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This thread has been linked to the game 'Gears of War: Judgment'.
Polish developers People Can Fly were the team behind 2011's brilliant Bulletstorm, unfortunately despite its mainly positive reception that game just didn't sell. They were also responsible for the PC port of the original Gears Of War, now Epic Games have placed their faith in them to create the latest title in this very popular series. I for one was extremely interested to see what they could do with this opportunity and managed to get a serial key to take the multiplayer demo for an early test drive.
Back in 2006 the original Gears Of War was generally considered ground breaking, I still recall seeing it running for the first time and being wowed by how amazing it looked. But that was 6 1/2 years ago and by today's standards I have to say it just looks rather average. Gears Of War Judgment however looks and sounds as good as anything I have seen on the aging Xbox 360 and whilst it may not bowl people over in the way the original game may have done there is certainly nothing to complain about here.
When I first began playing this game I must admit I was far from impressed, I struggled to re-programme my brain for the all new button layout and did not do very well at it at all. The main difference is with the weapon switching, this is now carried out by means of the 'Y' button, whilst throwing the likes of grenades is now done by pressing 'LB'. After a few games something clicked, these are pretty much Call Of Duty controls. Forget the fiddling about on the D-Pad from the previous Gears Of War titles, this just needs to be played like Call Of Duty! Once I did this I started to not only play better but actually enjoy the game quite a bit more than I had initially. The other really noticeable difference is with the games speed, it's just so much faster than previous Gears Of War titles. It's basically still the same old run, get to cover, shoot... mechanics that I expected it just felt rather strange playing this at what initially felt like warp speed. Again after around half an hours gameplay it actually started to feel normal and this definitely increased my enjoyment of playing this title. One change I felt was definitely for the better is that the resupplying of ammo is now done by simply running through any deployed boxes. No longer do you have to hold down the 'X' button to restock, this just seems to slot in really nicely with the new super speedy gameplay.
There are a selection of classes available when playing this game and you do get the opportunity to change every time you respawn. This can be incredibly useful as each class has different strengths and weaknesses and depending on how the game is going you may wish to switch. For example Engineers can repair damaged barricades and deploy automatic Sentry Guns, Scouts can access high observation points (inaccessible to other class players) and deploy beacons which give away enemy positions while Soldiers have increased firepower and the ability to deploy ammo boxes to teammates. This in theory works very well but more often than not I found myself on teams where everyone was off doing their own thing and we usually ended up getting thrashed by a more organised team. Perhaps when the full game is released and you can hook up with players you know this may become less of an issue? The other thing I felt was that the game is generally more fun to play as a locust than as a COG. As you rack up points playing as a locust you get the opportunity to upgrade to more powerful creatures, most of which are a real blast. The Serapede in particular is awesome, you get to control a massive electrifying, acid spewing centipede thing which really is a tremendous amount of fun. In the Overrun mode playable in this multiplayer demo you do get to play on both sides in any one match so in that respect I suppose that aspect is fairly balanced.
There are weapons new to the series which is nothing less than I expected to be honest. For example the Markza is a semi automatic sniper rifle which is very effective at long distances while the Booshka is a 3 round firing grenade launcher capable of inflicting a serious amount of damage in a short space of time. Each class of player is given a designated loadout which prevents any particular players selecting armoury which could give them something of an unfair advantage. On the locust side each creature also has different strengths and weakness, for example The Rager has spikes which shoot out from its body before charging at high speed while The Wretch can leap over barricades and climb certain buildings to take out COG Scouts. There is probably nothing here that you haven't already seen somewhere else before but it all seems to be reasonably well thought out and it did make me start to think strategically about my choice of player depending on what was going on in the match. This is not something that I had ever found myself doing in any previous Gears Of War title.
So is Gears Of War Judgment going to be worth £40 of your hard earned cash? Well, at first I was far from convinced but after a couple of hours gameplay I have to say that it has grown on me immensely. Although I tend to think the new ideas introduced here could possibly split the Gears Of War fanbase in a similar way that Treyarch's Call Of Duty: Black Ops 2 seems to have done with fans of that series. Yes, it's still the same old Gears Of War to a very large degree and watching this game in action it would appear like simply like being more of the same, however I have to say it just feels quite different to play. I would imagine that whether or not you like this difference will be purely down to personal preference. Apparently the finished game will have Call Of Duty favourites Free For All, Team Deathmatch & Domination modes to fit in nicely with the games Call Of Duty like control system, think we can guess which market that Epic Games think this game is going to be squarely aimed at! I would not blindly recommend this game to anyone, unless of course that they are such a die hard Gears Of War fan that there's simply no way they are not going to love it. What I would suggest is that anyone remotely interested in this title should check out this multiplayer demo when it goes public at the beginning of this week and give it a good hour or so before jumping to any conclusions. After giving this Gears Of War Judgment demo something of a decent testing I am happy to say that I am more than pleasantly surprised with the job People Can Fly have done. Hopefully this opportunity will put this somewhat underrated developer firmly on the gaming map and then one day we may just get another Bulletstorm game?
Back in 2006 the original Gears Of War was generally considered ground breaking, I still recall seeing it running for the first time and being wowed by how amazing it looked. But that was 6 1/2 years ago and by today's standards I have to say it just looks rather average. Gears Of War Judgment however looks and sounds as good as anything I have seen on the aging Xbox 360 and whilst it may not bowl people over in the way the original game may have done there is certainly nothing to complain about here.
When I first began playing this game I must admit I was far from impressed, I struggled to re-programme my brain for the all new button layout and did not do very well at it at all. The main difference is with the weapon switching, this is now carried out by means of the 'Y' button, whilst throwing the likes of grenades is now done by pressing 'LB'. After a few games something clicked, these are pretty much Call Of Duty controls. Forget the fiddling about on the D-Pad from the previous Gears Of War titles, this just needs to be played like Call Of Duty! Once I did this I started to not only play better but actually enjoy the game quite a bit more than I had initially. The other really noticeable difference is with the games speed, it's just so much faster than previous Gears Of War titles. It's basically still the same old run, get to cover, shoot... mechanics that I expected it just felt rather strange playing this at what initially felt like warp speed. Again after around half an hours gameplay it actually started to feel normal and this definitely increased my enjoyment of playing this title. One change I felt was definitely for the better is that the resupplying of ammo is now done by simply running through any deployed boxes. No longer do you have to hold down the 'X' button to restock, this just seems to slot in really nicely with the new super speedy gameplay.
There are a selection of classes available when playing this game and you do get the opportunity to change every time you respawn. This can be incredibly useful as each class has different strengths and weaknesses and depending on how the game is going you may wish to switch. For example Engineers can repair damaged barricades and deploy automatic Sentry Guns, Scouts can access high observation points (inaccessible to other class players) and deploy beacons which give away enemy positions while Soldiers have increased firepower and the ability to deploy ammo boxes to teammates. This in theory works very well but more often than not I found myself on teams where everyone was off doing their own thing and we usually ended up getting thrashed by a more organised team. Perhaps when the full game is released and you can hook up with players you know this may become less of an issue? The other thing I felt was that the game is generally more fun to play as a locust than as a COG. As you rack up points playing as a locust you get the opportunity to upgrade to more powerful creatures, most of which are a real blast. The Serapede in particular is awesome, you get to control a massive electrifying, acid spewing centipede thing which really is a tremendous amount of fun. In the Overrun mode playable in this multiplayer demo you do get to play on both sides in any one match so in that respect I suppose that aspect is fairly balanced.
There are weapons new to the series which is nothing less than I expected to be honest. For example the Markza is a semi automatic sniper rifle which is very effective at long distances while the Booshka is a 3 round firing grenade launcher capable of inflicting a serious amount of damage in a short space of time. Each class of player is given a designated loadout which prevents any particular players selecting armoury which could give them something of an unfair advantage. On the locust side each creature also has different strengths and weakness, for example The Rager has spikes which shoot out from its body before charging at high speed while The Wretch can leap over barricades and climb certain buildings to take out COG Scouts. There is probably nothing here that you haven't already seen somewhere else before but it all seems to be reasonably well thought out and it did make me start to think strategically about my choice of player depending on what was going on in the match. This is not something that I had ever found myself doing in any previous Gears Of War title.
So is Gears Of War Judgment going to be worth £40 of your hard earned cash? Well, at first I was far from convinced but after a couple of hours gameplay I have to say that it has grown on me immensely. Although I tend to think the new ideas introduced here could possibly split the Gears Of War fanbase in a similar way that Treyarch's Call Of Duty: Black Ops 2 seems to have done with fans of that series. Yes, it's still the same old Gears Of War to a very large degree and watching this game in action it would appear like simply like being more of the same, however I have to say it just feels quite different to play. I would imagine that whether or not you like this difference will be purely down to personal preference. Apparently the finished game will have Call Of Duty favourites Free For All, Team Deathmatch & Domination modes to fit in nicely with the games Call Of Duty like control system, think we can guess which market that Epic Games think this game is going to be squarely aimed at! I would not blindly recommend this game to anyone, unless of course that they are such a die hard Gears Of War fan that there's simply no way they are not going to love it. What I would suggest is that anyone remotely interested in this title should check out this multiplayer demo when it goes public at the beginning of this week and give it a good hour or so before jumping to any conclusions. After giving this Gears Of War Judgment demo something of a decent testing I am happy to say that I am more than pleasantly surprised with the job People Can Fly have done. Hopefully this opportunity will put this somewhat underrated developer firmly on the gaming map and then one day we may just get another Bulletstorm game?
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I've enjoyed what I've played so far. No one else seemed to play as the medic, so I took it upon myself and actually enjoyed it.
Hmmm.... have to say you PC guys seem be getting marginally better value for money than us console suckers on this title...
Had another blast on Gears Of War Judgment last night, looks like my prediction of it splitting the fanbase is coming true. Seemed like a 50/50 split been the lovers and haters. I would say it's a definite try before you buy.
Had another blast on Gears Of War Judgment last night, looks like my prediction of it splitting the fanbase is coming true. Seemed like a 50/50 split been the lovers and haters. I would say it's a definite try before you buy.
;¬)
Just read there are going to be 5 additional DLC packs for the console versions, seems quite a lot as there seems to be a fair bit of content included in the game to start with.
Watched a bit of the CVG LivePlay feed of the Xbox 360 version in action and liked the look of what I saw. Doesn't look quite as OTT as Bulletstorm but then again what is?
Watched a bit of the CVG LivePlay feed of the Xbox 360 version in action and liked the look of what I saw. Doesn't look quite as OTT as Bulletstorm but then again what is?
Far as I'm aware, the re-release includes Battle out of Hell and (I believe) Overdose, so it may be the same for console monkeys:-)
Also has some slight graphical improvements and HD (ish!)
Also has some slight graphical improvements and HD (ish!)
Here's the run down pete:
Painkiller: Battle out of Hell 2004 Yes No People Can Fly DreamCatcher Interactive Expansion
Painkiller: Overdose 2007 Yes No Mindware Studios DreamCatcher Interactive Stand-alone expansion
Painkiller: Resurrection 2009 Yes No Homegrown Games DreamCatcher Interactive Stand-alone expansion
Painkiller: Redemption 2011 Yes No Eggtooth Team DreamCatcher Interactive Stand-alone expansion
Painkiller: Recurring Evil 2012 Yes No Studio Med-Art Nordic Games Stand-alone expansion ........
The 'Yes' is PC ... the 'No' is Console .... shame that you lot missed out on a pure classic ... but me and Chas are glad really ;¬)
Painkiller: Battle out of Hell 2004 Yes No People Can Fly DreamCatcher Interactive Expansion
Painkiller: Overdose 2007 Yes No Mindware Studios DreamCatcher Interactive Stand-alone expansion
Painkiller: Resurrection 2009 Yes No Homegrown Games DreamCatcher Interactive Stand-alone expansion
Painkiller: Redemption 2011 Yes No Eggtooth Team DreamCatcher Interactive Stand-alone expansion
Painkiller: Recurring Evil 2012 Yes No Studio Med-Art Nordic Games Stand-alone expansion ........
The 'Yes' is PC ... the 'No' is Console .... shame that you lot missed out on a pure classic ... but me and Chas are glad really ;¬)
Xbox 360 version actually looks pretty good from the screenshots.
Also noticed that there's a Collectors Edition and that's only about £25.
Bulletstorm in hell set to ass kicking metal, what's not to like?
Also noticed that there's a Collectors Edition and that's only about £25.
Bulletstorm in hell set to ass kicking metal, what's not to like?
pete_21 wrote:
After getting all excited it looks as though the console remakes of Painkiller have been put back until the end of May :(
Well that 'sucks' but stick with it pete and wait ... you won't be disappointed! If it helps and you have a PC ... I've got the original and the 1st expansion pack ... but can you manage these specs ;¬)
CPU 2.4GHz, 512 RAM, 128 MB Dx9c Graphics Card i.e. GeForce 5700 and Win 98 to XP ... haha
I'm so fired up with this game I'm going to reinstall it :¬)
After getting all excited it looks as though the console remakes of Painkiller have been put back until the end of May :(
Well that 'sucks' but stick with it pete and wait ... you won't be disappointed! If it helps and you have a PC ... I've got the original and the 1st expansion pack ... but can you manage these specs ;¬)
CPU 2.4GHz, 512 RAM, 128 MB Dx9c Graphics Card i.e. GeForce 5700 and Win 98 to XP ... haha
I'm so fired up with this game I'm going to reinstall it :¬)
pete_21 wrote:
After getting all excited it looks as though the console remakes of Painkiller have been put back until the end of May :(
I knew there was a reason I stuck to PC gaming...
Do get it when you can though, it really is the most fun first person shooter ever! Many's the time I found myself screaming wildly at the screen whilst my kill counter soared into the hundreds...
Proper "old skool"...:-)
After getting all excited it looks as though the console remakes of Painkiller have been put back until the end of May :(
I knew there was a reason I stuck to PC gaming...
Do get it when you can though, it really is the most fun first person shooter ever! Many's the time I found myself screaming wildly at the screen whilst my kill counter soared into the hundreds...
Proper "old skool"...:-)
After getting all excited it looks as though the console remakes of Painkiller have been put back until the end of May :(
In light of that I decided to order GOW Judgment so that should keep me busy for a while. Looks like there's only 4 multiplayer maps included in the game though which sucks. Apparently there will be free DLC available very soon after release and then suppose I'll have to buy the season pass. It's only 1600 Microsoft points (about £11.50) but it looks as though the multiplayer side of the game is going to be a little on the bare side without it.
In light of that I decided to order GOW Judgment so that should keep me busy for a while. Looks like there's only 4 multiplayer maps included in the game though which sucks. Apparently there will be free DLC available very soon after release and then suppose I'll have to buy the season pass. It's only 1600 Microsoft points (about £11.50) but it looks as though the multiplayer side of the game is going to be a little on the bare side without it.
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