X06: Gears of War Multiplayer Impressions

Gears of War Multiplayer Impressions

Following the conclusion of the X06 media briefing, Microsoft offered members of the press the opportunity to relocate to a more relaxed setting in order to mingle with their peers and Microsoft personnel over a few drinks, and get a chance to get some hands-on time with a few of the major titles that will be featured over the course of the show the next day. One of the games on tap for the evening was Gears of War, presented in the form of a recent multiplayer build that featured 4-on-4 team gameplay on two new maps. Our first experience with the multiplayer component in Gears of War left us with a powerful enough impression to award the game several E3 awards, including game of show, and Epic certainly hasn’t lost any ground in the time since.

One of the new features of the more recent build was ability for players to customize the look of their on-screen character, with customization options for both the character’s face and armor. It’s a small addition, but one that had an affect on the gameplay nonetheless, as it allowed for players to recognize each other immediately on sight and shout orders more effectively, rather than taking the split second to divert their eyes to the name hovering above the character model – a split second that could mean the difference between life and death from a chainsaw bayonet to the back.

The weapon read-out for the new multiplayer demo was the same as the E3 demo, with one exception – in place of the RPG launcher, there was a decidedly deadly variant of a crossbow, which up until now had only been seen in screenshots. The weapon itself looks vaguely like a futuristic bow-and-arrow, with vertical protrusions that have a slight curve backwards; the entire device looks decidedly alien in comparison to industrial styling of the other weapons, and it wouldn’t be surprising if the Locust were the ones who created it. The weapon featured an interesting aiming mechanic, wherein an indicator appears on screen and displays the path the projectile would take if the player were to release the trigger. The path begins as an arc, and the longer the player holds down the trigger, the straighter the path becomes, until the firing line is a linear path from the barrel to the enemy. It takes a relatively long time for the firing line to straighten out, and any shots released while the projectile path is an arc are unlikely to hit a moving enemy. However, if the player is able to survive long enough to secure a direct shot, the bolt flies through air at incredibly speed, sticks into the enemy, and eventually explodes for an instant kill. As you could imagine, the weapon is difficult to use effectively, and requires that teams coordinate such that the member utilizing the weapon is protected during the initial aiming phase.

Most of the time with the demo was spent on the new map ‘Canals’, which took place in an area that looked as though it had once been a functional and bustling urban waterway complete with elevated pedestrian bridges, but now lay in ruin, with shin-deep water, demolished boats and huge chunks of debris filling the center plaza, which in turn was now surrounded by all manner of partially-demolished architecture for players to fight their way through. A few of the bridges remain standing, each of which can be accessed via stairways on either side of the map, and their inclusion provided the map with a larger degree of vertical combat than was present in the E3 demo. Players will also be able to find a sniper-rifle on one of these bridges, toward the center of the map, but since the bridges offer little to no cover as compared to the debris below, teams will have to coordinate their efforts in order to provide cover fire, distractions and the like, so that one member can pick of the rifle and head for a covered position. The water looks suitably gorgeous and reacts convincingly to player movement, bullet impact and grenades. Sadly, it doesn’t effect the gameplay in any way, even though the potential for intense combat scenarios involving decreased movement speed would have been spectacular, especially if Epic had been devilish enough to lure players into the water with a carefully positioned power weapon. Outside of the addition of water, the map maintains the same visual tone that has come to be associated with Gears of War, including lots of washed-out grays and stone textures, and buildings that all appear to combine elements of both modern and gothic design.

The second new map, ‘Mansion’, was set in and around a large gothic residence during a rainstorm. The weather effects on this map not only looked gorgeous, but also affected gameplay in that the heavy rain obscured the player’s vision, necessitating that opponents be closer in order to aim effectively. Indeed, the entire map seemed focused on encouraging close-quarters gun-fights, as most of the action took place inside the confines of the mansion, which featured multiple stories, plenty of hallways, and several large connecting rooms. ‘Mansion’ actually provided something of a departure from the game’s standard aesthetic, as the inside of the house was decorated in various materials and colors, including red hues. This map also provided the first evidence of the ‘soft cover’ system that had long been announced but never witnessed. Items such as couches and knocked over tables would only provide adequate cover for so long before the mounting damage took its toll and they ultimately fell apart. Given additional play time, it would have been interesting to see just how much of the cover inside the mansion was ‘soft,’ how much of it could be destroyed, how much ‘hard’ cover players would be left with, and how the limited cover and its position on the map would shape the nature of the remainder of the battles.

The game plays and controls almost exactly as it did at E3, with a heavy emphasis on using cover and picking shots, rather than running and gunning one’s way through the arenas. Trying to take out several members of the opposition in the open is a suicide mission, as the controls have been tuned such that the reticule feels sturdy and precise when the weapon is being fired in ‘aim mode’ from behind cover, but feels sluggish if players try to whip around as if they were playing Halo. Close combat feels like it ought to when the participants are hulking, armor-clad soldiers wielding large weapons and chainsaws – it’s sloppy, its ugly, and its brutal, just as a desperate fight for survival in the middle of a war zone ought to be. Going for head shots from 5 or 10 feet away is a waste of time, and more often than not, the deciding factor is whether or not one of the combatants has a teammate watching their back. Teams that coordinate flanking maneuvers and use cover fire are almost certain to find more success than those comprised of four individuals acting on their own. The controls are wonderfully intuitive, specifically the cover system, which allows the player to perform a wealth of maneuvers using nothing more than the control sticks and the A button.

A few changes have been made since we played the game at E3, however. Epic seems to have also tweaked the melee system somewhat, as timing a press of the melee attack button now seems to be more effective at gutting opponents than simply running up while holding the button down, which seemed to work well back at E3. Interestingly, if two opponents run up to each other holding down the melee button with chainsaws drawn, the winner seems to be chosen almost at random, robbing the experience of any satisfaction and leading to frustration for the loser. Perhaps Epic will implement some kind of ‘clash’ system, wherein the two chainsaws lock against each other like blades, with sparks flying as they grind against each other, at which point the winner could be determined by some kind of competitive button input. Additionally, the revival system has been developed further, as the injured player is now tasked with hitting the A button repeatedly to keep their heart beating until a comrade can make it over and revive them, hopefully before an enemy comes along and crushes their skull to finish the job. At this point it’s unknown exactly how long a player can keep themselves alive by hitting the A button, but chances are players will be able to set the maximum injured life-span in the game hosting options.

There was little doubt going into X06 that Gears of War was going to own Xbox Live come Emergence Day, and there’s even less doubt of that coming out of the show. We’ll have additional impressions of the single-player component in the near future.