Multiplayer Battle: Gears of War vs. Halo 3 beta

On May 16, Bungie stomped Epic's Gears of War by releasing its Halo 3 beta. Lines were drawn. Lancer and Battle Rifles collided. Gears' Gnasher Shotgun bared its fangs at Halo 3's M90. Clearly, there can be only one victor.

GameDaily pit these two gaming studs against one another to see which offers the best multiplayer experience.

[tony]

is just a beta!!!!!

[gta_cb]

in every Halo 3 Bera comparison someone always says it but there just seems to be more and more comparisons! =(

... yeh i am gonna say it aswell... its just a Beta!

[THAMMER1]

Halo has a fast pase, but Gears is extra hard core. It all evens out.

[alsef07]

Its way more fun to play online than gears

[MySwordIsHeavenly]

Are you guys saying that Halo 3 (or any of the Halo's for that matter) is better than a game made by EPIC??? Do you know how many PC gamers would slit your throats if they heard that? EPIC craps out better games than Halo 3, ohkay?!!!

GOW DEFINITELY KILLS HALO 3!!!

Halo 3 is what Halo's always wanted to be...Tribes 2.

Except, in Tribes, you get jetpacks...

[dalectrics]

but.....

but.....

...you're the Master Chief!

[dominusbellum]

in what world is tribes anything like halo it's not even close to the same game in tribes you can swith between light medium and heavy armour hook up turrets and have some of the worst guns this side of gaming alls you do is fly in the air shoot senselesly and hope you hit your target halo tactical 2 weapon balance run around and alot easier to hit your target

[JHFKDFNFGJKFHDKF]

I've played Gears of war and the halo 3 beta... I'd pick the beta anyday over Gears.

The gameplay is vastly superior, and so is the lobby and matchamking systems.

[MoonDust]

GOW sucks, it got boring so fast, it's repetitive. Low number of weapons, gametype, player, just not that good of a game.

[Killer B]

1st - Halo has a art and what not based upon a world/enviroment from 2001. You can't take the Halo universe and change it's style to match something like GOW w/o loosing the feel. I'm glad they do not look the same.
2cnd - as stated time and time again - it's a Beta.
3rd - They are completely different game styles. It's not comparing apples to apples... both are great games and extremely fun - but they completely different play styles. Again - how can this be a good comparison.
4th - I've played them both extensively - and I'd take Halo over GOW any day. But that's my opinion. In Match Making - Halo 2/3 matching is fantastic - GOW, not so much. They should make Halo's MM manditory!

5th - myswordisheavy, that's funny stuff. You're wrong, but you made me laugh.

[Maldread]

I agree, you said allmost all that was on my mind too.

And it could be an idea to wait for a finished Halo 3 before comparing it Gears of War, even though it would still be a bit unfair, because Gears of War `ll be one year older then.

[gapzi11a]

Gears may be more hardcore and have better graphics, but it's only 8 players, it's slow, the controls are difficult, the lobby/matchmaking system is bare bones, and it has too high a learning curve for casual gamers.

Halo has always been the best game for taking a large group of friends into matchmaking and just having fun. It's fast paced, the controls are easy to pick up, and it has the best matchmaking system ever.

[progx]

only because im better at it online than HALO. I enjoy HALO's campaign more.

[Dukester101]

Although this is a Beta version (best working build)... it's not far from what the full game will include.

The article states that "Bungie's Frank O'Connor informed us that the final version of Halo 3 multiplayer will look similar to the beta." This is more true than most realize.

The game comes out in 4 months, but the developers only have probably 3 months at the latest to get the game completed. People dont understand that they have to go through code reviews, bug fixes, play-throughs, and many other independent tests before they can actually be created and shipped.

However, the next 3 months, they will be able to polish the graphics up a bit (better than the beta build), tweak and refine, and enhance their matchmaking features, in addition to what i've mentioned above.

Bottom line though: You cannot compare the two games (they're in the same food group, but not the same food!). Gears emphasis was on visuals and dark, horrid gameplay. Halo 3 has an emphasis on matchmaking, and community aspects. Both will be/have been good sellers for the Xbox 360. Both will/have sold consoles.

Each is unique and to compare them you're only downplaying one for the other. They both have strengths, and weaknesses. What one lacks, the other makes up for and visa versa.

[mcintosh233]

i prefer the gears matchmaking
i think the style of gameplay is more fun
more exciting
i love the gears control system
halo is good (i still prefer halo 1's multiplayer) but gears is great
more tactics and teamwork i feel. i've never had the level of chat and teamwork being used in gears in halo.

i also like the way the rounds are done with everyone getting 1 life

[TheSadTruth]

Gears has the worst matchmaking system ever created... do you understand the purpose of matchmaking? The best players are supposed to be the highest ranks and they would match each other, the lesser skilled players would all be lower levels. The point system of GoW is horrible as ANY player can be top ranked because they can simply mass the most games even if they aren't necessarily skilled. Tactics and teamwork in GoW is very limited.. and the entire gameplay is ruined by the fact only the host can use midrange weapons efficiently.

[Lygre]

When Halo 3 launches in september we will see what game has the most players online. I'm betting 10 bucks on Halo 3. Anyone wanna bet against?

The game that will have the most players playing multiplayer = That game is the best multiplayer game. And I'm pretty sure Halo 3 will take the cake.

[Ironspud]

Both are excellent games, I don't think it really matters either way.

GOW is good. Halo 3 better be good.

We should be rejoicing, not trying to have two great games kill each other...

[nix]

man i'm so used to it... q:

[MoonDust]

Because I've had more fun in the beta than I've had with the entire GOW game.

[Maldread]

Well that pretty much show just how good Halo3 is going to be, i`m sad to say i havn`t had the chance to play either, so i`ll guess i`ll just take you`re word for it, if you`re not some Halo die-hard fanboy hehe ;)

[sonarus]

haha halo is gonna compared with jst about anything. Next up halo vs metroid prime lol

[gta_cb]

at the moment i am more into Gears of War, but thats only as when i went on the Beta there was the problems, but i havnt been on it for a while, maybe with the new BTB mode and the new vehicle i mite really enjoy it more then before.

oh and before someone disagrees with me or something, i didnt say i didnt like the Beta, i think its cool, but the network/connection problems that where there didnt make it fantastic.

[nicodemus]

because I want to limit my exposure at least SOMEWHAT before release...

But even comparing GOW to Halo 2, I'd have to say H2 wins in almost every department except graphics. I was blown away with GOW at first, but in fairly short order (a few months or so) the awe-inspiring graphics had worn off, and not too long after, so did the gameplay. Halo 2 on the other hand, I played religously for the better part of 2 years. Not sure if it's the style or what, but Halo's always been one of the best games to me. Unreachable, even by Gears of War.

[evilmark220]

halo 3 will win

[Schmitty07]

In Halo I don't need to set up a game and wait for ever to get people to join. In Halo I can play ranked games with friends. In Halo there is always plenty of people to play with. Halo supports up to 16 players

[VirusE]

I love halo 3 beta and I love gears but the netcode on halo 3 is way better than gears and it’s just a beta! The host advantage in gears is outrageous, very few people use cover at all, the shotgun is so over powered that people refer to the game as gears of shotguns and did I mention the host advantage. When you get into a game of gears the guy with the highest kills is 9 out of 10 times is also the host. halo 3 is still a beta and it runs real fast, I have only seen lag a few times and the fact that you can party up (just hit x in the post game lobby and anyone else who hits it is in your party) and still play ranked games makes it go beyond the gears online experience. The lack of matchmaking really hurts the game. I wish halo had the gore and graphics that gears does but all in all halo 3 works out better online. I would still give gears a 9.5 for online experience (yes I do own a nice pc and game online with it so don’t even start pc only guys) and the halo 3 beta I would give a 10. I can’t remember the last time I had this much fun playing a game.

[Covenant]

I like H3 better so far, even based on an incomplete beta. Gears matches have a tendency to bog down into "trench warfare" with players too often hiding under cover rather than jump out and attack. Weapon whoring is also a big problem, though that happens a lot in Halo. But Halo offers a better variety of weapons, making a counteroffensive easier.

And I have to say this: Gears' lack of a jump button is a MAJOR liability in multiplayer.

[Drew]

What? Maybe if they were intelligent enough not to quit back to the lobby every time they finished a match, they'd find that match making takes about 15 seconds to find a match. A good match, where the players are of the same skill. Graphics is all opinion, and actually, Halo 3 is TECHNICALLY superior to GoW. Some people just like the aesthetic of GoW more. Stupid article, made only to drive traffic.

[PhinneousD]

halo 3 multiplayer is a lot more balanced imo. gears is fun, and is up there with halo but it isn't quite as entertaining as a multiplayer. the controls are heavy and sluggish in gears... but it's still good. we should have this debate after halo 3 actually ships.