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[Moofers]

Found this on the EpicGames forums this morning. Apparently Horde is evolving into "Survival Mode" and it is not known for sure what has changed.

The Thread

Gears of War Judgment's Achievement list confirming Survival mode in Judgment. (It's near the bottom of the list)

Survivor 10G: Completed wave 10 on all maps in Survival mode.
--It will be wave based, meaning two things: It could be like Horde 2.0 where you finish a wave, have some time inbetween to grab ammo and such, or the waves automatically start after the previous one has finished. It adds to the whole "fast paced" gameplay Epic wants with Judgment.

--"On all maps." So it either shares maps with OverRun, Multiplayer, or has its own maps. In my personal opinion, it most likely shares maps with OverRun, but they're cut in half so you don't spend 99% of your time finding AI.

Survival WILL be class based like OverRun.

Death to Locust 10G : Killed with all Classes of COG in OverRun or Survival.
--Classes with most likely be the same throughout the two modes. Perhaps, and this is just speculation, but maybe we could pick our own characters and weapons along with the class-based system.

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UPDATE, FEBRUARY 14TH: An article released by oxm.co.uk, confirming that Horde has been replaced, or has at least evolved, into Survival. Here's the link to the full article. http://www.oxm.co.uk/50214/previews/...kers-paradise/

On this front, I bring gladsome tidings. Firstly, Horde isn't actually gone - it seems to have endured in the form of Survival Mode. I've yet to lay eyes on the latter, or receive official confirmation from Microsoft, but there's plenty of evidence to this effect. For one thing, it's a wave-based affair, as these Achievements reveal. For another, one of Microsoft's product managers referred to it as "Horde Survival" during today's campaign hands-on. Reasonably watertight, I'm sure you'll agree.
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Post made by Raczilla, February 1st:

Quote Originally Posted by raczilla View Post
Hey gang, looks like there’s a lot of speculation around some of the remaining features we’ll be discussing between now and March 19th.

While we’re not ready to share everything just yet, feel free to start pulling questions together and we’ll be sure to have some in depth conversation around everything when the time comes. Thanks!

This is great news for people like me who are huge Horde fanatics. I still play it on a regular basis, though its been a lot harder to find matches for the last several months as Gears 3 has dropped in online players. I can't wait to find out the rest of the details!

 

[Moofers]

I go to work and come back and there's not 1 reply to this thread. Apparently nobody is excited except me. Sadface.

 

[MyAbsolution]

This is good news. Horde is what I generally play

 

[TheOddOne]

Sounds great.

 

[CaptainTiptop]

Ah, this is good. I was worried Overrun would be replacing Horde completely.

 

[Teknoman]

Not that i'm not excited for the next entry, but there really isnt much detail to talk about yet.

 

[Jharp]

Expected "and it will come at the low low cost of only 14.99 or 1200 MS Points!"

 

[smik]

GOWJ is such a slap in the face to all GOW fans who loved the multiplayer, seriously.

No Locust (its now Red vs Blue humans?)
No DBNO (Down but not out)
No Execution or Warzone MP Modes
Class based MP, all designed around Call of Duty style maps with players falling off building ledges, its also going to be heavily rifle dominated.
*Edit* No Gnasher and Lancer Loadout combination as their both primarys, secondary switches to pistol. *
*Edit* No Curb Stomp and all Execution moves now taken out of the MP *


way more to list, really disappointed as GOW3 was amazing and taking the MP in the right direction .

 

[Toa TAK]

I think it's good to add a new mode, but I can't seem to get excited about this installment.

 

[RedSwirl]

Ah, this is good. I was worried Overrun would be replacing Horde completely.

Thank God.

 

[smik]

Is this definitive? Specially the DBNO part.

yes, sadly all this is true, and then some.

locust only appear in Overun/Horde and Campaign, not in any of the regular MP modes.
its such a really stupid decision to have Halo like Red vs Blue battles

The Locust are iconic characters and represent the whole franchise.
EPIC's Logic: lets take them out because you the fans wanted them out, ahh what?

 

[2San]

GOWJ is such a slap in the face to all GOW fans who loved the multiplayer, seriously.

No Locust (its now Red vs Blue humans?)
No DBNO (Down but not out)
No Execution or Warzone MP Modes
Class based MP, all designed around Call of Duty style maps with players falling off building ledges, its also going to be heavily rifle dominated.


way more to list, really disappointed as GOW3 was amazing and taking the MP in the right direction .

Only 2 primary weapon slots(gears1/2/3 has 2 Primary slots and a sub weapon slot), can't spawn with Gnasher and the lancer(at same time).
Using primary weapon with meat/boom shield.

 

[Robot Pants]

GOW3 was amazing and taking the MP in the right direction .

Hmmmmm...

 

[Psychoward]

yes, sadly all this is true, and then some.

locust only appear in Overun/Horde and Campaign, not in any of the regular MP modes.
its such a really stupid decision to have Halo like Red vs Blue battles

The Locust are iconic characters and represent the whole franchise.
EPIC's Logic: lets take them out because you the fans wanted them out, ahh what?

And then they say they won't do the Pendulum Wars because of no Locust. lol

 

[smik]

Only 2 primary weapon slots(gears1/2/3 has 2 Primary slots and a sub weapon slot), can't spawn with Gnasher and the lancer(at same time).
Using primary weapon with meat/boom shield.

*Cringes

trying to make GOW a loadout orientated game just spell's disaster, why cant they just embrace what Gears is and not go out of left field with the Multiplayer, just work with all the hard work from GOW3, improve with each title and dont stray away from the fundamental GOW traits

 

[Riposte]

This has CoD style leveling mechanics too I'm pretty sure. For some reason the successors of the Halo and Gears series thought that there shouldn't be a single popular shooter on the market that doesn't employ grinding, so there you go.

 

[Baconsammy]

I still haven't played the single player of GoW 3. I started horde mode and then just play it for weeks. Got burned out and put the game away. Improved horde mode sounds good, but not sure I want to spend 60 bucks on it. Hopefully Redbox carries this.

 

[smik]

Hmmmmm...

up for Debate surely between GOW1 and 3,

GOW3 problem was with the maps being built around for TDM/Horde, it screwed around with alot of the design of each maps creating a unven experience, but truly GOW3 is the most consistent MP experience of them all

 

[Teknoman]

Whoa whoa whoa...whoa.

No locust team in standard deathmatch?

 

[MyAbsolution]

GOWJ is such a slap in the face to all GOW fans who loved the multiplayer, seriously.

No Locust (its now Red vs Blue humans?)
No DBNO (Down but not out)
No Execution or Warzone MP Modes
Class based MP, all designed around Call of Duty style maps with players falling off building ledges, its also going to be heavily rifle dominated.


way more to list, really disappointed as GOW3 was amazing and taking the MP in the right direction .

Ewww.

What in god's name? TO ALL OF IT.

And yeah they kept saying before "blah blah pendulum wars wouldnt work no locust"

Thankfully im playing this for Horde and Campaign coop.

 

[NullPointer]

Whoever made the "no Locust" decision is batshit crazy.

 

[Teknoman]

Seriously, especially with the addition of the new types. I'm a big fan of the series and Epic in general but this needs to be fixed or changed before release.

I'm fine with class based MP though. Not sure whats with the bit about falling off ledges though.

 

[Voice of Reason]

Yeah the MP decisions made me cancel my preorder. Will rent for the campaign though.

 

[Rhazer Fusion]

I like Gears of War and all, but it seems like no one is feeling much excitement over this installment. Maybe people are finally getting burned out on shooters?

 

[Robot Pants]

up for Debate surely between GOW1 and 3,

GOW3 problem was with the maps being built around for TDM/Horde, it screwed around with alot of the design of each maps creating a unven experience, but truly GOW3 is the most consistent MP experience of them all

GOW3 is definitely the most consistent.
The sawed-off and to an extent the retro completely ruined what could have been the game to easily surpass Gears 1.

 

[Blueblur1]

I've been paying only a little attention to the game but I have read about some of those changes. As a casual Gears fan (i.e. I buy the games and play a ton at launch then rarely go back), even I'm unhappy with those changes. I liked Gears because it was Gears. I don't need to be just like every other FPS on the market. That shit does not go well with the core fanbase and with the casuals.

The proof is in the Halo 4 online numbers. Change for the sake of change alienates core fans and fails to bring in casual shooter players.

 

[perineumlick]

This makes me want to play GOW3 Horde again; it's all I play in the mp. Nelsonkildyu is my tag for those who like to play with teamwork.

 

[Bgamer90]

Nice.

Love Horde.

 

[EagleBurnn]

I still don't understand why they made a campaign based around 4 player co-op filler? Baird and Cole's backstory doesn't interest me at all, and the no Locust in multiplayer is like 2 shades of blue fighting each other in Halo.

 

[-PXG-]

I wish there was a competitive MP that wasn't lame. Oh well, I'm sure the SP will be a return to form.

Gears purists are gonna hate this game, unfortunately.

 

[NullPointer]

I like Gears of War and all, but it seems like no one is feeling much excitement over this installment. Maybe people are finally getting burned out on shooters?

This is the only game I'm actually hyped for, for co-op and campaign that is.

 

[Vilix]

I do love me some horde mode. Sounds good.

 

[EightBitNate]

I play Gears religiously, and I know it's been said a thousand, times, but what the fuck are they thinking? Who's asking for all the changes? Honestly, if they gave us Gears 3 multiplayer with new maps and weapons, I would take it handily. Gears 3 was my best multiplayer experience ever, and they're tampering with a perfect formula for god knows what reason.

Just really mad. Will wait for Gears 4.

 

[Gordon0Freeman]

I will buy this just for the campaign. Finally got back into my Gears 1 form with Gears 3. There is a campaign, right?

 

[many places]

IMO Gears 1 was the best. Best gameplay, best maps, best sniper and shotgun. Also, the community, even with all the assholes, was a million times better than gears 2and 3's communities. The game just felt more alive. That was the era of all the sniping montages on youtube aka the good old days.

I'm looking forward to Judgment cause I'm a massive Gears fan but it's obvious the series is never going to be the same. One of the new maps (I think it's called Street?) looks really promising. Reminds of Rooftops from Gears 1 a bit.

 

[NullPointer]

I will buy this just for the campaign. Finally got back into my Gears 1 form with Gears 3. There is a campaign, right?

With dynamic spawning reminiscent of Left 4 Dead. Finding cog symbols also allows you to activate optional campaign challenges.

The campaign looks good, but honestly they had me at dynamic spawns. All shooters need some element of randomization so that replays aren't just a matter of going through the motions knowing exactly what enemies are exactly where. To me that's a huge positive.

IMO Gears 1 was the best.

Gears is at its best in close to medium sized spaces. Gears 2 and 3 just kept pushing the size and scope of the areas and it loses that sense of intimate violence, where you're moving cover to cover, flanking and taking the risk to charge an enemy position. 2 and 3 are still good, but definitely have a different feel to Gears 1. Fear and risk is replaced by more general mayhem.

 

[smik]

I play Gears religiously, and I know it's been said a thousand, times, but what the fuck are they thinking? Who's asking for all the changes? Honestly, if they gave us Gears 3 multiplayer with new maps and weapons, I would take it handily. Gears 3 was my best multiplayer experience ever, and they're tampering with a perfect formula for god knows what reason.

Just really mad. Will wait for Gears 4.

Honestly its GOW2 all over again, unnecessary fundamental changes that brakes the game or alienates the of fanbase, all of GOW3 work is going to be undone with GOWJ and the beta feedback from GOW3 seems to all have gone to waste.

Who ask for the changes? well its not the fans.

Dont understand why EPIC chooses to blame the community for the changes as no-one has ever wanted them, its obviously EPIC lead developers making the decisions, so its on them.

 

[The Xtortionist]

IMO Gears 1 was the best. Best gameplay, best maps, best sniper and shotgun. Also, the community, even with all the assholes, was a million times better than gears 2and 3's communities. The game just felt more alive. That was the era of all the sniping montages on youtube aka the good old days.

worst bullet lag... *shudders*

But yeah Nizmojoe's variatages were always fun to watch.

 

[GolazoDan]

Good news, as long as there's something that hits my Horde-loving spot then I'm fine.

Gears 3 Horde was so awesome. I never did it with people from my friends list, only randomers, and that was really good fun. There was always a fun luck of the draw with what sort of partners you'd get. One time I had to team with three guys who clearly didn't play the campaign so they had no idea how to effectively fight a lambent berzerker. They died so I had to do it on my own, took ages.

The first time I completed Horde (on the football stadium map), man. Me and those boys. WE BONDED.

I literally never played the competitive modes though, welp.

 

[RedSwirl]

I like Gears of War and all, but it seems like no one is feeling much excitement over this installment. Maybe people are finally getting burned out on shooters?

Personally, I'm still having a lot of fun with Gears 3. I feel like I could play Gears 3 for another four years and be perfectly fine.

This is why I don't like shooters getting so many sequels this gen. I played GoldenEye for three-plus years and Melee for seven years and never got board of those games. People still play Counter-Strike 1.6. If Activision had stopped at Call of Duty 4, I feel like I'd still be enjoying that game now. Just look at Team Fortress 2.

 

[GavinGT]

I'll look forward to Judgement if only for Horde/Survival mode. The Horde mode in Gears 3 was the best thing about the game.

 

[-PXG-]

Gears 1 without host advantage, bugs, glitches and bullshit would be the best game ever. Hell, whenever it actually worked, the way it should have, it was fucking amazing.

It's truly possible to make Gears that way. But no, they'd rather focus on tired, same old, cliche, team death match / CoD bullshit. No disrespect to Epic or PCF, at all. I'm just being honest. Gears had an identity once. Now it's slowly becoming like everything else.

GoW: J will be good but it's not gonna live up to 1 o 3 (lol @ 2).

EDIT

smik knows his shit. He's good people. No reasons rag on him.

 

[smik]

Gears is at its best in close to medium sized spaces. Gears 2 and 3 just kept pushing the size and scope of the areas and it loses that sense of intimate violence, where you're moving cover to cover, flanking and taking the risk to charge an enemy position. 2 and 3 are still good, but definitely have a different feel to Gears 1. Fear and risk is replaced by more general mayhem.

agree with all of this,

When Gears plays out in more tight and close spaces the gameplay really does shine (Think Warmachine in GOW1, Checkout in GOW3 and even Secuirity in GOW2 ) rifles have always been very useful and necessarily but EPIC are honestly pissed at how some players have gotten really good with the shotgun and are always thinking of ways to OP rifles, this thought process has imo screwed with EPIC's perception of balance and hence why they are making dumb choices

but in all seriousness the Gnasher has always been counterable with the Rifles since GOW1, in every title, but players who are novices will continually die alot if they dont understand the mechanics

with all this said, they just dont want to embrace what Gears of War Truly is.

 

[smik]

Gears 1 without host advantage, bugs, glitches and bullshit would be the best game ever. Hell, whenever it actually worked, the way it should have, it was fucking amazing.

It's truly possible to make Gears that way. But no, they'd rather focus on tired, same old, cliche, team death match / CoD bullshit. No disrespect to Epic or PCF, at all. I'm just being honest. Gears had an identity once. Now it's slowly becoming like everything else.

GoW: J will be good but it's not gonna live up to 1 o 3 (lol @ 2).

EDIT

smik knows his shit. He's good people. No reasons rag on him.

I swear PXG, i wish you worked at EPIC, No lie.

haven't been fired up on GAF since GOW2, but i was so pleasantly suprised with GOW3 that i thought Gears was going to be consistent again.

i was wrong, again.

 

[DEADEVIL]

I still haven't played the single player of GoW 3. I started horde mode and then just play it for weeks. Got burned out and put the game away. Improved horde mode sounds good, but not sure I want to spend 60 bucks on it. Hopefully Redbox carries this.

Wow. I love Horde mode and all but not t the expense of the campaign. I loved G3s campaign. Trying to complete it over in 3D which is amazing.

 

[DEADEVIL]

I like Gears of War and all, but it seems like no one is feeling much excitement over this installment. Maybe people are finally getting burned out on shooters?

Nah people say the burnt out part all the time, but play games like COD and Assassin's creed every year.

As the game get's closer and the ad campaign starts then you'll see the excitement ramp up from the fans.

At the same time this fans know this is a prequel/back story and it's coming in March which is typically not when we buy Gears.

I'm looking forward to playing with the changes like the removal of Active Reload.

But playing campaign in co-op was always a fave for me in Gears.

Horde for Gears 2 on was addicting crack

Look forward to heading back into that universe.

 

[Omega]

GOW3 is definitely the most consistent.
The sawed-off and to an extent the retro completely ruined what could have been the game to easily surpass Gears 1.

Sawed off wasn't/isn't that bad. One of their title updates completely broke the game by making the Retro beyond OP and they still never fixed it. Such a shame. It was by far the best MP game on 360

Microsoft probably didn't want it to surpass Halo and forced them to break the game. It might sound dumb, but the forums said Retro was OP and Epic employees would say the gun was fine and they weren't making any changes. Then they removed dedicated servers and for a few months you couldn't play any playlist without DLC. Jan 2012 title update made no sense..

 

[Dosia]

Gears 1 was one of my favorite games ever MP wise, but this game isn't even on my radar. Nothing could beat getting drunk talking shit between rounds and just playing for hours. Gears 2 defined garbage and gears 3 could not keep my interest.

 

[Penguins&PolarBears]

Horde 2.0 is awesome in GoW3. I play that more than any other multiplayer mode. Funny because I absolutely hated Horde mode in every shooter I played prior to GoW3.

Something about Tower Defense and RTS gameplay really scratches an itch for me that regular deathmatch games do not.

I hope they make it so that you can jump into a game in progress because it gets tedious starting over from wave 1 every time and it sucks when people drop out of the game.

 

[Moofers]

Horde 2.0 is awesome in GoW3. I play that more than any other multiplayer mode. Funny because I absolutely hated Horde mode in every shooter I played prior to GoW3.

Something about Tower Defense and RTS gameplay really scratches an itch for me that regular deathmatch games do not.

I hope they make it so that you can jump into a game in progress because it gets tedious starting over from wave 1 every time and it sucks when people drop out of the game.

OMG this. So much. It breaks my heart to try for 10 minutes just to find a game only to have it ruined when 2 or 3 players leave because the map wasn't the one they wanted. Drop-in, drop-out is a necessity!