Bad Multiplayer in Gears of War 3 Will Kill the Series, Says CliffyB

[Logan Westbrook]

Bad Multiplayer in Gears of War 3 Will Kill the Series, Says CliffyB

Epic is eager not to repeat the mistakes it made with Gears of War 2.

The idea that a strong multiplayer component is important in making a successful shooter will not be a new concept to most people. Especially not Epic's Cliff Bleszinski, who says that bad multiplayer in Gears of War 3 [http://www.amazon.com/Gears-War-3-Xbox-360/dp/B002I0H79C/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1299675596&sr=8-1] will kill the franchise dead.

Bleszinksi admitted that the multiplayer in Gears 2 had been rather unimpressive at launch. He felt that over the course of six title updates, Epic had managed to get it into pretty good shape, but said that launching without great multiplayer was a mistake that the studio couldn't afford to make twice. He said that a big part of the reason that Epic was conducting a beta for Gears 3, was so that it could avoid repeating the mistakes of the past.

With "beta test" having become almost entirely synonymous with "early demo," it's quite a change of pace to see the Gears 3 beta being an actual test. Hopefully, it will net Epic some useful data, both of what it's getting right, and what it's getting wrong, before the game's release in the fall. The Gears of War 3 beta starts on April 18th for those who bought the Bulletstorm epic edition, and on April 25th for those who have pre-ordered Gears 3 at GameStop, and will run until May 15th. Gears of War 3 comes out for Xbox 360 on September 20th.

Source: IGN [http://uk.xbox360.ign.com/articles/115/1154447p1.html]


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[wooty]

Well, it was bad everything in gears 2 that put me off the series. I shall be saving £40 here then

 

[dementis]

If the multiplayer is anything like the first two games then the series is gonna be flat lining pretty soon.

 

[the_pleasure_is_mine]

I was completely in love with Gears of War 1s online... I remmeber spending countless hours in player matches just honing my skills with each weapon (Original Hammerburst FTW).

But Gears 2 was just disappointing... and it didn't feel right.

I can't wait for Gears 3 beta though :3 Hoping it'll be amazing!

 

[LavaLampBamboo]

I was under the impression that this was the end of the series anyway.

It should be interesting to see how GoW3 multiplayer stacks up.

 

[Something Amyss]

Is that a promise or a threat, Cliff? >.>

 

[CardinalPiggles]

to be honest, im looking forward to the campaign + horde mode, more than mulitplayer, but hey seeing as how its there, i may as well try it.

i just hope they dont under power the shotgun again. i hate hard aiming.

I was completely in love with Gears of War 1s online... I remmeber spending countless hours in player matches just honing my skills with each weapon (Original Hammerburst FTW).

But Gears 2 was just disappointing... and it didn't feel right.

I can't wait for Gears 3 beta though :3 Hoping it'll be amazing!

same for me, gears 2 multiplayer just felt sluggish, gears1, rush for the power weapons, epic shotgun battles, mop up the stragglers. i loved it.

 

[ProfessorLayton]

Gears of War 2 was superior to the first one in every way... I'm not even seeing how you guys are saying that. Better graphics, better controls, better locations, better story...

And of course it will. I definitely think that there's a reason why they're putting out the "beta" this early. If people complain, like they did with the Crysis 2 demo, it might save the game. Multiplayer is very important nowadays for some strange reason and when you're as mainstream as Gears of War, you need to be the best at that.

 

[WilliamRLBaker]

Sadly over the course of 6 title updates for Gears 2 they ruined the gameplay, I disliked the first ones multiplayer and while the 2nd game had its problems in terms of glitches and lag I liked it overall better...sadly over 6 title updates they didn't just fix the problems they took the game back to what Gears 1 was...Horde was specially affected since on Insane it became near impossible to get through 50 waves unless you had a godly team.

Certain idiotic design changes like Lets have a concussion smoke grenade but then completely take out the concussion part made me start to hate Gears 2 multiplayer, as of right now I wont be going back till they have the rumored 50X experience before the release of Gears 3 then ill go back and get most of the achievements.

 

[Amethyst Wind]

Gears of War 2 was superior to the first one in every way... I'm not even seeing how you guys are saying that. Better graphics, better controls, better locations, better story...

...worse multiplayer.

From the day I got it to the day Gears 2 came out, I played Gears 1 multiplayer online. I liked it. It was good.

I don't think I even got a month's online play out of Gears 2.

Single player campaigns aside (because I thought both had good points but really can't remember the specifics of either), I'd say the multiplayer was a definite step DOWN in Gears 2.

I simply didn't enjoy Gears 2 online like I did Gears 1. It seemed like they'd run out of things to work on after a point and simply fiddled for a while until launch date. End result being a game that was a little bit overcooked.

GamesB2 said it best, it didn't feel right.

 

[PopcornAvenger]

Gears 1 multiplayer was okay, although they desperately needed to nerf the sniper rifle (at least, limit it's effectiveness when your opponent was within 10 feet of you!).

When they announced there'd be no PC version for Gears2, I was, well, that's money saved.

As for Gears3 and CliffyB, if it has the same unimpressive amount of content and consolitis that Bulletstorm has (as well as the effrontery to actually encrypt configuration files in my Documents directory), this, too, will be a PASS.

 

[Legion]

Well they can start it off on a good note by phoning up GAME and Gamestation in the UK and telling them to get their arses into gear about the whole Beta.

I recently discovered that these two stores are the only ones in the UK that offer it from pre-orders. I then cancel my Amazon order and go onto the GAME website and pre-order after noticing that it specifically states "Pre-order now and get access to the Gears of War 3 Beta"; I obligingly do so (Limited Edition as I think I can always change if it sucks) and get my confirmation email.

I then look at the GAME site yesterday and see that the "Pre-order now and get access to the Gears of War 3 Beta" part has mysteriously disappeared, despite the fact that it is still advertising it on their facebook/twitter and so on.

I want them to hurry up and confirm what they are giving or not giving away, as this Beta is creeping up on us and they still haven't announced what is in their special editions of the games.

 

[Calcium]

My brother made the point that everyone we knew played Modern Warfare 2, simply because Gears of War 2 had such bad connection problems despite being the better game. I can kindof agree with him; it was a great game when you did get a good match, but early on you were expected to put up with the lag or play another game.

I'll probably get Gears 3 just to complete the series regardless of the multiplayer though (assuming this is the last in a trilogy).

 

[Phenakist]

The multiplayer in Gears 2 was pathetic, I played it until first first couple of patches came out, I mean come on, no game has ever NEEDED 6 supposedly "game fixing" patches.

Don't get me wrong, I like it, I completed it on insane, did horde enough, got something like 850 gamerscore on it but why go back to a game that is seemingly unfix able?

Edit: Glad to see someone realized why Gears 2 didn't stick like the first did and a beta is just what the game needs.

 

[Joshimodo]

As long as it's more like Gears 1: skilful, able to go on maps & modes you actually want to play, choosing rooms/servers with good connections, more balanced weapons, better maps, more variety etc.


Gears 2 was a bag of shit online in comparison. The campaign was lacklustre due to it losing the pseudo-horror vibe of the first game and having an equally bad story.


Horde was fun, but Firefight was better due to the variations. Hopefully Gears 3 takes a leaf out of Halo's book and throws in more random waves, and randomised "boss" bits with Berzerkers or whatever.

 

[Squilookle]

launching without great multiplayer was a mistake that the studio couldn't afford to make twice.

So decent bots in multiplayer at launch, then? Chop chop Epic, there's a good Dev.

 

[TilMorrow]

I could be an ass and say "what multiplayer?" but I like Gears too much for that. If they only released a patch that enabled matchmaking to start moving its stuff and get working.

 

[JimbobDa3rd]

as someone who lived in a area where broadband wasnt avalible when Gears2 came out (and therefore didnt have XBL) I was extremly pleased with the local multiplayer options. Most games gave up on bots last gen (some even removing the option for 4 player split screen) and I think its a shame even if the bots arnt great its still cool just to chuck some extra targets into a 1 v 1 or 2 v 2 game. Obviously I heard about sever problems and I understand how that could kill a games online multiplayer, but I as local muliplayer goes gears 2 is easily in my top 3

 

[KDR_11k]

Forget it. Unless you fix your entire damn engine or provide low latency dedicated servers everywhere that just won't work. The Unreal Engine is awful at handling lag, the worst example I've seen was Bulletstorm. If games are player hosted you'll end up dealing with lag more often than not because residential connections just aren't set up for hosting stuff like that and e.g. the Bulletstorm matchmaker won't even try to get some kind of optimum hosting in there, it just picks the first guy who joined.

Seriously, to me the Unreal Engine is a surefire sign that online latency will suck. The only game that avoided that was Monday Night Combat by virtue of having so many dedicated servers. Everything else would frequently become unplayable.