In an exclusive interview with
Gamepro, the one and only Cliff Bleszinski confirmed that for
Gears of War 2 they've fixed one of our (and most everyone's) major gripes with the original
Gears' multiplayer. The way too annoying and totally unfair shotgun host advantage. When asked about multiplayer feedback Epic received from
Gears of War, Cliff responded by saying that "people loved it [multiplayer] but they didn't like the host advantage. They got tired of the shotgun inconsistencies.
We're fixing all of that. They didn't like the randomness of the chainsaw, so we put the chainsaw duel in -- may the best man win!" Indeed, may the best man win and may we be the first to say yippy-skippy perfect day! Thank you Epic. That's the news we wanted to hear.
Make the jump to read Gamepro's complete Cliff Bleszinski interview where he not only talks about axing shotgun host advantage (double yippy skippy!), but also discusses the Unreal Engine, new multiplayer game modes, the option to use an
Uncharted inspired control scheme as well as ...
Bloom Blox? Yup, he talks
Bloom Blox.
[Via
NeoGAF]
{ Jun 19th 2008 at 10:45AM } 
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
fenwaynomar @ Jun 19th 2008 10:55AM
seeing is believing
ZenGaijin @ Jun 19th 2008 11:18AM
People will find something new to complain about. With enough practice the host just becomes another victim at you feet or below your boot as it were.
Anticrawl @ Jun 19th 2008 3:27PM
I've been called a shotgun newb, lancer newb, pistol newb, sniper newb, grenade newb, and torque bow newb all in one match. So I just stood out in the open and let the guy kill me and then called him a bullet newb.
I am a whore with the pistol, but their are trumps to every weapon. I never had a problem trumping the host and his/her shotgun.
DelTrigger @ Jun 19th 2008 11:20AM
BUT WAIT, WHAT ABOUT ALL THOSE PEOPLE THAT SAID HOST ADVANTAGE DIDN'T EXIST?
...Well they're idiots.
Xoviet chiK @ Jun 19th 2008 11:28AM
Any chance they'll make it fun and noob friendly? Impossible, no?
I'll stick with Co-Op.
ZenGaijin @ Jun 19th 2008 11:48AM
Oh, its fun but it's by no means noob friendly.
Ben @ Jun 19th 2008 12:12PM
I agree. I always get slaughtered when playing multi player
Rick @ Jun 19th 2008 12:14PM
Yeah, just play with your noob buddies in private matches. You can suck it up all by your lonesomes.
Van Faulk @ Jun 19th 2008 12:31PM
They could, but then it would be called COD4.
Ryan Hartman @ Jun 19th 2008 1:37PM
The game is 2 years old. If you are a noob by this point you deserve all the rape that gets hefted upon you. You should have been playing from emergence day. Everyone was a noob back then, you would have been fine.
And I don't want to hear the "Oh, but I needed the money to pay for my baby's insulin" or "Oh but I was imprissoned in a Chilean POW camp for 2 years" or any other cry baby loser exscuses.
You get in there, you take your licks as you get better and you shut your trap.
ZEBRA NINER @ Jun 19th 2008 1:57PM
hahahahhaha! Stupid babies and their stupid insulin.
Vcize @ Jun 19th 2008 2:03PM
Lmao..
Anticrawl @ Jun 19th 2008 4:44PM
What are you dumb shits talking about? Gears of War is the most casual shooter on the 360. No offense and I realize how oxymoronic a game is being a Casual Third-person Survival-horror Shooter.
You guys can't seriously say this is a hardcore shooter, hardcore gore? Yes, hardcore shooter? No.
Gamertag: GOPAL892005 @ Jun 19th 2008 11:34AM
are they using dedicated servers? or will it be based on your own connection?
druggedUK @ Jun 19th 2008 11:37AM
It's not just Host Shotty that's there though, there's host advantage with every weapon, so I hope it's fixed across the board.
For example, a host lancer can be ridiculously powerful, downing you before you even have chance to roll or run away. And a host sniper is much easier to use than a non-host sniper...
Vcize @ Jun 19th 2008 2:05PM
I'd imagine the fix has to do with the netcode itself, since multiplayer for Gears 1 was such a late addition. As such, a fix for host shotty should be a fix for host anything.
Hopefully they don't forget to remove the stuff they put in there to hold the host back like the blood on the screen and the inability to mash A to speed up revival, lol.
DjDATZ @ Jun 19th 2008 11:39AM
Finally Dustin can stop complaining! Ugh!
LOL...just playin' dustin...i know how you feel!
Matazah @ Jun 19th 2008 11:51AM
YES!!! I think the real way to fix this problem is to have dedicated servers, but im sure that would pose a whole new sort of problem that i wouldnt be able to comprehend.
The important thing is that they are fixing it somehow someway. ;p
pandlcg @ Jun 19th 2008 12:10PM
How are they going to make multiplayer different enough from the original to make it worth while? To be honest i haven't done any research, but what are some of the new modes?
Rick @ Jun 19th 2008 12:17PM
There's now a mode called PIGGY, which is an eating contest. First COG or Locust to down 100 franks wins!
T-BoNe254 @ Jun 19th 2008 12:37PM
here you go.
http://xbox.joystiq.com/2008/05/24/gears-of-war-2-x360-multiplayer-details-confirmed/#comments
http://xbox.joystiq.com/2008/05/28/gears-of-war-2-multiplayer-detail-explosion/
Hooligunn @ Jun 19th 2008 12:43PM
Lol I'll tell you the new real modes.
GUARDIAN: What was Assassination has now changed drastically. While the same at it's core, non-leaders now respawn and the opposing team can now see where the other leader is at all times via a marker on their HUD (to stop hiding). When the leader dies, you can't respawn anymore.
WINGMAN: 2v2v2v2v2 - team up with a buddy, both using the same character model (Marcus & Marcus ect..) and try to get to the kill limit first (ie. first pair to 15 kills). Respawns enabled.
MEATFLAG: Using the new meatshield technique, you must down a "Stranded" character model (AI driven) running around the middle of the map (yup, he defends himself). Once down, you must try to drag him back to your capture area (both teams are trying to do this at the same time). However, the opposing team can kill you and/or shoot the hostage enough times that he will break free of your arms and turn on you. Respawns enabled in this mode.
We're also promised more modes / mode improvements as well. We'll probably see King of the Hill pulled over from Gears PC as well (Annex but 1000x better because it doesn't move).
Vcize @ Jun 19th 2008 2:08PM
How in the world would you ever get chainsawed from the front while you have your lancer out. One shot drops the saw, and you should be able to hit someone right in front of you with the auto-firing lancer, heh.
I guess if someone's hiding around a corner or something...
Ryan @ Jun 19th 2008 12:23PM
Hopefully they've somehow made the chainsaw draw quicker is someone is approaching you with their chainsaw going... I don't see how chainsaw duels would be able to happen to often otherwise, as once you see someone coming at you with the saw out it's usually too late.
Ryan @ Jun 19th 2008 12:24PM
quicker *if*... Typing too quickly....
Hooligunn @ Jun 19th 2008 12:45PM
Cliff confirmed this in an interview with Gamepro (link below) that if you have your lancer out and someone trys to chainsaw you, you duel. That way it happens more often, but not a great deal more. And I believe this is only from the FRONT, if you chainsaw a guy holding a lancer from behind you do the "chainsawdomy" move (back of spine chainsawed up to neck).
QUOTE: What happens is when you come at somebody with a chainsaw and they're just holding the chainsaw, it will automatically engage in the duel. The guy doesn't have to press B to engage in the duel initially. And then of course he needs to press the B button to win.
ARTICLE: http://www.gamepro.com/microsoft/xbox360/games/features/193148.shtml
I DeX I @ Jun 19th 2008 12:33PM
How would you know if the Chainsaw duels weren't lagging when you are wailing on yer button. Couldn't it still be lagging? Wailing button lag...
Vcize @ Jun 19th 2008 2:03PM
That picture is hilarious.
Marrvia @ Jun 19th 2008 10:21PM
I wish they would get rid of the shotgun all together. It's overused. The game is supposed to be about taking cover and trying to flank. Instead 80% of people just run around and only use the shotgun all the time. I used to love the game, but it got boring because every single motherfucker would only use shotguns to try and get 1 hit kills, but would get pissed at me if I would chainsaw their asses when they get close.
Procris @ Jun 20th 2008 1:47AM
Depends on the game in question. Some hosts depending on your connection to them don't seem to have any noticeable advantage. But people here can't honestly say they've not noticed host advantage in Gears of War because its so obvious most the time. I frequently noticed it when i was host. Stuff that might have otherwise downed me didn't and in "shotgun duels" i was most likely to get the down, even if they shot me first.
Either way i'm glad its something they are fixing, better netcode in general this time round should go a long way. Now if only they didn't make weapon achievements so lame in GeoW2...
skin.bintin @ Jun 21st 2008 2:15AM
Although the host shotgun is an issue, with some practice it's relevance becomes minimal at best. Harder to combat, was the Lancer after one particular patch allowed it to down an opponent in under half a clip. That things sucks in the hands of a host especially.
All good though. Nice to see they admit the first had problems and are trying to fix them for the sequel.