Zero Punctuation: Gears of War 4

[JUMBO PALACE]

Speaking of which, is anyone playing it on Windows? Can anyone weigh-in on this experience? I'm mostly concerned about:
1) Acquiring, downloading and installing the damn thing
2) Optimization (rig specs, please?)
3) Did u play with controller/KB&M?

So far the only significant purchase I've made on Windows store was Forza Horizon 3, which was a goddamn nightmare from start to end (and still is)

Hope you don't mind the delayed response. I bought the game on Windows based on the positive reviews of the performance and I'm happy to say they're true. The game runs incredibly well across what appears to be a wide range of hardware. There's a built in benchmarking tool as well as indicators in the graphics options that will tell you what part of your hardware any particular settings stresses the most. So if you have a weaker processor you can shove the settings that are GPU heavy up while keeping the processor effects down.

I'm playing with a mouse and keyboard and it controls very well. It took some initial adjustment since I had played the first 3 games with a controller obviously but now K&M is my preferred control method. Controlling the roadie running, cover taking, and fast rolling with a keyboard definitely took some getting used to. My buddy was over yesterday and he picked my 360 controller up and was playing just fine as well.

I didn't have any issues downloading through the Win 10 store. YMMV.

Here's my specs
GTX 1070
i5 4670k @ 4.0ghz
16gb DDR3
Samsung SSD

Forza Horizon 3 has always ran decently for me and is the best it's been now after the performance patches just FYI. I say some positive things about Gears on page 1 of this thread as well. Long story short, it's a good game if you're into the series and it runs really well.

 

[Hawki]

Gears of War 4 is the story about a brave group of plot writers as they struggle to continue a plot that was supposed to be decisively wrapped up by the end of Gears of War 3.

Sooooo basically it's the same plot as Halo 4?

Pretty much. 4's a cursed number, don't ya know? It's a no-good even number that comes after the first prime number, and leaves 3 sobbing, whimpering "trilogy sounds much better than tetraology."

 

[JohnnyDelRay]

SNIP

Hope you don't mind the delayed response. I bought the game on Windows based on the positive reviews of the performance and I'm happy to say they're true. The game runs incredibly well across what appears to be a wide range of hardware. There's a built in benchmarking tool as well as indicators in the graphics options that will tell you what part of your hardware any particular settings stresses the most. So if you have a weaker processor you can shove the settings that are GPU heavy up while keeping the processor effects down.

I'm playing with a mouse and keyboard and it controls very well. It took some initial adjustment since I had played the first 3 games with a controller obviously but now K&M is my preferred control method. Controlling the roadie running, cover taking, and fast rolling with a keyboard definitely took some getting used to. My buddy was over yesterday and he picked my 360 controller up and was playing just fine as well.

I didn't have any issues downloading through the Win 10 store. YMMV.

Here's my specs
GTX 1070
i5 4670k @ 4.0ghz
16gb DDR3
Samsung SSD

Forza Horizon 3 has always ran decently for me and is the best it's been now after the performance patches just FYI. I say some positive things about Gears on page 1 of this thread as well. Long story short, it's a good game if you're into the series and it runs really well.

Thanks Jumbo! Don't worry, I'm happy to get any response at all! (honestly wasn't expecting one)

Looks like you had a pretty seamless time with it, which is what I'm hoping for. I'm running a bit under the average rig these days with my i5 2400 and 8GB ram, but I do have a 970 GTX. So I think I'll be bumping up the GPU settings. Really nice of them to include something like that, but I'm really only concerned about optimization which seems like they got sorted.

Horizon 3 has been hit and miss all the way, I've played with every patch and it's been alternating between stuttering or CTD. Right now I have it locked on 900p 60fps everything Medium, where it's virtually crash free. Not to mention every single update has led to zany antics such as downloading the whole game again, Windows Store errors, hangs, and caused me to try every single fix Google can throw at me including registry edits and total Windows reinstalls. Oh, and hours with tech support chat which never solved anything (one issue actually magically resolved itself). Getting steering wheels to work as intended was/is a whole other adventure.

I think I'll get Gears for sure one day as I love the series. But if I get any issues like I've had with FH3, I'll grab a 2nd hand XBONE for as cheap as possible and do the Play Anywhere thing.

 

[gold5]

Another word for cretins is 12 year olds. They all want to grow up to be biker scumbags. Once again, not surprised Yahtzee didnt like it because its for babies. It would be better if he only reviewed adult games because of the adult nature of his podcast.

 

[gold5]

The developers make it too difficult to do certain parts of these games without a friend playing co-op with you. If you search a friend online, they like to drop out right before the end of the level to ruin it for you. The characters move like tanks. I think its funny that serve up biker role models to children. Where in the future are these guys getting the Soviet steroids and 80 pounds of chicken breast each day..?

 

[4Aces]

Not unlike the GOW4 planet, I think it is time to abandon this series. On to the re-boot!

 

[Vigormortis]

No, I didn't, I acknowledged the AAA titles you guys listed.

You mentioned them, but summarily dismissed them so you could claim that our lists didn't count because of the prevalence of 'indie' titles.

I thought it didn't need to be mentioned that I was referring to AAA titles since we're in a forum on a thread talking about a review of a AAA game.

But the context of the specific request you made didn't necessarily indicate that.

Also, yeah, you guys didn't happen to bring up three titles, but how many other games were released in the same year as those games?

Ah. Instead of saying we can't list a single game that meets your original criteria, now you're saying that we can't list enough.

Moving the goal posts, I see.

And, to top it off, what is it that made these games special over other titles?

So we didn't just not list enough (even though you'd asked for just one), but the ones we'd listed weren't "special enough" either.

You haven't just moved the goal posts, you've put them on an ever-moving platform.

I would like to know what criteria is used to define a title as Indie since some studios are stretching that definition as thin as they can.

I'll gladly tell you what criteria I believe constitutes an 'indie game', but I'm still waiting for you to answer my question. What is it that you believe makes a triple-A game a triple-A game?

 

[Transdude1996]

No, I didn't, I acknowledged the AAA titles you guys listed.

You mentioned them, but summarily dismissed them so you could claim that our lists didn't count because of the prevalence of 'indie' titles.

I thought it didn't need to be mentioned that I was referring to AAA titles since we're in a forum on a thread talking about a review of a AAA game.

But the context of the specific request you made didn't necessarily indicate that.

Also, yeah, you guys didn't happen to bring up three titles, but how many other games were released in the same year as those games?

Ah. Instead of saying we can't list a single game that meets your original criteria, now you're saying that we can't list enough.

Moving the goal posts, I see.

And, to top it off, what is it that made these games special over other titles?

So we didn't just not list enough (even oneugh you'd asked for just one), but the ones we'd listed weren't "special enough" either.

You haven't just moved the goal posts, you've put them on an ever-moving platform.

I would like to know what criteria is used to define a title as Indie since some studios are stretching that definition as thin as they can.

I'll gladly tell you what criteria I believe constitutes an 'indie game', but I'm still waiting for you to answer my question. What is it that you believe makes a triple-A game a triple-A game?

Are you arguing with me, having a discussion with me, or fighting with a person you hallucinated me to be?

You are saying that I both acknowledged and dismissed the games you and @Bedinsis listed, but I don't see how I did that, and then proceeded to ask about adding another game to the list.

As far as asking for the qualifications of the titles listed, I'm sorry for the misunderstanding. Like I said, I didn't think it needed to be stated that I was asking about AAA games in a thread talking about a review of a AAA title.

With your claim that I "moved goalposts", I don't see how I did so when no argument was presented. I asked an additional question as to why said titles were successes over other games released within the same year, and/or with the same level of quality.

Also, what is preventing you from saying what you think the criteria is for classifying a game as Indie? For all you know, I could agree with your point, but all you're coming off with is what appears to be "You first" discussion where you criticize what the other person says without actually presenting your side of the argument. It which case, it actually shows how weak of a point you have.

Though, to get back on topic, it wasn't until after I made my post that I figured what I would classify a dev/studio as Indie, middleware, or AAA. If a company has, at most, 20-25 employees, they're Indie. If the member count is higher than that, but below (say) 250-300, they're middleware. If the amount of people working there is higher, or they're one of many subsidiaries to a company, they're AAA. Simple as that.

 

[wings012]

The artist that painted those cobblestones is likely dead inside and doesn't care anymore.

 

[Vigormortis]

snip

Your initial post asked for a single game that fit into the criteria you'd listed. I and others gave you several, but you didn't seem to accept them. I really don't know what else to say.

what appears to be "You first" discussion

Yes. It was. It's just basic discussion etiquette to answer a question posed to you before asking a counter question.
(even in the Socratic method of discussion it's still expected)

It which case, it actually shows how weak of a point you have.

As opposed to avoiding answering a question posed to you by asking a different question?

Though, to get back on topic, it wasn't until after I made my post that I figured what I would classify a dev/studio as Indie, middleware, or AAA. If a company has, at most, 20-25 employees, they're Indie. If the member count is higher than that, but below (say) 250-300, they're middleware. If the amount of people working there is higher, or they're one of many subsidiaries to a company, they're AAA. Simple as that.

This may come as a surprise, but a game like Minecraft has more people working on it than the number it took to make Portal 2 and Team Fortress 2.

Just because a development studio has a certain number of employees does not mean all, nor even a majority, of them are working on whatever project they're set to release. Quite often dev studios will have several projects in the works at the same time, with only a handful of employees working on each.

What I'm saying is, employee count isn't necessarily an accurate metric in measuring a studio's 'indie' or 'triple-A' status.

Besides, 'indie' is short for 'independent'. And 'independent' is defined as a studio that produced and published a game without the aid of outside sources, i.e. publishers. So a game like Journey is technically not an 'indie' game, whereas Portal 2 is. At least, that's the metric I use since we all seem intent on continuing the use of the term 'indie'.