure some textures are pretty and all, with some nice lighting. But plenty of other games on the PC, PS2, Xbox, Gamecube, etc. look just as good if not better. Just a bloated resource hog."

Anyways... Gears of War looks interesting in the most boringly generic action movie way. Which makes sense since Epic is making it and they afterall created Unreal.

It truly does look like Halo on a post apocalyptic earth fighting off bug aliens. Aside from the visuals I don't see a single thing it brings to the table for enjoyments sake. It just looks like a competent FPS, which I refuse to play on a console in the first place. Keyboard and mouse is the way to go.

And I highly doubt Gears of War will be an absolute must have system seller. Let alone something that can combat both the Playstation 3 and the Wii. Just an overhyped good game, nothing more.

Edited August 5, 2006 by Vilge Duin

[Momo]

*bows down in appreciation whispering thankyou*

[apsham]

Hmm.

Sounds like Halo.

[Maxx]

Its not a run-n-gun game like Halo is.

GoW allegedly is a stop and pop shooter, where you have to use the environment to your advantage and weave in and out of cover or you'll be killed pretty easily. Plus it has a chainsaw.

All I'm hoping is that this system forces something resembling strategy onto XBox Live, as Halo is too full of people just running around shooting everywhere, or using that fucking sword.

[zero]

Gears of War looks good, but it won't be a huge system seller, I don't think. The only thing that's going to damage the PS3 launch is the PS3. First off, it's launch hardware from Sony, so systems will be dying left and right. Secondly, the goddamn thing is $600, and that's without a single game or second controller. So with tax, a game, and an extra controller, you're going to be close to $800. The other day, I bought a 360, four used games, and an extra controller and paid $600, the retail price of the PS3 unit itself. Next, absolutely no exclusive, must-have titles at launch or on the horizon. Seriously, what is there to play on the $600 machine? Assassin's Creed (which who knows if it'll be any good), Final Fantasy XIII, and MGS4. All the major titles are hitting the XBox, and many major titles this year (Smackdown and Splinter Cell) are skipping out on the PS3. And here's where Gears of War may come into play; someone's over at his buddy's house watching him play GoW and MGS4 isn't coming out for another year... hmmmmm.

Now, there's also the Wii issue. While Nintendo doesn't even consider themselves to be in the console war, they're going to play a part when they launch a new system the same time as the PS3. Parents, shopping for holiday season are going to see two prices $600 and $250 (perhaps even less), there's gonna be at least a few youngsters with a Wii under the tree this Christmas. Plus, even if the Wii has zero third-party support, you better bet your ass Nintendo is banking on the nostalgia kick and has literally hundreds of games available right out the gate for cheap. Possibly, you could buy a Wii, and ten classic NES games for $300. Even with Sony's backwards compatibility, you're paying at least double that for the system alone.

Sony has made the mistake (once again) of relying on their brand name to sell systems. The PSP isn't a flop, but it certainly isn't competing with the DS; the UMD movie format, while embraced early, is now dead. Initial reaction to Blu-Ray has been lukewarm. The PS3 has been quoted as a "pain in the fucking ass" to program for (though to be fair, the same was said about the PS2), and people are not giving Microsoft nearly enough credit for how much ground they've picked up on Sony. The XBox 360 had an absolutely atrocious launch, the worst since the PS2. But now, with XBox Live and a ton of killer titles coming to the system very soon, I wouldn't be surprised to see Microsoft take the lead this time around. The good thing for Sony is right now they are on top and they do a damn great job of supporting the previous generation long after their next console is out. Hell, the PS1 got tons of love, and with games like Okami and God of War 2 on the way, they certainly haven't forgot about the PS2, unlike Microsoft with the XBox. Still, I don't know if their name is going to carry them through this time, consumers aren't going to like the sticker shock of the PS3.

Edited August 5, 2006 by Zero

[Momo]

Its not a run-n-gun game like Halo is.

GoW allegedly is a stop and pop shooter, where you have to use the environment to your advantage and weave in and out of cover or you'll be killed pretty easily. Plus it has a chainsaw.

All I'm hoping is that this system forces something resembling strategy onto XBox Live, as Halo is too full of people just running around shooting everywhere, or using that fucking sword.

[zero]

Its not a run-n-gun game like Halo is.

GoW allegedly is a stop and pop shooter, where you have to use the environment to your advantage and weave in and out of cover or you'll be killed pretty easily. Plus it has a chainsaw.

All I'm hoping is that this system forces something resembling strategy onto XBox Live, as Halo is too full of people just running around shooting everywhere, or using that fucking sword.

So its a mix of DOOM and Black. Doesn't make it any better than Halo.

Uhh... how is it a mixture of two first person shooters when it's a third person shooter? And who cares if it's better than Halo? Personally, I think Halo is ridiculously overrated yet I'm incredibly excited for Gears of War. Wrap your brain around that one.

[Heel Turn]

The other day, I bought a 360, four used games, and an extra controller and paid $600, the retail price of the PS3 unit itself.

[Momo]

Its not a run-n-gun game like Halo is.

GoW allegedly is a stop and pop shooter, where you have to use the environment to your advantage and weave in and out of cover or you'll be killed pretty easily. Plus it has a chainsaw.

All I'm hoping is that this system forces something resembling strategy onto XBox Live, as Halo is too full of people just running around shooting everywhere, or using that fucking sword.

So its a mix of DOOM and Black. Doesn't make it any better than Halo.

Edited August 6, 2006 by The Prototype

[zero]

The other day, I bought a 360, four used games, and an extra controller and paid $600, the retail price of the PS3 unit itself.

Core system, or regular? Thinking about picking up a 360 myself, want to get an idea of price.

Also, are you buying for Dead Rising?

Regular. I got that, an extra controller, Dead or Alive 4, Perfect Dark Zero, Oblivion, and Tomb Raider (all used) for like $630 after tax.

Chainsaws and a Dark demonic theme is the doom section, destroying your environment is the Black section I also think Halo is overrated, and I'm saying that GoW looks to be overhyped, especially when Microsoft could potentially create so much better.

Yes, because Doom is the only game to have chainsaws and demonic themes and Black is the only game where you can destroy your environment. Expect a lot of games (for all systems) to be ripping off Black from now on thanks to all the advances in gaming hardware, environments will be destroyed a lot more. And what exactly could MS create so much better, just out of curiousity? I don't see what's wrong with GoW, yeah it's getting a lot of hype, but every magazine and website are saying it's well-deserved. You just sound like you're a little too wrapped up in console wars...

[apsham]

Half Life 2 did it before Black, that game.. Red... something did it before that. And there was probably one before it. Someone's Halo defensive.

[Xero Gravity]

Half Life 2 did it before Black, that game.. Red... something did it before that. And there was probably one before it. Someone's Halo defensive.

[Momo]

Half Life 2 did it before Black, that game.. Red... something did it before that. And there was probably one before it. Someone's Halo defensive.

[zero]

Half Life 2 did it before Black, that game.. Red... something did it before that. And there was probably one before it. Someone's Halo defensive.

Halo is crap for the record, and yes - i don't like Xbox but i'm not to impressed with the price of the PS3 either. I just don't see where all the hype from GoW is generated from, thats all.

It's coming from the same place always comes from, the industry. There's a buzz going around because it's really the 360's first major exclusive, it's absolutely stunning graphically, and reports say the gameplay is great. Like I said, I'm hyped for it, but not like some people, I'm way more excited for Smackdown. But still, it's killer app for the 360, Microsoft is selling it as the reason to buy a 360, so it's obviously got something going for it.