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[Volimar]

Oh, btw guys, here's something you might find interesting. I made a thread about this on the official forums when the Crescendo vidoc came out.

Remember the prologue where Marcus sees the Raven get hit and crash into the Fenix mansion and Adam gets crushed by rubble? Pop in Gears 1 and go to the part where you go to the Fenix estate. The pile of rubble and the damage to the home are in the exact same place. It might have been coincidence, but if not I think it's pretty neat that they took just another pile of rubble in the first game and actually made something of it.

 

[CliffyB]

Oh, btw guys, here's something you might find interesting. I made a thread about this on the official forums when the Crescendo vidoc came out.

Remember the prologue where Marcus sees the Raven get hit and crash into the Fenix mansion and Adam gets crushed by rubble? Pop in Gears 1 and go to the part where you go to the Fenix estate. The pile of rubble and the damage to the home are in the exact same place. It might have been coincidence, but if not I think it's pretty neat that they took just another pile of rubble in the first game and actually made something of it.

Planned.

 

[Volimar]

Planned.

Awesome.

 

[Rimfya]

Planned.

When that scene started my brother yelled out ESCALATION IT'S BACK!!

To his dismay, Escalation is NOT in MP. But hey we got a taste.

 

[Shrennin]

When that scene started my brother yelled out ESCALATION IT'S BACK!!

To his dismay, Escalation is NOT in MP. But hey we got a taste.

If Escalation was brought back via DLC that would be awesome. Mansion, Escalation, Fuel Depot, and Gridlock were probably my favorite Gears maps (including all three games although haven't tested Gears 3 enough to make that claim final).

 

[zewone]

I miss Escalation.

 

[Rimfya]

With any luck, it's already on disc. I mean, they did had to re-do half of it in the Gears 3 engine already...

 

[Takamura-San]

Planned.

Inception.gif

 

[Pachterballs]

Im amused that the junior posted no spoler tags, and then continued to post about going "damn, wrong thread".

Yeah, having sold 3 million copies; you'd think Epic would say; hey fans; here's a bone. Some free DLC or something. I'm personally no paying for any of it but yeah;feel free to pay if you want to.

 

[Scarecrow]

It'd be kinda neat if they threw in Grey, Ishi, and whatever the girl's name is from Bulletstorm as dlc characters. I'd almost, almost consider buying those.

 

[sixteen-bit]

When that scene started my brother yelled out ESCALATION IT'S BACK!!

To his dismay, Escalation is NOT in MP. But hey we got a taste.

I must have mentioned Escalation to my co-op buddy like 3 times during that short sequence

 

[Z_Y]

The tempest took us 2:30 to beat on hardcore (4 player Coop).

I can't even imagine insane..

Didnt care for griffins act, although the character was cool.

This might be a case where having AI teammates made the boss fight easier. They were always around to revive me.

The only time I failed was when I was out of ammo and couldn't find any in time to shoot the the queen off the tower.

 

[Interfectum]

not sure if this has been asked, probably has but:

cliffyb: why does the queen look human? That is the single biggest question I had during the entire game.

 

[LyleLanley]

not sure if this has been asked, probably has but:

cliffyb: why does the queen look human? That is the single biggest question I had during the entire game.

She's Marcus' daughter.

 

[Grisby]

It'd be kinda neat if they threw in Grey, Ishi, and whatever the girl's name is from Bulletstorm as dlc characters. I'd almost, almost consider buying those.

Yes. Yes. Jennifer Hale and Claudia Black in my MP. Oh, and Steve Blum? Why hasn't this happened Cliff?

 

[quickwhips]

I think gears has a great story. I enjoyed it and the books and the comics. Everyone talking about the cluckshot and the slide with cole needs to realized those are easter eggs and most people wont find them or the giant chicken boss. This was the best gears game yet.

 

[FStop7]

Planned.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Jc4IQL6QxI

 

[Kimosabae]

Yes. Yes. Jennifer Hale and Claudia Black in my MP. Oh, and Steve Blum? Why hasn't this happened Cliff?

Who is that?

 

[Volimar]

Who is that?

Tina Fey


Also, Claudia Black is already in the MP.

 

[Data West]

Is it wishful thinking that I'm hoping Di Maggio wins VA of the year for this? He wasn't doing crazy voices or anything, but I thought his range in this was really good.

 

[sixteen-bit]

Is it wishful thinking that I'm hoping Di Maggio wins VA of the year for this? He wasn't doing crazy voices or anything, but I thought his range in this was really good.

If only this game had another "ten shitloads" reference I'd give him the edge.

 

[Aske]

I agree with some of the story criticisms - the game could have done with more pertinent plot revelations and less failed attempts to find fuel - but at the end of the day, I enjoyed the story Epic told and wasn't let down by the ending, so it's hard to care about things that could have been done differently. The only thing that feels unresolved is the question of why the Locust Queen is human, but that's such a huge plot point that I assume it'll be dealt with in a future project.

One thing that struck me about the Gears games ever since the original is the way they skillfully paint the world of Sera with broad brush strokes and crystalize the characters with incredible poignancy through succinct chunks of in-game dialogue. Without a focus on long cut scenes or detailed story-telling, I felt the games established the Gears universe as one of the most vibrant and engaging mythologies in gaming. On top of that, I just discovered the books, and they're excellent at filling in gaps and adding fine detail. Never thought I'd feel moved to read novels inspired by a videogame series; and the fact that they're legitimately good is unbelievable. I'll have to check out the comics now I know that Karen Traviss is writing those too.

Also, Sam rocks, and is by far the best of the new characters. Her VA is excellent.

Remember the prologue where Marcus sees the Raven get hit and crash into the Fenix mansion and Adam gets crushed by rubble? Pop in Gears 1 and go to the part where you go to the Fenix estate. The pile of rubble and the damage to the home are in the exact same place. It might have been coincidence, but if not I think it's pretty neat that they took just another pile of rubble in the first game and actually made something of it.

That's awesome. I just started another run of Gears 1's campaign (planning to play the whole trilogy back to back) so I'll definitely look out for that, along with the last goddamn COG tag I'm still missing.

 

[Deleted member 81567]

Finished it today. Great game but Gears of War 2's SP was better. Thank goodness the multiplayer is better than ever or else it'd be a big disappointment. The story was lacking towards the end and it all felt too short and stagnant.

 

[eshwaaz]

Just beat it last night. Was a bit lukewarm on it early on, but ended up enjoying it quite a bit.

Regarding Dom's death: It was a bold choice to kill off a popular main character, but I found the actual scenario to be a poor justification. Not just the fact that they ended up finding fuel later right by the sub, but why in the world did Dom decide he needed to crash a truck in order to cause the explosion? Wasn't anyone carrying grenades? How about just shooting the damn thing? The weak setup made his sacrifice feel completely unnecessary when other means to cause the exact same result were obvious.

 

[CreateNowSleepLater]

Beat it last night as well. Really disappointed in the ending. I mean they really don't tell you shit the entire game. For an epic type of series the last chapter has you looking around for gas most of the game?

 

[JimtotheHum]

It's pretty obvious that the Campaign DLC will be following Cole and Baird when they disappear for a quarter of the game. Should be fun, though, will probably pick it up. Enjoyed the campaign, completely delivered, however, did not think it was the huge upgrade that the press said it would be. To me it was standard Gears, which I enjoy, so I can't really complain. Gears 3 left me thinking, "ok, that was great, but I really think it's time for Epic and Cliff to move on to a new IP and hand this one off to a new studio."

 

[Grisby]

Tina Fey


Also, Claudia Black is already in the MP.

Yeah, I know. I meant having both of them at the same time would be cool.

 

[zlatko]

I may be able to clear up some mystery surrounding the queen.

When you reach Azura there is two collectibles you can find in the chapters of Act 5 that talk about a woman. I can't for the life of me right now recall her name, but I think it started with an O? She passes away there, but few details are mentioned. They say she's 78 years old when she dies.

Furthermore, this woman was a lead scientist, and it's her face that is on a statue head in one of the starts of a chapter in Act 5, and if you look at the face it's a 1:1 of Queen Myrrah's.

My thinking is, that this woman becomes the Locust Queen. It would explain how the queen knew about the Azura facility to begin with. People at Azura were not allowed to leave once they were brought there, and them being put there started during the Pendulam Wars. Maybe she found a way off, or was kicked off, and so they had to cover it up as she died? Or maybe she did did and THAT is how Locust happen?

I mean, Locust are fucked up looking. It would sort of make sense if corpses of people which are in the ground, got exposed to immulsion, then the parasite uses the dead tissue and thus a Locust is created. Further exposure makes them lambent. People who are not dead, become explosive lambent themselves. The queen remaining as human as she is could have to do with a number of different things, perhaps her research and exposure to immulsion as she was human before dying, or maybe HOW she died and then how much immulsion she was exposed to upon death.

I still feel that the woman mentioned in those collectibles in Gears 3 is definitely her though, unless someone can debunk it.

 

[kodecraft]

I don't know if this has been brought up, but I wonder if Gears of War universe and Bulletstorm are somehow connected. There was a location named "Serrano" (like an ocean) in Gears 3 and General Serrano was the main villain in Bulletstorm. It's more than likely a coincidence.

I doubt connected, but both games are from the same developers even though PCF did most of the development work for Bulletstorm but you still have the same person creatively placing their touch on the games.....Cliffyb.

 

[Seth Balmore]

Furthermore, this woman was a lead scientist, and it's her face that is on a statue head in one of the starts of a chapter in Act 5, and if you look at the face it's a 1:1 of Queen Myrrah's.

My thinking is, that this woman becomes the Locust Queen.

-snip-

I still feel that the woman mentioned in those collectibles in Gears 3 is definitely her though, unless someone can debunk it.

I know what woman you're talking about and I thought she was suspicious too. But if she's Myrrah, how can you explain that memorial bust saying she died peacefully in her apartment at 78?

BTW, I picked up a collectible in Act 4 that also mentioned her. It was a magazine that spoke about her sudden disappearance at the age of 30-something (can't recall exact number). So if that bust is telling the truth, we know she spent ~40 years in Azura, ergo we know Azura was built at least ~40 years ago...

 

[Volimar]

I know what woman you're talking about and I thought she was suspicious too. But if she's Myrrah, how can you explain that memorial bust saying she died peacefully in her apartment at 78?

BTW, I picked up a collectible in Act 4 that also mentioned her. It was a magazine that spoke about her sudden disappearance at the age of 30-something (can't recall exact number). So if that bust is telling the truth, we know she spent ~40 years in Azura, ergo we know Azura was built at least ~40 years ago...

Though she could have been moved there sometime after she went missing. But we do know Azura is more than 15 years old considering it was built for people to weather out the Pendulum Wars.

 

[DatBreh]

LOL oh boy. Characters and maps on disc.

I think I will never live to see another game which completely demonstrates both everything awesome, and everything totally deplorable about video games.

Guess Epic had faith in MS new disc encryption to try and get away with this.

Who cares if its on the disc. Would it seriously make you feel better if before they went gold they just deleted it from the disc and made you download something? Either way you are paying for it.

When i bought my computer it had some MS software on it yet if i wanted to use it after the trial i had to buy an unlock code. How stupid would it look of me to complain that the software is on my pc so i should be able to use it freely.

 

[enzo_gt]

Who cares if its on the disc. Would it seriously make you feel better if before they went gold they just deleted it from the disc and made you download something? Either way you are paying for it.

When i bought my computer it had some MS software on it yet if i wanted to use it after the trial i had to buy an unlock code. How stupid would it look of me to complain to MS that the software is on my pc so i should be able to use it freely.

Your missing the underlying issue of it being on disc and why that's ethically wrong: your paying for content that is done and intentionally held back from your access to make you pay more. Intentional exclusion of content to make the consumer pay more.

 

[kodecraft]

I mean, Locust are fucked up looking.

Their not "The Hills have Eyes" / "Toxic Avenger" or the game RAGE type of fucked up looking.


They just look reptilian to me.

A king koopa army type, only reptiles with guns. Maybe Marcus and Dom are Mario and Luigi with guns.

 

[blurredvision]

Your missing the underlying issue of it being on disc and why that's ethically wrong: your paying for content that is done and intentionally held back from your access to make you pay more. Intentional exclusion of content to make the consumer pay more.

I laugh when people try to bring in the argument that something is ethically wrong with this. Listen, when you put down your $60, you are paying only for the content that the developer says you're paying for. It doesn't matter what's on the disc, in no way are you entitled to it. You don't own that content, you're just paying to play what they want you to play.

If you have a problem with that, I'd suggest giving up gaming. One of these days, you'll figure out that some DLC you just downloaded uses assets that you've already "paid for" that are on the disc, and then you'll be crying for a discount on the DLC.

 

[enzo_gt]

I laugh when people try to bring in the argument that something is ethically wrong with this. Listen, when you put down your $60, you are paying only for the content that the developer says you're paying for. It doesn't matter what's on the disc, in no way are you entitled to it. You don't own that content, you're just paying to play what they want you to play.

If you have a problem with that, I'd suggest giving up gaming. One of these days, you'll figure out that some DLC you just downloaded uses assets that you've already "paid for" that are on the disc, and then you'll be crying for a discount on the DLC.

Took this post seriously up until here. Giving up gaming over some DLC? Please, even as hyperbole this makes you look incredibly ridiculous and discreditable for saying something like this.

It's not an issue of entitlement, it's an issue of the business practices as a whole that aren't catering to the consumer and increasingly going in a direction that encourages cutting content in order to charge you more for it later, essentially giving some devs excuses for not delivering complete experiences and games and selling the rest later for profit. I'm not sure how blind you have to be to not see this with the rise of F2P and unlock keys. Here, let me meet your hyperbole with some of my own: It's akin to buying a hotdog and having to pay extra for the bun, in different ratios of the product your receiving and not receiving, of course. So I'm sorry my old fashioned way of thinking wants to preserve the time when content wasn't withheld to me to subsidize development costs and the average consumer gets less.

EDIT: Should note this is looking at the bigger picture, and I am pretty satisfied with the $60 game that is Gears 3.

 

[Hero_of_the_Day]

I laugh when people try to bring in the argument that something is ethically wrong with this. Listen, when you put down your $60, you are paying only for the content that the developer says you're paying for. It doesn't matter what's on the disc, in no way are you entitled to it. You don't own that content, you're just paying to play what they want you to play.

If you have a problem with that, I'd suggest giving up gaming. One of these days, you'll figure out that some DLC you just downloaded uses assets that you've already "paid for" that are on the disc, and then you'll be crying for a discount on the DLC.

Yeah, it's still ethically wrong. It makes sense from a business stand point of course, but I'm the consumer so I don't have to give a fuck about that. I have zero problem with DLC, even day one DLC. But, it being on the disc is bullshit. That means it's not even really downloadable content. It's paying for the Konami code. It's paying for things that a generation ago would have just been hidden unlockables that made you want to keep playing the game.

If more work is put into it after the game is done, that's great, no problem paying for it. If you are trying to stealth raise game prices, you are ethically a fucking ass hole.

Do you pay to unlock extra featurs on DVD and Blu-ray? Fuck no.

 

[DatBreh]

Yeah, it's still ethically wrong. It makes sense from a business stand point of course, but I'm the consumer so I don't have to give a fuck about that. I have zero problem with DLC, even day one DLC. But, it being on the disc is bullshit. That means it's not even really downloadable content. It's paying for the Konami code. It's paying for things that a generation ago would have just been hidden unlockables that made you want to keep playing the game.

If more work is put into it after the game is done, that's great, no problem paying for it. If you are trying to stealth raise game prices, you are ethically a fucking ass hole.

Do you pay to unlock extra featurs on DVD and Blu-ray? Fuck no.

Gears 3 comes with so many modes, content, and extra features that it easily competes with this content golden age you are speaking of. Honestly this game game has more features and extras than the vast majority of games this gen. Fact of the matter is no matter how much content they give you, you will still whine if some portion on the disc is paid dlc. When you buy a game you arent buying "everything on the disc" just like when i buy a computer im not buying "everything on the hard drive".

If i was a developer i would simply delete the files from the disc and none of you would be the wiser. That would get rid of all this outrage.

 

[Hero_of_the_Day]

Gears 3 comes with so many modes, content, and extra features that it easily competes with this content golden age you are speaking of. Fact of the matter is no matter how much content they give you, you will still whine if some portion on the disc is paid dlc. When you buy a game you arent buying "everything on the disc" just like when i buy a computer im not buying "everything on the hard drive".

If i was a developer i would simply delete the files from the disc and none of you would be the wiser. That would get rid of all this outrage.

How do you quantify content? Games are shorter now then the used to be, so in that sense content is lower then the "golden age". We have bigger multiplayer now, at least on consoles. So that brings balance as far as I'm concerned, not more content. And I came from PC gaming, so nothing going on this generation is new to me. I've been playing online multiplayer games since Quake 2, Jedi Knight, and Tribes. So no, there really isn't more content.

And yes, no matter how much content they give me, I will still bitch about on disc DLC. Again, it's not even technically DLC if it's on disc. It's stealth price raising.

You are absolutely right with your last line. They should pretend they worked on it afterwards and release it as real DLC. Like I said, I have no problem paying for DLC that they worked on after the game has gone gold, even released day one. As long as people didn't know, it wouldn't be a big deal. Don't let me see you pissing in my glass of tea before you serve it to me for $5.

 

[See You Next Wednesday]

How do you quantify content? Games are shorter now then the used to be.

What a load of bull.

 

[Aske]

Regarding Dom's death: It was a bold choice to kill off a popular main character, but I found the actual scenario to be a poor justification. Not just the fact that they ended up finding fuel later right by the sub, but why in the world did Dom decide he needed to crash a truck in order to cause the explosion? Wasn't anyone carrying grenades? How about just shooting the damn thing? The weak setup made his sacrifice feel completely unnecessary when other means to cause the exact same result were obvious.

It all makes sense in the broader context of the game, which sets the event up beautifully. Dom has lost Maria. Psych report at the beginning of the game lets us know he's still very fragile. Remember how Marcus reminded him he owed him $20 for losing the bet on that Thrashball game, right after they meet Cole in Gears 1? Dom says he'll pay him when the war is over. That $20 is right there in Marcus's room at the beginning of Gears 3. Dom is settling his debts. In Act 3, he returns to Maria's home town, which puts a spotlight on all the painful memories he's been dealing with since Maria's death. On top of that, while he's there, he spends much of his time putting suffering lambent humans out of their misery, just like he did for Maria. They occasionally beg to be killed as they attack you. And as if that wasn't enough, he visits the graves of his children and finally says goodbye to his wife. So no shit he was in the kind of headspace to do what he did when the team was overrun by the enemy and the ammo ran low. The game does a great job of dropping clues that all add up in hindsight without giving anything away.

I didn't like that Dom died on the first of two pointless fuel runs that could have been so easily avoided (although it would have highlighted the futility of the event if it had been the only pointless fuel run and the team found fuel stored with the sub immediately afterwards) but the death itself was extremely well planned and carefully justified. It was less about showcasing Dom's heroism in dying for his buddies, and more about showing us an inevitability that was set in stone the moment he found Maria in the last game. In terms of the story, I appreciated it.

I know what woman you're talking about and I thought she was suspicious too. But if she's Myrrah, how can you explain that memorial bust saying she died peacefully in her apartment at 78?

BTW, I picked up a collectible in Act 4 that also mentioned her. It was a magazine that spoke about her sudden disappearance at the age of 30-something (can't recall exact number). So if that bust is telling the truth, we know she spent ~40 years in Azura, ergo we know Azura was built at least ~40 years ago...

I don't think there's any way that she's Myrrah. She exists for two obvious purposes. Firstly, she's an example of one of the missing scientists: someone who initially looked like she'd defected to the UIR during the Pendulum Wars because she disappeared suddenly and left no sign of a struggle, but who we later learn was taken into protective custody by the COG. Secondly, she provides a stark contrast between the lifestyle of the Azurans, who whiled away the war in safety and comfort on their luxurious island, and the living hell experienced by the rest of the Serans. Right before you find the memorial bust, Baird asks about Dom, so his death is fresh in our minds when Marcus has to read about the 'great sadness' felt by the Azuran community over the loss of a woman who died peacefully in her sleep at the age of 78. The final line is something like "a selection of rare teas and delicate pastries will be served at the wake," which just rubs in the grim irony that much harder.

 

[eshwaaz]

It all makes sense in the broader context of the game, which sets the event up beautifully. Dom has lost Maria. Psych report at the beginning of the game lets us know he's still very fragile. Remember how Marcus reminded him he owed him $20 for losing the bet on that Thrashball game, right after they meet Cole in Gears 1? Dom says he'll pay him when the war is over. That $20 is right there in Marcus's room at the beginning of Gears 3. Dom is settling his debts. In Act 3, he returns to Maria's home town, which puts a spotlight on all the painful memories he's been dealing with since Maria's death. On top of that, while he's there, he spends much of his time putting suffering lambent humans out of their misery, just like he did for Maria. They occasionally beg to be killed as they attack you. And as if that wasn't enough, he visits the graves of his children and finally says goodbye to his wife. So no shit he was in the kind of headspace to do what he did when the team was overrun by the enemy and the ammo ran low. The game does a great job of dropping clues that all add up in hindsight without giving anything away.

I didn't like that Dom died on the first of two pointless fuel runs that could have been so easily avoided (although it would have highlighted the futility of the event if it had been the only pointless fuel run and the team found fuel stored with the sub immediately afterwards) but the death itself was extremely well planned and carefully justified. It was less about showcasing Dom's heroism in dying for his buddies, and more about showing us an inevitability that was set in stone the moment he found Maria in the last game. In terms of the story, I appreciated it.

All good points; well-reasoned and intelligently put. I still feel that the scenario could have been stronger, but you've made me view that event a bit differently (and more positively).

 

[Hero_of_the_Day]

What a load of bull.

What? Single player games these days max out at about 8 hours. A lot take less then that even. Not saying Gears 3 isn't a bit longer. Seems like it took me 9 or 10 hours.

 

[Seth Balmore]

The final line is something like "a selection of rare teas and delicate pastries will be served at the wake," which just rubs in the grim irony that much harder.

I remember that tidbit very well, heh. It even pissed me off seeing how these scientists were living large with all sorts of posh luxury while on the other side of Sera men were salivating over years-old candy bars. :/

About the rest of your post, your view is spot on. I didn't think much of the $20, dismissed it as a nice nudge for veteran fans that still remembered that line from Gears 1... but when I saw Dom leave his COG tags, his identity, on the Flores family grave, and how after that he gave Marcus his commando knife, a very valuable possession, and never asked for it back... I had a very bad feeling. I remembered the $20 long afterwards and it clicked. It's exactly as you said: he was settling every debt before leaving to be with his family again.

In short, excellently worded post Aske. Couldn't have put it better myself. To quote that fantastic Gears 2 campaign trailer, "you already know how this will end"...

 

[See You Next Wednesday]

What? Single player games these days max out at about 8 hours. A lot take less then that even. Not saying Gears 3 isn't a bit longer. Seems like it took me 9 or 10 hours.

What non-rpg, action games or shooters in the past were so long?
Only a handful of games were 15 hours or longer, the rest were even shorter than today's games.

 

[DatBreh]

What? Single player games these days max out at about 8 hours. A lot take less then that even. Not saying Gears 3 isn't a bit longer. Seems like it took me 9 or 10 hours.

And games from previous gens were the same length or shorter outside of RPGs.

 

[Aske]

I remember that tidbit very well, heh. It even pissed me off seeing how these scientists were living large with all sorts of posh luxury while on the other side of Sera men were salivating over years-old candy bars. :/

I felt the same way. But I didn't make that connection - you're right, it was totally supposed to tie-in with the candy bar. These little callbacks are becoming one of my favourite aspects of the game.

About the rest of your post, your view is spot on. I didn't think much of the $20, dismissed it as a nice nudge for veteran fans that still remembered that line from Gears 1... but when I saw Dom leave his COG tags, his identity, on the Flores family grave, and how after that he gave Marcus his commando knife, a very valuable possession, and never asked for it back... I had a very bad feeling.

The commando knife was the first thing that made me uneasy (fantastic little detail for those of us who read the books). I didn't think he was about to die, but it was a subtle moment that seemed portentous after the scene at the grave. The COG tags should have tipped me off. I just never imagined Dom wouldn't make it until it happened. I couldn't believe he was gone. He's player 2!

 

[blurredvision]

Took this post seriously up until here. Giving up gaming over some DLC? Please, even as hyperbole this makes you look incredibly ridiculous and discreditable for saying something like this.

I mean it more as in, if you don't like it, then you should give up gaming because it's not going to stop anytime soon. Regardless of my poor writing skills, I'm not trying to be creditable and I'm certain I don't look ridiculous (let alone incredibly).

It's not an issue of entitlement, it's an issue of the business practices as a whole that aren't catering to the consumer and increasingly going in a direction that encourages cutting content in order to charge you more for it later, essentially giving some devs excuses for not delivering complete experiences and games and selling the rest later for profit. I'm not sure how blind you have to be to not see this with the rise of F2P and unlock keys. Here, let me meet your hyperbole with some of my own: It's akin to buying a hotdog and having to pay extra for the bun, in different ratios of the product your receiving and not receiving, of course. So I'm sorry my old fashioned way of thinking wants to preserve the time when content wasn't withheld to me to subsidize development costs and the average consumer gets less.

EDIT: Should note this is looking at the bigger picture, and I am pretty satisfied with the $60 game that is Gears 3.

I'm not blind to this direction by developers, I just question everyone's definition of a "complete experience", as you put it. Who decides what is complete and what isn't? In my eyes, whatever I pay for is the complete experience because that's what the developers sold me. What's weird is that I held your exact same viewpoint as little as 2 years ago, but I've changed because as the consumer, I only get what I pay for and I ultimately decide what I buy. If a developer wants to withhold content, then that's their decision, as is mine to buy.

Holding onto your old fashioned ways is fine, but depending on how long you've been a gamer, we get more bang for the buck today than we ever did before. Ultimately, console game prices are the same today as they were 20 years ago, possibly even cheaper if you consider that many of them go on sale shortly after release. Hell, I remember Nintendo 64 games costing $80 at launch. The majority of those games did not provide much content, especially compared with games today. I'd easily argue that the average gamer/consumer gets way MORE than back in the old fashioned days, and that's considering withheld content.

 

[pr0cs]

I'll never understand the idiocy of :
1) it's on the disc, therefore I own it
2) I would feel better about downloading the content because if it's on the disc somehow it angers me into thinking about #1

I don't understand how downloading the content would make people feel better.. makes no fucking sense whatsoever.

Being pissed off about content that should have been in the game or giving advantages in MP makes sense but saying "I need to download it in order to feel like I didn't get screwed" is fucking stupid.

 

[JB1981]

I agree with some of the story criticisms - the game could have done with more pertinent plot revelations and less failed attempts to find fuel - but at the end of the day, I enjoyed the story Epic told and wasn't let down by the ending, so it's hard to care about things that could have been done differently. The only thing that feels unresolved is the question of why the Locust Queen is human, but that's such a huge plot point that I assume it'll be dealt with in a future project.

One thing that struck me about the Gears games ever since the original is the way they skillfully paint the world of Sera with broad brush strokes and crystalize the characters with incredible poignancy through succinct chunks of in-game dialogue. Without a focus on long cut scenes or detailed story-telling, I felt the games established the Gears universe as one of the most vibrant and engaging mythologies in gaming. On top of that, I just discovered the books, and they're excellent at filling in gaps and adding fine detail. Never thought I'd feel moved to read novels inspired by a videogame series; and the fact that they're legitimately good is unbelievable. I'll have to check out the comics now I know that Karen Traviss is writing those too.

Also, Sam rocks, and is by far the best of the new characters. Her VA is excellent.



That's awesome. I just started another run of Gears 1's campaign (planning to play the whole trilogy back to back) so I'll definitely look out for that, along with the last goddamn COG tag I'm still missing.

Are all the books good or are some better than others. Which have you read that are good? I'm kind of interested myself.