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Gears Of War 4 multiplayer beta impressions and footage

Difficult to judge since the version shown here is a work in progress (alpha stage). It looks samey to me, but that is to be expected of a sequel to a known franchise.
 
http://youtu.be/y2QZ5tspdns

More gameplay.

Map looks great.

I like this

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I see they still haven't changed Team Deathmatch to "first to 'x' score" instead of "first to lose all their lives." That's the reason I didn't like TDM in Gears 3, because you'd have people getting themselves killed every 5 seconds using up all the lives and then you can't respawn anymore.

Also, I REALLY hope this game has cross-platform play, otherwise I fear for its longevity on PC.

Maybe add climbing up walls / more vertical levels. Mechs or vehicle combat would be nice or a jet pack maybe ? How about different character classes, Strong but slower, Faster but not as much health, and unique abilities for each class, things like that would be welcome.

Just something that makes it feel a little more fresher than just the same thing again.

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Though this sounds like a great idea for Vanquish 2.
 
Things like this are literally for the sake of adverts, tickboxes on the back of the box, and marketing. Artificial gameplay depth.

EDIT: Props for actually backing yourself with some ideas, unlike everyone else though.

I'll give you credit at least you gave some examples about what you might like instead of most the people popping in to the latest Xbox thread to troll with their canned response but that all sounds awful.

Cheers guys. I'm not one to just hate on something for the sake of it, like some do. I will always try and back up what I'm saying.

Despite what some people seem to think, I do like Gears, but there's nothing wrong with wanting fresh idea's is there ? although it does seem like a lot of people just want it to stay the same, from some of the responses.

I know those idea's were not exactly the greatest idea's ever and there are probably many more ways how Gears can change for the better, anyone else what to add to the conversation ? instead of just saying "Those idea's suck"
 
Maybe add climbing up walls / more vertical levels. Mechs or vehicle combat would be nice or a jet pack maybe ? How about different character classes, Strong but slower, Faster but not as much health, and unique abilities for each class, things like that would be welcome.

Just something that makes it feel a little more fresher than just the same thing again.

They tried most of what yous aid in Judgement...it doesn't work in Gears.
 
I think that it would be very hard to innovate gears while staying true to the core formula. Gears is basically a perfect game that works fine as it is. In gears 3 they added sawed off and retro lancer and almost ruined the game, in judgment they... well, I don't have to explain the judgment mess. So it's very hard.

I said in another post that they should have revamped the animations to make it look "new", but the core mechanics can't be changed.
 
It sure doesn't look bad by any means in the Dodgeball video, but there's something that is missing. Lighting perhaps? The same with that other map that is during daytime and colourful. I am glad it looks nothing like that YouTube footage from recently, that looked really bad. So can we expect more effects and things thrown in into the full game or do you guys think this is probably going to be it?
 
They tried most of what yous aid in Judgement...it doesn't work in Gears.

Gears is one of those games that benefits from refinement, like Counter Strike, tack things onto the formula and it's just too volatile

The best thing to do is take the fan favorite aspects and just expand upon them, perhaps expand in areas like story and art, make it a bit more emotional and human (just dont do it in a halo 4 way)
 
Gears is one of those games that benefits from refinement, like Counter Strike, tack things onto the formula and it's just too volatile

The best thing to do is take the fan favorite aspects and just expand upon them, perhaps expand in areas like story and art, make it a bit more emotional and human (just dont do it in a halo 4 way)

I think you put it best, gears is like Counter Strike.

You don't see people complain about Conter Strike refining and not innovating and how it is the same game from the late 90s at its core and how that would mean it wouldn't attract new gamers.
 
Gears is one of those games that benefits from refinement, like Counter Strike, tack things onto the formula and it's just too volatile

The best thing to do is take the fan favorite aspects and just expand upon them, perhaps expand in areas like story and art, make it a bit more emotional and human (just dont do it in a halo 4 way)

That's what people want and even something as simple as being able to clear cover without stopping could be a big change. I'm sure to most people it looks the same but it's all the little things that add up.
 
Cheers guys. I'm not one to just hate on something for the sake of it, like some do. I will always try and back up what I'm saying.

Despite what some people seem to think, I do like Gears, but there's nothing wrong with wanting fresh idea's is there ? although it does seem like a lot of people just want it to stay the same, from some of the responses.

I know those idea's were not exactly the greatest idea's ever and there are probably many more ways how Gears can change for the better, anyone else what to add to the conversation ? instead of just saying "Those idea's suck"
Nothing wrong with wanting fresh ideas, but it depends on the ideas that are suggested. In long-running franchises, when it comes to multiplayer a lot of people want to play what they are familiar with, especially if they don't really have that experience on the Xbox One yet. This especially holds true for the more hardcore fans of said franchise.

Truth be told is this: You and many others who are saying "This just looks like some Gears ass Gears" will move on from the multiplayer weeks after launch, while the more hardcore fans will stick with it for months, if not years after release. So why break the core design of what those people love in favor of attracting people who don't love that formula and wouldn't stick with the multiplayer long after release anyway?

It's a balance that needs to be struck. How to carefully implement fresh ideas while maintaining the core of what your most loyal, hardcore fans want out of a new Gears experience, and I think The Coalition has done a great job with what we've seen thursfar.
 
And it's so fucking odd to see people point to Judgement, as if this one mediocre game somehow bolsters their argument. 'Here look see, it changed things and the game was bad so all change is bad!'. It makes no sense. I bet The Coalition could do a lot better with this franchise than People Can Fly did. There's not just a single route for innovating on a known IP, to insinuate that there is is completely ridiculous.

It's just a bit baffling to see a big budget AAA sequel pushing basically nothing new. I get that some people are madly in love with the core franchise and want not a single pixel changed, but that's not going to be a long-term, lasting playerbase. They should capitalize on the Gears IP with another fucking blow-the-doors-off balls-out blockbuster hit while it still has some brand awareness. Not just make the same game only sharper.


Judgment gave the change that people clamored for in the series. Overhauled it from top to bottom, for better and for worse. It's a mechanically sound and tight game because it uses the same core that the Gears series is known for, but the changes of how both the single player and multiplayer operated soured the fans and general consumers arguably enough considering how hard that game bombed commercially.

Why would MS risk it again with a series that's already at a crux with one shitty release when the rest of their IPs are fledgling. I love Halo 5 but let's be fucking real, no one in 2016 gives a damn about Halo and that's apparent by the lack of concrete sales figures, the large vocal outcry of essential Halo features that's been with the series, MCC being MCC etc. Forza 6 is rapidly bleeding with the racing genre being worthless, Fable's dead, MS' new IP ventures be it owned or funded all range from commercial flop to critically panned etc.

There are plenty of games out there that haven't changed anything of itself or overhauled drastically -- hell people are raving about Ratchet and Clank and that was a series that had two genuine flops that everyone fucking hated because they changed the formula so much. Warriors titles, Counter-Strike, sports games -- why does /this/ game has to be changed? What other third person shooter is out there that does what Gears does and improves on it? Ghost Recon? Shit's dead, and the new one's probably gonna be another MMO-Lite. Uncharted? Plays nothing like Gears for starters and has an excuse to overhaul itself immensely considering no one /really/ plays UC MP so the complaints against 4's changes are worthles.

There isn't a single TPS in the world that gives the same feeling that playing Gears does. Stop trying to change Gears. The people who want to change Gears to 'innovate' wouldn't have a fucking clue as to how to do it and make it successful.
 
I really like that it looks so clean though, none of those terribly ugly jaggies to ruin the look, nice stuff. Saw several videos in 1080p/60fps and it looks to be damn smooth in the beta already with barely any framedrops. Has Rod said anything about the beta and what is not in the game right now but will be when it releases? Mostly talking about visuals here.
 
Gears 2 and 3 both made significant new additions to the series while more or less keeping the core gameplay intact. So far this game doesn't look like it does much of anything new, and takes a step back in a some areas (starter weapons). They took the fan reaction to Judgment (which was always billed as an experimental title) too much to heart.
 
Judgment gave the change that people clamored for in the series. Overhauled it from top to bottom, for better and for worse. It's a mechanically sound and tight game because it uses the same core that the Gears series is known for, but the changes of how both the single player and multiplayer operated soured the fans and general consumers arguably enough considering how hard that game bombed commercially.

Why would MS risk it again with a series that's already at a crux with one shitty release when the rest of their IPs are fledgling. I love Halo 5 but let's be fucking real, no one in 2016 gives a damn about Halo and that's apparent by the lack of concrete sales figures, the large vocal outcry of essential Halo features that's been with the series, MCC being MCC etc. Forza 6 is rapidly bleeding with the racing genre being worthless, Fable's dead, MS' new IP ventures be it owned or funded all range from commercial flop to critically panned etc.

There are plenty of games out there that haven't changed anything of itself or overhauled drastically -- hell people are raving about Ratchet and Clank and that was a series that had two genuine flops that everyone fucking hated because they changed the formula so much. Warriors titles, Counter-Strike, sports games -- why does /this/ game has to be changed? What other third person shooter is out there that does what Gears does and improves on it? Ghost Recon? Shit's dead, and the new one's probably gonna be another MMO-Lite. Uncharted? Plays nothing like Gears for starters and has an excuse to overhaul itself immensely considering no one /really/ plays UC MP so the complaints against 4's changes are worthles.

There isn't a single TPS in the world that gives the same feeling that playing Gears does. Stop trying to change Gears. The people who want to change Gears to 'innovate' wouldn't have a fucking clue as to how to do it and make it successful.

We'll see how this game will be received, I guess. I just don't think this is the right way to revitalize interest in one of your biggest franchises. You are right though, Microsoft's big IP's have been stumbling hard the last few years. Maybe clinging to the fans you still have instead of trying to create nee ones is actually the best solution.
 
No I wouldn't. I cared deeply about Gears in the early days of the Xbox 360 but I fell off because I got bored of the franchise. I think i'm not alone either.
Why would I be clamoring for more of the stuff I got tired of back in 2009? These games used to push boundaries with every game.

And it's so fucking odd to see people point to Judgement, as if this one mediocre game somehow bolsters their argument. 'Here look see, it changed things and the game was bad so all change is bad!'. It makes no sense. I bet The Coalition could do a lot better with this franchise than People Can Fly did. There's not just a single route for innovating on a known IP, to insinuate that there is is completely ridiculous.

It's just a bit baffling to see a big budget AAA sequel pushing basically nothing new. I get that some people are madly in love with the core franchise and want not a single pixel changed, but that's not going to be a long-term, lasting playerbase. They should capitalize on the Gears IP with another fucking blow-the-doors-off balls-out blockbuster hit while it still has some brand awareness. Not just make the same game only sharper.
The entire reason that Judgement was mediocre is why everyone is using it in their argument.
Why do you think Judgement turned out to be Mediocre despite having a core around gears gameplay which people love?
 
It sure doesn't look bad by any means in the Dodgeball video, but there's something that is missing. Lighting perhaps? The same with that other map that is during daytime and colourful. I am glad it looks nothing like that YouTube footage from recently, that looked really bad. So can we expect more effects and things thrown in into the full game or do you guys think this is probably going to be it?

I think the main thing that looks to be missing/underwhelming is effects. The blood and explosions don't seem to "pop" as much. I notice it especially on the chainsaw execution. In Gears 3 it essentially looked like a shower of gore, in the beta it appears to just kinda plop out. I imagine that the whole thing from a technical point is actually in "alpha" or close to it though and from a mechanical point it's in beta.
 
I see they still haven't changed Team Deathmatch to "first to 'x' score" instead of "first to lose all their lives." That's the reason I didn't like TDM in Gears 3, because you'd have people getting themselves killed every 5 seconds using up all the lives and then you can't respawn anymore.

That's the exact reason why it's better the way it is now. If it was first to x points and everyone else keep dying every 5 seconds, you'd have no chance to win. The other team would reach x points in no time. With x respawns there is always a chance to do something on your own even if everyone else ob the team suck.
 
Judgment gave the change that people clamored for in the series. Overhauled it from top to bottom, for better and for worse. It's a mechanically sound and tight game because it uses the same core that the Gears series is known for, but the changes of how both the single player and multiplayer operated soured the fans and general consumers arguably enough considering how hard that game bombed commercially.

Why would MS risk it again with a series that's already at a crux with one shitty release when the rest of their IPs are fledgling. I love Halo 5 but let's be fucking real, no one in 2016 gives a damn about Halo and that's apparent by the lack of concrete sales figures, the large vocal outcry of essential Halo features that's been with the series, MCC being MCC etc. Forza 6 is rapidly bleeding with the racing genre being worthless, Fable's dead, MS' new IP ventures be it owned or funded all range from commercial flop to critically panned etc.

There are plenty of games out there that haven't changed anything of itself or overhauled drastically -- hell people are raving about Ratchet and Clank and that was a series that had two genuine flops that everyone fucking hated because they changed the formula so much. Warriors titles, Counter-Strike, sports games -- why does /this/ game has to be changed? What other third person shooter is out there that does what Gears does and improves on it? Ghost Recon? Shit's dead, and the new one's probably gonna be another MMO-Lite. Uncharted? Plays nothing like Gears for starters and has an excuse to overhaul itself immensely considering no one /really/ plays UC MP so the complaints against 4's changes are worthles.

There isn't a single TPS in the world that gives the same feeling that playing Gears does. Stop trying to change Gears. The people who want to change Gears to 'innovate' wouldn't have a fucking clue as to how to do it and make it successful.

So the best thing any developer in this franchise can do is release the same game multiple times? To be fair though I do not care about the multiplayer but what worries me is the absolutely uninspired single player demo. The same bog standard 2006 level design mantra of stop and pop shooting with multiple walking segments inbetween. That is not a sign of ambition. I believe Gears of War and God of War find themselves in the same position - The core gameplay loop is just not interesting enough to wow people for yet another iteration. It needs some sweeping changes. UC4 will pay of big time sales wise because it does not seem to be UC3.5. I suspect the opposite will happen for both Gears and God of War if they continue to regurgitate the same worn out formula again and again.
 
So the best thing any developer in this franchise can do is release the same game multiple times? To be fair though I do not care about the multiplayer but what worries me is the absolutely uninspired single player demo. The same bog standard 2006 level design mantra of stop and pop shooting with multiple walking segments inbetween. That is not a sign of ambition. I believe Gears of War and God of War find themselves in the same position - The core gameplay loop is just not interesting enough to wow people for yet another iteration. It needs some sweeping changes. UC4 will pay of big time sales wise because it does not seem to be UC3.5. I suspect the opposite will happen for both Gears and God of War if they continue to regurgitate the same worn out formula again and again.

Maybe you should wait to see more Single Player content before you make this claim
 
So the best thing any developer in this franchise can do is release the same game multiple times? To be fair though I do not care about the multiplayer but what worries me is the absolutely uninspired single player demo. The same bog standard 2006 level design mantra of stop and pop shooting with multiple walking segments inbetween. That is not a sign of ambition. I believe Gears of War and God of War find themselves in the same position - The core gameplay loop is just not interesting enough to wow people for yet another iteration. It needs some sweeping changes. UC4 will pay of big time sales wise because it does not seem to be UC3.5. I suspect the opposite will happen for both Gears and God of War if they continue to regurgitate the same worn out formula again and again.

this game that hasnt launched will be better than this game that hasnt launched either, because reasons
 
I think the main thing that looks to be missing/underwhelming is effects. The blood and explosions don't seem to "pop" as much. I notice it especially on the chainsaw execution. In Gears 3 it essentially looked like a shower of gore, in the beta it appears to just kinda plop out. I imagine that the whole thing from a technical point is actually in "alpha" or close to it though and from a mechanical point it's in beta.

That's exactly it. The blood effects really look lame and not nearly as good as previous games. I hope the devs see the reactions and act on it. But if this is still pre alpha, it sure looks rather decent. Should definitely look better when it's finished too, in terms of effects.
 
Meh, not sure why but everything looks extremely flat. no ambient occlusion, barely any normal mapping and no contact shadowing where the character feet meet the floor. It kind of looks like an up-rezzed 360 title (I am over-dramatizing here, but it does not look and feel like a proper xbox one title)
 
Anyone see any hammerburst footage yet? I can't imagine they would've taken that out of the game too.

So far we're thinking the starting weapons will be the same as Gears 2 right? I really liked the retro lancer.
 
Sounds kinda odd, almost like it's suppressed.

Little bit yeah.

Honestly it looks like a hybrid of the Gears 2/3 HB and the Retro Lancer. It seems like they took the TTK, range, aiming reticle and bullet spread from the Retro (which you pretty much had to use in bursts anyway to control recoil) and just forces you to use it in the same 3 round bursts from Gears 1 with a HB skin.

So yeah, this just seems like they mashed the HB and retro together.
 
Why shake things up too much for people who won't even stick around long with the game, apropos the multiplayer specifically. Just refine the excellent Gears 3 gameplay, get rid of the weapon balancing issues (like the retro) and let the Gears fans that have been playing these games for 10 years have their cake. Most gamers who want them to shake things up gameplay wise will most likely not be the people playing this game 5 years from now, and in the process you'd most likely alienate those that have loved, and continue to love this formula, like Judgement.
 
With the amount of people comparing the Gears 4 Beta to Gears 3 visually, I wonder if Digital Foundry will do a comparison of them with their tech analysis? It would be interesting to compare them side-by-side.
 
Dodgeball mode sounds like a blast. Not worried about the visuals as this is just a beta.

Looking forward to Monday!

Also, glad they brought back active reload for multiplayer. Don't knwo why they got rid of it in Judgment.
 
Are they bringing back any of the cool weapons from Judgement? Pretty much the only good part of that game.

The best new weapon that was introduced in Judgement was the Markza (in my opinion). Gun was a beast in MP, loved it!

Edit: Nope, I confused the Markza with the Breechshot. The Breechshot was a beast in MP, loved it! The Markza wasn't a bad weapon either for a loadout weapon. The Breechshot was my go to weapon pickup.
 
Glad it plays more like Gears 3 since that was the best GoW. Those graphics however are nothing to be excited about at the moment.
If I didn't know any better and you told me this was on 360, I wouldn't argue with you.

Hopefully this is a case of multiplayer needing more resources and so downgrade in textures or lighting or both.
 
Looks great. Don't see a problem with the visuals either, considering 60FPS, and I think it will look better by launch too.
 
The Gears community would collectively lose their shit if any of this happened. Verticality was not well received in Judgement and falling from the top of Gondola was something a lot of people disliked.

Other stuff you listed like mechs, vehicles, different classes. None of that stuff is going to be welcomed or asked for by the larger Gears community. People want intimate, close quarters combat where everyone is on a level playing field. That's what people love about Gears.
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