Gears of War: Details and Disappointments

The Gears of War 2 trailer released just a few days back had people in a mixed mood since the scale and style of the cinematic effects failed to provide the visual high that people had been expecting from one of the more hyped games in recent times. Of course, that's a strange statement to make in an industry run on hype, but even so, expectations had been high for the visuals of Gears 2. But there might be hope yet.

[Condoleezza Rice]

Gears of War 2 to look like Crysis when it comes to graphics,so I'm not disappointed.

I do believe a lot of people expected the leap in graphics from GeOW 1 to GeOW 2 be the same as the leap in graphics from COD3 to COD4,I think those guys are disappointed.

[gaffyh]

I thought it looked pretty good from the trailer, not a giant graphical leap, but it definitely looked better than the first game. I think it could have looked a lot better if MS allowed Epic to take some more time on the game.

[Lord Vader]

The article definately brings up some good points, but I loved the trailer & can't wait to see more. Besides:

Gameplay > Graphics

And that's what made Gears, the gameplay... the graphics are just the icing on the chainsaw.

[SausageKing]

Except it wasn't the game's gameplay.

The multiplayer was completely and utterly broken - I guess people were tired enough of Halo 2 to play anything no matter how bad. I can't think of another major off the shelf console game that had worse online bugs and problems than the first Gears of War.

Seeing a thread about Dan Hsu leaving 1Up really put things in perspective as to the massive undeserved overhype for the first Gears of War:

http://www.abjecthubris.com...

Honestly that sounds like an 8/10 maybe even 7/10 review but the game was still given 9 and 10/10s. I remember back around that time there were friends who were still Geometry Wars was worth the price of their system. GeoW really was latched on to be fans and media as some sort of salvation and earned a reputation that really wasn't deserved.

Epic really botched this unveiling with the timing and the inevitable comparisons to that other major game this past week and the fact that they showed a level that was completely on the rails and is the best case for showing off graphics since you have so little to draw at one time.

And the gameplay additions were quite a disappointment considering they had been in other games before and aren't innovations.

I think there wouldn't be such a huge amount of disappointment in GeoW2 if the rest of Microsoft's 2008 lineup wasn't so questionable. Alan Wake is official off in sometime in 2009. Too Human seems to only have people interested in it who a forcing themselves to believe it will be anything but a mediocre and forgettable effort.

Right now it is just Ninja Gaiden, Banjo, and maybe fable by the end of the year beside GeoW2. GeoW2 was hyped as being such a graphical and gameplay amazement that no one would care what else Microsoft had for 2008.

[Monchichi025]

The name fits you well!!! LOL But seriously, who are you trying to kid with your retarded comments. Gears of War was Game of The Year for a reason. If you didn't like it: TOUGH!!! Everyone else outside of Sony fanboys loved it!!

That is Why Gears of War is what it is!!! And my personal opinion, one of the BEST games I'VE ever played! (My own personal opinion!)

[masterg]

@Lord Vader

I agree with you on the fact the Gears Online had way too many bugs and lag.
But the core online gameplay was so amazing (The best online experience I have ever tried).

All I hope for Gears 2 online is that they have fixed: Lag (including host advantage), resume play on host quitting, host having all the power instead of people voting people off, cheating glitches that ruins the game.

[7h3ultim8p00]

What? I've read nothing but praise at the way this game looks. I havent really seen people disappointed.

[shotputking]

i thought it looked great... maybe if this was a launch game for the next xbox that would be a valid complaint... but it looks a step above gears one, and this isn't even a finished product.

[tplarkin7]

Besides, I was impressed by the graphics. There were many more enemies and the Brumak looked awesome.

[Silellak]

The people who were disappointed are the ones who were looking to be disappointed.

[xboxrumble]

who those are...

imo this game will do better than resistance2 and kz2, just watch. you have one mediocre game and the other nobody ever heard of the first.

nobody is expecting breakout visuals and yet the game will still be better.

[Blademask]

Before we heard things from epic like:

"Bigger, better, more badass"

The community was all about how Gears 2 was going to stomp unnamed titles, and be graphically superior in every way. Gears2 was also going to show that the 360's "power" wasn't tapped out either. How Epic was the only dev to really get performance out of the 360, Gears 2 was going to have better lighting, more stuff going on on-screen, softbody dynamics, destructible environments, huge scale wars.

NOW

Everyone has completely done a 180. Yes we all know that OBVIOUSLY GAMEPLAY IS MORE IMPORTANT THAN GRAPHICS. But thats just assuming someone is coming from the stance that Graphics > Gameplay. Which to this day, no one has ever said or made a public statement for any title. Its always the answered question, that no one asked.

Graphics + Gameplay > Gameplay. Especially when you factor in that you are playing on a current gen console thats not lower powered like the Wii. I feel like that ridiculous argument holds water when you are talking about a Wii title, because traditionally those titles aren't trying to "Raise the bar" Graphically. Gears 2 has ended up looking like Gears 1, I don't think that is what anyone was expecting when Cliffy/Mark all boasted about the graphics of this title raising the bar again. Seeing as how gears 1 was the fan favorite "Graphics King" of 2006. And some even still concur that it holds its crown today. No one ever said it was the "Gameplay King." Its gameplay wasn't compared to Resistance 1, the Graphics were. No one stopped dead in their tracks at a BestBuy/Gamestore to say "Wow the gameplay dynamics are so interesting" No, people were blown away by how amazing Gears1 looked.

I don't buy the current trend that everyone is doing right now. Stories about how important gameplay is, how unimportant graphics are, how the game dynamics is the most important thing even if the graphis aren't that mind blowing. Once again, gameplay is always more important than graphics. Its a universal fact of gaming. I feel like Epic shot their mouth off, and showcased a product that doesn't hold up any of what they said. I'm not going to forget that Gears2 was said to be the killzone2 killer, and that it was going to "pwn" resistance2 when it comes to graphics, then fails to deliver. I dont think they deserve to be cut any slack either due to whatever excuse is out there.

Gears 2 is going to be a great title. Its not looking to be any graphical marvel that takes on some other unnamed title. Which is what it was touted to be in the first place.

No one is saying the graphics are bad, but its not anything that is bar setting in 2008. Which is again, what it was promoted as.

[Rugludallur]

Great argument, and I agree with you.

Bubbles for you :)

[meepmoopmeep]

wow, i have to agree with you.

gears was always labeled for its graphics and boasted about to this day and so it has to live up to that image whether people like it or not.

but we've only seen one video on rails so who knows...

[Vito_corleone]

I agree. Bubble party... :P

Whats up with all the disagrees? u can't disagree with my opinion.

[ActionBastard]

It's the Achilles heel of most gamers- wishy washy like Charlie Brown. When games like Shadow Of the Colossus or Bioshock get released, they are art and elevate gaming to new fans of the medium. They have meaning and in some cases, social commentary. But when GTA or any other game that pushes what gaming can comment on, what level of interactivity the players experience, yet, get a bad rap from mainstream media, then the "It's just a game" mantra begins. This is no different.

Gears 2 was supposed to blow us away. It looks slightly faster in terms of gameplay, but that's it. The graphics are great, but great by 2006's standards. Now that it has been shown and doesn't "wow" as expected, it's all about gameplay. Why is that?

Bubbles Bladmask, well said.

[le killer]

epic haven't changed the engine, so to expect it to be leaps and bounds ahead of the first one is slightly niave! all they have done is expand on the original in terms of size and scope, and heve changed the lighting together with some spit and polish!

i dont expect gears to change much graphically throughout the trilogy! unless they use the next unreal engine (number 4) and it's only available on the next xbox console....although, i think they will still use the unreal 3 engine, and have gears3 as a launch title!

people expecting killzone3 to improve drastically in the visuals department will be in for a shock! now the engine has been nailed, guerrilla(check spelling) wont change things that much, they will just tweak things and add spit and polish.

it's not to say that games wont look better, or these two are gonna be the pinnacle of each console. just that these two are running on nearly fully flesched out game engines, and the devs haven't(and wont in killzone's case) sought to change too much. with the investment gone into the titles in talking about....you can see why.

[Blademask]

edit.

[shutterspeed]

It wowed me. I don't know about you, but watching that thing on my HDTV from my 360, it looked pretty damn impressive. I was even more wowed than Killzone 2 because though Killzone 2 has better GFX, Gears 2 just looked more fun as so much shlt was going on at once.

[mistertwoturbo]

Best post of the century. Blademask, kudos to a nicely well thought out post!

[King_many_layers]

that is a load of poop and you know it.

just look at the leap from resistance 1 to Ratchet and clank.

[bootsielon]

And besides, 360 is easy to develop for. I guess that should let power of green sleep in tranquility until the final product comes out.

Well, I guess I will just wish good luck to Cliffy B with Gears of Shooting Range

[meepmoopmeep]

no disappointments from what i saw so far. i never expected it to be that huge of an improvement over 1.

[gamesR4fun]

yep they still have time lets hope they do pull off them UE 3.5 effects they were bragging up.

[shadow_hearts]

I think GEARS 2 might even be canned

since it looks like a PILE OF TRASH vs KZ2

http://www.gamersyde.com/ne...

[DARK WITNESS]

i thought it looked good, i was not expecting much of a leap.

i don't really see how anyone could knowing that it is coming out only 2 years after the first one.

i was expecting it to at least be 3 years before we see the next one. my real concern is that they fix the multiplayer.

i got so pissed off with it i just stopped playing it. i hope they work on the network code. it seemed to get more and more broken with each update.

[v1c1ous]

as did GoW1.

i never got into gears b/c of graphics, i got into gears because of the gameplay

[THE_JUDGE]

didn't look better. I was expecting it to look somewhere near Resistance 2 or KillZone 2 and it doesn't. I'm wondering if the Unreal Engine is causing a graphical barrier or something.

[tamd]

this game should be gr8

[power of Green]

I think Epic is playing games with us to tell you the truth!, they're fucing around with the builds and what they turn on" or add to surprize folks hyping the game beyond reason.

Its so plan as day this is what they're doing.

Watch! I'm always right. Marketing tactic at its best.

[3sexty rulzzz]

the upper left hand corner you will notice the hill-billy's in the driver's seat. you can clearly see him. and yeah, that vid we saw was an earlier vid because if you think about it you analyse cliffy B reaction after the vid is done you can just tell that they are hiding somnething.

[Ace Ventura]

Take a look, Xbots.

Below is a look at the ONE PS3 game releasing this year that is going to LITERALLY DEMOLISH the XBox 360 Exclusives, including Gears 2.

I mean this will outperform the 360 Exclusive in every way imaginable.

Judgement day is looming near, BOTS.

Take a look at the FCKING AMAZING looking game. It's like nothing I have seen before:

[Ace Ventura]

Gears 2 is defiane'y the best looking 260 game coming. I still wasn't blown away, whatsoever. It looked like I thought it would look.

[shadow_hearts]

http://www.gamersyde.com/ne...

KZ2 officially makes GEARS2 a wii game

Gears 2 doesnt even light a candle against Uncharted. How would it come close to KZ2 Mart aka POG

[LaChance]

and peole are dissapointed !!!

When they only got great graphics in a game and crappy gameplay ( you know which games Im talking about ) they are still dissapointed.

So what do they want exactly ?

By the way I dont remember Epic mentionning graphics when they were talking about Geow 2;

And....can somebody mention just one game , yes only one game coming out this year or already out that looks better than Geow 2 ? After seeing Res 2 trailer and multiplayer ( I know the quality was bad but we could at least imagine what they game is gonna look like) I dont think Insomniac are going for the grphics but more concerned about the content.

[WIIIS1]

Gears 2 trailer blew KZtoo to kingdom come and now this news that it was only an early build! Looks like PS3 games will be 2 generations behind when the final game is released.

[leon76]

...Ahahahahahah, what a bunch of dumb@ss idiots!!!!! farts of war 1.15 will be a major piece of sh*t, live with that @ssholes!!!!!!!

[rebirthofcaos]

POG XD that is like hearing a Microsoft rep saying that the RROD is just in the imagination of the people.

[power of Green]

You piece of sh*t troll why don't you get your ass in the PS3 section, loser lol.

[Vito_corleone]

Ohh someones got their period. U go girl

[power of Green]

You too. lol

[Tmac]

Lol, power Of green can't even tell when some one is making fun of him anymore.

[DJ]

How gameplay footage released in May can look worse than screens released in March is beyond me. And yeah, the ambient occlusion is missing for some reason (they may still be working on it).

But the Locust horde was absolutely ridiculous. It was just 40 of them running in a pack for no real reason in some random direction. I was expecting a big leap in graphics and gameplay, but didn't really get either one, which blows.

[Exorgasm]

I wasn't disappointed but was a little shocked by the blurry appearance and what seemed to be a very short draw distance. That's probably the look that the artists behind the look and feel of the game think best fits their creation though and probably isn't there to mask anything like a lot of people seem to think right now. I trust that the game would be awesome even if it still looks like this when it's released but I doubt it will.

[thehitman]

UT3 engine cant handle a huge draw distance because it loads pretty slow idk why but it does. UT3 is like that and gears is like that you can mostly notice it right before a match and look at texture detail load up on the maps.

[thehitman]

Gears2 wasnt going to be a leap in graphics which is why I thought it be like a gears 1.5 but I think in the trailer they proven that the gameplay was going to be the step up. Gears1 had amazing graphics for the time it was released and made the game. It however did not have the same amount of gameplay affect of the graphics. gameplay + graphics == Amazing game not Graphics > Gampley == Amazing game.

[kewlkat007]

Like some say, I think most that were disappointed are the ones probably were never getting the game.

It's very rare "sequels" during the same console gen have the same effect as it predecessor did, when it first debut or even have the Whoa!! effect on gamers.

If the game was great because of the "graphics" at the time and the gameplay, how can you be disappointed when, it's looking like the devs are putting an effort to make it better,.

As far as, (what we all griped about). If I remember correctly GRAPHICS was not one of the GRIPES. It was GAMEPLAY and some little things and they are looking to improve.

Resistance 2 won't Whoa you the second time around. Now Kill zone 2 will because it's coming from Old-gen to New-Gen hardware, as well as 4+ years of Dev time. (Obviously)

That's about it. How do you view success for these games when they are due out, we we will see. Geow 2 will be a success from what I've seen. Not because of Graphics alone.

[SpenserTracy]

The 360 cannot handle more advanced graphics than this. Its good but not enough for me. The other thing is on 360 games, they often release images of a higher resolution than what is in the actual game. This disappoints me still as much as it did from the beginning when I owned a 360. Low res graphics and low res textures is the truth. Hi res images on gamesites, edited videos, it has gone to far. Bye.

[pow3r of t3h c3ll]

pity the detail wont make up for such disappointments like:

game length
crap characters
crap story
repetitive gameplay and levels
small online games
laggy online games
14 year old pre-pubescent kids on live
RROD
and the fact that resistance 2 will own this

LOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOL OL!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Boink]

and bear in mind this game still has months to go before release, so I expect some touch up here and there.

[HondaSIRowner]

360 has maxxed out within a short period of time!

Unreal is not the leader in graphical goodness anymore (for a console).

Guerrilla Games looks to be the "one"

[jaja1434]

"Maxed out" like your intelligence maxed out at 5?

[Tmac]

JaJa have you ever thought about how close the Xbox 360 is to PC architecture? The reality is that the Xbox 360 might already be pushed to the Max. Instead of arguing semantics, you could have a decent rebuttal.

[jaja1434]

And I would gladly have a decent discussion if the comment was a bit less of my console is better than yours. But seeing as how neither I nor you(I presume) are developer and thus have no conclusive proof that is it maxed out I kind of find such arguments useless.

But for the sake of one, one of the programmers who worked on Force Unleashed talked to our schools CS department a few months ago. Someone asked if the PS3/360 was nearing it's potential and his response was that neither system is "maxed out."

Also I would have replied as such, if the poster defend his position more than simply stating that the 360 is "maxed out" as a fact.

You get what you give, he gave crap, I gave it back. Not very mature I admit but it's what I gave none the less.

[celticlonewolf]

still 6 months or so away lol. I thought it looked great and wasnt really disaponted at all considering they have so much time to add all the little effects in that will make this game stand out.

[rebirthofcaos]

;_; you hurt my feelings POG. As I could care XD XD XD, then next time please if you say me to go to play 3 section then do a favor yourself and dont go to that section PLZ...

But since you still will go to the play3 secction then ill continue to bash the RROD 180 since it can burn down a house XD XD XD XD

[WIIIS1]

Please, you are most welcome to express your insecurities and fears here. We understand PS3 owners have a lot of frustrations to ventilate.

[ActionBastard]

BS3 apparently hasn't looked at the PS3 lineup. Nothing to be upset about. It's not like having 2 sh1tty Rare games and Too Human, but it'll do.

[BUKKAKALYPSE]

but i mean i'd play a stickman game if you could chainsaw the sh!t outta your bro's

[JokesOnYou]

That would be a more accurate title....ha ha I'm a huge Gears fan and I'm even more exicited for Gears2, if you are a Gears fan and you were expecting it to look better than Crysis then shame on you for be unrealisitic, I was simply expecting:

The graphics to be a an improvement over the original which btw is still one of the best looking next gen game 2 yrs later= check///be more "Epic" than the original, from what I saw so far it looks like it will be= check/// bring some new features, weapons, charachters to the table=check/// run faster and smoother than the original=check/// and hopefully expand on the story of course STILL BE GEARS OF WAR....don't know how good the story will be, but we at least know it will add to the original, and YES its GEARS OF WAR2= check, and hopefully fix the probems of the originals great online multiplayer= we'll see.

Can't wait.

JOY

[devilhunterx]

Sony Fanboys (tm) also have PC. And will if they want to, will play the complete version on the PC.

[JokesOnYou]

while I play Gears2 with my buds day 1. All your sdf tactics won't prevent Gears2 from being a major hit, just like the first. lol you shouldn't let your jealousy show so much.

Try harder.

JOY

[ActionBastard]

It will be a hit with owners of the first. Won't move consoles. 360 will top off at 25 million (lifetime sales). Especially with their 08 lineup.

GLEE

[SlippyMadFrog]

I realy don't know why these people say there isn't any improvement. And they draw conclusions from a one minute video.

- better graphics
- more enemies
- more weapons
- more features like meat shield
- more going on on-screen in general
- better frame rate (and that is after the above improvements)

I think its more like people want the game to look bad because of their own hidden (or not so hidden) agendas. If this was multi platform or a PS3 exclusive, expect different opinions.

*edit
@ Action Bastard

Gears of War 1 was game of the year. How will Gears of War 2 NOT move consoles?
Also, saying the Xbox360 won't pass 25 million is a very very bad prediction.

[Sayai jin]

The funny thing about this discussion is all the people who are haters commenting on a game they supposedly could care less about.

I will not be dissapointed or be completly happy until I play the game. Epic plus Gears is a proven, so I would expect the 2nd installation to great as well. Stop trying to compare to KZ2.

[xboxrumble]

its sony haters that are most disappointed it's one of those oxymorons.

[Bellic Jr]

and I Love the Gears Franchise!

[wallace1000]

Too true dude. In most of the articles on Gears 2 i have read recently i swear i am reading "KZ2" in the discussion thread more than i am reading "Gears". That just doesn't make any sense.

[Funky Town_TX]

OMFG. What does GOW have to do with MGS and RFOM, man these are not the some types of games.

[Bellic Jr]

Until Uncharted surfaced, I always used Gears Of War as sort of a measuring tool in terms of measuring graphics. I also knew that Epic used a great deal of the 360's potential as its similiar to a PC and HEY! Epic is a PC dev studio at its core.

Gears2 doesnt need to look much better than the first GeOW. The game is beautiful. I was expecting a bit more of an upgrade visual wise and this was accomplished to some extent. The game has more color and looks a notch more polished than Gears1.

Could Epic have really made Gears2 Super Polished and more visually stunning on the 360? I think so. But doing so would have resulted in A LOT LESS going on- on the screen, which would mean the game would look much prettier than the original but would lack a bunch of new elements that sets Gears2 apart from Gears1.

Epic has tapped the 360 with Gears and the only way they could push it further would be to put it on the PS3 and that aint gonna happen. Atleast I dont think so.

hit my +bubble if you agree or disagree(SaRc)

Edit- I cant wait til November to get GeOW2!!!

[wass007]

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHA

Gears 1.5 hahahahahahahahahahahaha

Bots think its better then killzone hahahahahahahahahaha

Bots think its a system seller hahahahahahahahahahahahahaha

Bots think its longer then 5 hours hahahahahahahahahahahaha

p.s Which idiot bot disagreed with me?? is it cuz a said gears 1.5 aint a system seller?? well its true gears 1 was the system seller no1 wud in their right mind buy gears 2 on the 360 without even playing gears 1

or was is because i said gears 1.5 will not be more then 5 hours long?? well the 1st 1 was 5 hours because all they focused on was multiplayer which was stupid lol and looks like their going to do the same again lmao!!

[beavis4play]

i wish, when 360 fanatics throw around the word "gameplay" they would elaborate a little on what particular aspects of the gameplay they liked. hard to add anything to comments that say: "i just loved gears gameplay" or "i play gears because of the gameplay" or the classic "graphics don't matter if the gameplay is there".
there are others but you guys get the idea. this is not criticism. gameplay in any particular game has diff. aspects depending on the game. but just saying the word gameplay doesn't mean a thing unless you explain what you're talking about. maybe if you guys bring up specifics-for ex. i liked the way gears took the cover system from a mediocre game like killswitch and vastly improved it. there, that isn't so hard. so, if you like the gameplay, please say WHY you liked it. this will make having discussions much better.

[xboxrumble]

u can make that assumption urself if ur a gamer

[beavis4play]

obviously you aren't a gamer, and are completely brain dead besides to not understand my comment. welcome to the ignore list, you aren't worth the troule.

[mistertwoturbo]

I know you're just on a rant against the fans that are boys lol. But I agree, some people just don't elaborate enough on they're comments.

[HydroBoy]

the 360 is not a high end pc right? theres so much it can do Graphically, plus the game uses the Unreal Engine (-_-), updated to UE3.5, you should be happy it will be atleast slightly or just better than the first one Graphics wise..

[OpiZA]

I was very impressed with the latest video... so i'll be fine

[IQUITN4G]

I'm guessing what fans want this time round is more of the same but bigger.It's been confirmed to be a larger game this time round and the graphics shown with the new trailer are excellent - great draw distance was not something i normally associate with the unreal engine on 360 but it's in there now.Great graphics and gameplay already in place makes the wait that much easier than say for Killzone2 which is at this time only a pretty fps - you ps3 guys have more to worry about quite honestly knowing if this will deliver great gameplay

I know what to expect and we'll find out for sure in November

[Figboy]

i imagine you must all LOVE Killswitch:
http://www.youtube.com/watc...

now, don't get me wrong, i'm not posting this vid to take a stab at Gears, but i keep on hearing this "Gameplay over graphics" argument when it's convenient for both parties, and, having played Killswitch back when it first came out, i fail to see the difference between Killswitch and Gears outside of it's visuals.

in truth, i highly recommend Killswitch, as it's, honestly, a good game.

it doesn't have the graphics of Gears, but, hey, gameplay over graphics, right?

in truth, Gameplay and Graphics DON'T HAVE TO BE mutually exclusive. they can work together to create a wonderful piece of artwork.

i don't know how old a lot of you are, but there was a time when Super Mario Bros 1-3 were touted as being the pinnacle of graphical representation in a game, as well as great gameplay.

Gamecube RE4 fans were so quick to say how amazing the visuals of RE4 looked, and how the PS2 would NEVER be able to run RE4 at a level close to it when the PS2 version of the title was announced. the gameplay of BOTH versions is exactly the SAME, and the graphical differences are minimal (i played both versions, and, unless they were both side by side, you wouldn't be able to really pick out that great of a difference.

some the best games of all time are touted for having both spectacular graphics, as well as spectacular gameplay:

Halo
Castlevania: Symphony of the Night
Chrono Trigger
Super Mario 1- World (and beyond)
God of War 1-2
Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time
Metroid - Prime 1 - 3
Resident Evil 1-4
Silent Hill
Final Fantasy I-XII
Shadow of the Colossus
Metal Gear Solid 1-3
etc, etc

look up reviews written when those games were released, and on top of unanimous praise of the gameplay, there is ALWAYS comment on how amazing the visuals look.

don't just whip out the "Gameplay over Graphics" card when it's convenient to do so.

the truth is, some games benefit from great visuals (as a test, play the original FEAR on the PC at low settings, then play it again at high settings; the difference in tone and atmosphere on the high settings compared to the low is staggering), and other games don't require great visuals to be amazingly fun and addicting (think, Tetris, or even Patapon).

graphics and gameplay go hand in hand. a game with great gameplay isn't necessarily hurt by poor graphics, but is it bad when that great gameplay is accompanied by great graphics? why should it have one and not the other when it's possible?

if you look at the ratio of good-looking games with poor gameplay, compared to good-looking games with bad gameplay, i think a lot of you would surprised to see that there are MORE GOOD games with good graphics, than bad games with good graphics.

if you look at the ratio of bad-looking games with poor gameplay, i don't think you should be surprised to see that most games with poor visuals, tend to have poor gameplay as well.

why is that?

because a lot of poor games are poor games not only due to poor game design, but things like budgets, publisher, and the individual talent of the development team.

i mean, is anyone surprised when Bioware, Kojima Productions, and Square Enix make good-looking games? no. because it's in their pedigree as quality developers to deliver quality visuals.

now, on the other hand, is anyone surprised when certain Ubisoft, Activision, and EA teams produce good-looking games? i think yes. because those companies generally aren't known to produce games that meet any kind of visual bar (barring a few talented devs in their stable like Infinity Ward at Activision, and Criterion at EA, who produce visually arresting games, with spectacular gameplay; everybody gets one, i guess).

good developers tend to deliver on all accounts; graphics, sound, gameplay, and overall production values.

poor developers tend to deliver on either NONE of the above, or only one or two, depending on their focus during development (most of the time, however, you can count on a mediocre game having sub-par graphics).

Gears of War 2 looks good, don't get me wrong. but to me, personally, it looks "Gears of War good," and that wow factor of two years ago isn't the same now that there have been quite a few game releases that surpass that 2+ year old Unreal Engine 3, and games releasing in the next few months, on the PS3 AND the 360, are already looking to surpass Gears 1, and Gears 2, on the visual spectrum.

in truth, this shouldn't bother any of YOU guys, who are championing the "gameplay over graphics" banner. i mean, as long as the gameplay is great, who CARES if Gears 2 doesn't blow everyone away graphically, right? so there's no reason to get all defensive about it, right? and all of you guys are going to try out Killswitch, so you can enjoy a good game for the good gameplay it has, graphics be damned, right?

[JokesOnYou]

after you compared Killswitch to Gears a few times I could see that I pretty much DISAGREE with your post, especially when you say you fail to see the difference between Killswitch and Gears in terms of gameplay....

OK first I've played both, I actually did enjoy Killswitch its core gameplay was solid but it felt alot more gimmicky than Gears which is most likely why it has a 73% rating on metacritic....a few loved it but most like myself thought if felt half finished, like they had a good concept but didn't really achieve what they wanted.

Now thats where Gears comes in, its been said by many that Gears took the cover mechanic to another level, you see thats what ALL great games are able to achieve, they take bits and pieces from past games and "put their signature on it", if you will. If you disagree please tell me one game this gen that doesn't share gameplay mechanics with an older game? The youtube video also ONLY FOCUSES on what both games have in common, it doesn't obviously show things like how the "Rodie Run" was combined with the cover system and implemented so well in Gears. There are other small differences when you play both games you can feel how much better Gears was but in reality its not only the cover system that made many gamers enjoy Gears alot more, obviously their are some major differences as well, which is why Gears gameplay was so much more fun which eventually led to a 94% rating on metacritic and winning GOTY honors.

So the answer to your question is YES, graphics are ALWAYS secondary to gameplay, in the original Gears case we were just lucky enough to be spoiled with both and it looks like that will continue with Gears2.

JOY

[Mozilla89]

I dont agree with this article in that they werent using Unreal Engine 3.5. I'm pretty sure they were cause when he chainsaw's that guy his upper body kind of slides off like it was actual meat. Anyways I know I'll get to play this game alot even though I dont have a 360 cause my roomates do. See we share our 360 and ps3's so that we get the best games that come out.

[shutterspeed]

I think those disappointed were those expecting a giant leap from gears 1 or something. I expected it to be nothing more than a sequel developed in the relatively short time frame, and what a sequel it is!

[mistertwoturbo]

The Author of this article is assuming that the Gears 2 trailer we all saw is running on the Unreal Engine 3, and not the Unreal Engine 3.5.

But tell me, why would Cliffy B. or Epic Games for that matter want to debut the old engine?

The Author also touched on how it didn't look much better than Gears 1, but is forgetting about how things DO look better.

So I believe infact that it is already running on the Unreal 3.5 engine. All the Unreal 3.5 engine really is, is just a physics and optimized update shown by the tech demo. And great physics they were. Otherwise, if they truely wanted to out do themselves, it would be the Unreal Engine 4.

And Epic Games is at it again with bullshots. People don't seem to remember the screenshots from Game Informer. I could recall too many fans saying "OMG it's graphics going to blow everything away!" Just for the same ones to say "Gameplay is more important."

[funkysolo]

when someone points out an observation. everyone is entitled to their opinion and just because someone doesn't think gears of war is not the greatest of all time doesn't mean there trolling. I like gears of war. My problem with the 1st game were not graphics, but the lag online, the host shotgun and the linear single player. Gears2 is definitely a buy and a must have but I do beleave these issues need to be address or the lasting appeal will die quicker than gears1. the reason I stop playing gears1 was because of the host shotgun, lag, and glitches and one day I got fed up and haven't played since. Just because gears doesn't look better than Kz2 doesn't mean you have to defend to death. Kz2 does look better but only time will tell how it all comes together

[zonetrooper5]

You can tell the lighting has changed for the better in Gears of War 2, the framerate looks to be at 60FPS and it maybe at 720p resoultion. When I first watched the video I was a little disappointed and I'm a Gears of War fan, however after watching it for a second time I see alot of improvements in Gears of War two, this game still has alot of months left for some more polish and hell its being made in 2 years compared to Killzone 2 which is around the 4-5 year mark in development and GG is getting the help from other studios owned by Sony.

[RAM MAGNUMS]

Oh yeah thats right its at full potential right now!
All those unreal engine games looks like plastic.
Gears 1.5 and the mini online game.lol.
If history repeats itself Epic will reap xbutts money and come running back to ps3 to put out another game.

Short campaign.
plastic models.
mini online game.
dated graphics.
Laggy.
Glitches.
Obvious story.
Limited animation.
only on xbox RROD.
Pay to play.
Full experience on PC.

No thanks. Gears 1.5 is generic in every way possible.

[jcfilth]

really, can't you all see?? there is no better graphics, the graphics are the same but..THERE IS BETTER LIGHTING THAT GIVES THE GAME A DIFFERENT LOOK. You are all being fooled by this.

DON'T CONFUSE BETTER GRAPHICS WITH BETTER LIGHTING!!

EPIC showed this at GDC, one pic next to the other, one with better lighting which of course looked better. But they were the same graphics.

[iconic blade]

from what i have read over the last few days about gow2 is that the only people disappointed with it are people who did lot like or have not played the first one.dont remember seeing anyone who loved the first say that they are disappointed with its sequel.gow2 just looks great so any haters just deal with it.

dunno why so many people who are not interested in a game like to comment about them so much as they would not have got it regardless of what it looked like.would the same people still dislike it even if it had even better graphics? i would not have cared if gow2 had the same graphics as the first, as the graphics were great anyway so improved graphics more going on and even better online play.every gears fan cant wait till it comes out

and as for whether it will shift more consoles,well i dont care as i have my 360 to play it on and im not bothered if it sold more consoles or not as i have not got shares in ms.come november i will be having great fun online chainsawing,frag tagging,popping peoples heads of with the sniper (damn that still feels good)jumping around like a monkey with your shotgun when outnumbered 3-1 and taking them all out.torque bowing someones ass when they are roadie running.thats some of the gameplay which makes gow so fun.so that answers the guy who said what gameplay are gow fans talking about