Epic Game's Cliff Bleszinski has a confession. Something that he has to get off his chest. His confession; Gears of War 2 is the best game to come out of Epic Games. We agree.
"After two years of pouring our heart and passion into Gears of War 2, the team is immensely happy with what we've created," admittedBleszinski to CVG. "This is Epic's best work yet, and we can't wait to see the response from fans and newcomersto the series alike." You know, we can't wait to see what the response will be either as we sit here sharpening our chainsaw blades in eager anticipating for Reaver riding and all the joy Gears 2 will bring us this November.
First off, we'll be honest and say we're a bit slow on getting the word out on this whole Gears of War 2 "The Last Day" viral COG tag thing. We blame the Locusts who created an Emergence Hole under our blogging desk ... damn Locusts, we apologize.
So, remember that mysterious Gears of War 2 COG tag that popped up on the Gears 2 vidoc? Well, there's no more mystery, because we know exactly what they're all about. It's a community driven, interactive and viral The Last Day online campaign aimed at getting fans to participate and unlock all kinds of digital Gears 2 goodies.
Each COG tag has a special CSID code on it and were randomly sent to community sites, media outlets, etc. This special code can be entered on the official The Last Day website and, if entered correctly, will unlock a digital wallpaper, buddy icon, audio clip or artwork. So far, Gears 2 community lead SixOkay has a Flickr folder of community discovered COG tags, Gamertag Radio has an account of their experience and the official Gears forums are abuzz with the latest finds and news. So, start your COG tag code search, unlock some Gears 2 goodies and DEMAND that Xbox 360 Fanboy get a special COG tag code to share. Yes, that was a very blunt request.
In a one word response to an unsubstantiated rumor that Electronic Arts is planning to buy Epic Games, Epic's VP Mark Rein told Big Download that the rumor is "rubbish." The rumor began swirling (down the drain, so it would seem) last week, when GameGuru.in reported that word from the "rumor mill" was that EA was planning the buyout in order to acquire the Unreal Engine. Specifically, it would be a chance for the company to get its hands on next Unreal Engine and the Gears of War franchise. According to Rein, it just ain't so.
Our mother-ship (Joystiq) recently got some hands on time with the finished campaign build of Gears of War 2 and were told to get as far as they could. And after six hours of gaming, our Joystiq friends came away with of memories of curb-stomping Locusts, impressive destructible environments, COG journals, a much deeper storyline and plenty of non-stop action.
Their campaign impressions mirror that of what Epic has promised us all along, a bigger, deeper and more action packed sequel that delivers. All said, they were quite impressed with their Gears 2 hands-on session as we can only hope that next time, Epic decides to invite us over for a test run. Emergence day is coming, friends, be prepared.
Team Epic just released yet another Gears of War 2 video featurette, this time the focus is on multiplayer. The video (currently exclusive to ESPN.com) is a pretty good look into the new multiplayer features, each multiplayer mode, the achievements and we also learn that Cliff's favorite trash talking phrase is "douche nozzle". Yup. Check out the vid and take it all in, because Gears 2 is less than a month away.
Are you aware of the seven deadly sins? No, no, not those deadly sins, we're talking about the Seven Eight Deadly Sins of Gears of War 2's Horde mode, which our OXM pals just posted.
OXM's list of Horde deadly sins was formed after recently getting a chance to try out Gears 2's four five player co-op Horde mode and each sin comes across as sound advice. Horde mode advice that not only will save you from being called a "n00b" or "bag of loser dust", but advice that could potentially aid in your team's Horde mode success. You can read all eight deadly sins after the jump, but we just have to point out our two favorites. Number two "Thou Shalt Not Hang Around In The Spawn Zones Like A Douche" and number five "Thou Shalt Not Go All OCD And Take Every Ammo Box" sound spot on to us.
Over the weekend, someone who attended the E for All Expo ninja-snuck off-screen video of gameplay footage from Gears 2's Horde mode. The video, embedded above for your convenience, shows off roughly one minute of multiplayer footage complete with meat shields, Torque Bowing, and the occasional cameo of a blurry head covering the screen. Watch and, if you enjoyed the footage, check the break for an additional few minutes of leaked Gears 2 multiplayer mayhem video complete with "commentary."
Team Epic just released a freshly baked batch of Gears of War 2 screenshots (five in total) and just like a good friend, they're sharing them with the internets. And besides the screens being moist and chewy, they're also Reaver'riffic! In two ofthe screens you can see Marcus and crew riding a Reaver in an attempt to out run some ginormous flying beastie. It's intense and totally "badass".
Rumor word coming from Game Guru is that Electronic Arts is in the market, not only for a developer, but also for a gaming engine. Believe it or not, EA is said to be looking to purchase Epic Games and the Unreal Engine. Gasp!
Game Guru claims that EA is looking to gobble up developers of established franchises and quality lineups, which Epic Games fits the bill with Gears of War and Unreal Tournament as well as the added bonus of the Unreal Engine. Seeing that EA's attempt at purchasing Take-Two ended in failure, it wouldn't be entirely out of the realm of possibility that EA would ponder the acquisition of a company who's engine (Unreal Engine 3) powers a good chunk of the industry's titles. Just think, the future could see EA owning exclusive rights to Unreal Engine 4 and somehow involved in GoW ... maybe? ... meh!
Other than the disc itself, a video game's manual is the most important and interesting piece of content that comes packaged with a game. That is, if they're colored, because black and white manuals are a total waste of time. What isn't a total waste of time is checking out a few pages of Gears of Wars 2's manual which have mysteriously leaked their way online and can be viewed in our handy gallery below.
Though, note that all of the manual pages are not included (unless Epic devised a new manual numbering system), but there's plenty of interesting manual information to look through. Sadly, we just found out that the Annex gametype is back ... stupid Annex.
Here's an OMG megaton for Gears of War 2 fanboys. That rumor regarding a five pack of multiplayer map DLC being included in new copies of Gears 2 (which was actually brought up during X08) has just been confirmed to be legit according to GamePro. No joke!
How it'll work is that every NEW copy of Gears 2 will come with a redemption code to download a free "Flashback" map pack from the XBLM. This free DLC contains five additional Gears 2 multiplayer maps which are (surprise!) remakes of classic Gears maps including Canals, Gridlock, Mansion, Subway, and Tyro Station. This will ultimately bump the total number of GoW2 multiplayer maps up to 15. We're told the Flashback map pack DLC should be available for download on launch day, but note that Epic has no plans to release the maps as paid content. It's their "thank you" present to loyal fans, so be sure to stay clear of those used copies that are code'less.
GamePro also confirmed that anyone attending a Gears 2 midnight launch event will be given a redemption code to unlock the in-game golden Hammerburst (as seen above) which features a gold plated paint scheme similar to the Collector's Edition's golden Lancer.
Using poll information gathered from Gearheads this past February, GearsofWar.com just posted a new top five video, where they count down the top five Locust types as chosen by fans. The video (conveniently embedded above) is voiced by the one and only Damon Baird and starts off the top five countdown fun with those "dumb" Boomers. We won't spoil the countdown by telling you anymore, but we will say it's nice to see vintage clips of the original Gears. And for the record, it's more than apparent that Gears 2 is no Gears 1.5 ... just saying.
Update: As pointed out by matt247, Eurogamer is giving away one of these metal COGs in a Microsoft sponsored giveaway. Maybe this isn't viral, maybe it's just promotional?
After Gears of War 2 community manager SixOkay Twittered a hint, telling us to take a closer look at the latest GoW2 video featurette (specifically at the 1:07 timestamp), we decided to take another look at the video. And upon launching the HD video, putting on our reading glasses and navigating to the correct spot, we came across something rather interesting.
At around the 1:07 timestamp, a few frames flash on the screen that show a large, metal COG tag in a man's hand (larger frame grabs in the gallery below) with the text "EVERY TAG TELLS A TALE" written below. Could this be the start of some sort of Gears 2 viral campaign? The launch of some crazy awesome promotion? Or could it just be the announcement of a $2,000 platinum COG tag that's going to go on sale exclusively at Amazon.com? We dunno, but we think it'd be smart to take SixOkay's advice and "stay tuned..."
Spoiler alert for those who don't want their Gears of War 2 experience ... erm, spoiled?
After the break, we've embedded two new Gears 2 videos that showcase some of the campaign's in-game footage including both Hospital and Landown missions. These new videos also show off some of the missions' cutscenes so, if you're uneasy about seeing even the slightest bit about the campaign, then these vids may not be for you. But if you're adventurous enough to watch, you'll see some amazing action, mortar madness, Ticker ticking, and achievement tracker tracking. Yummy yum yum!
Rumor word coming from Game Guru is that 
