Nitpicking Gears of War 2
Sometimes games have little issues that don’t really deserve much mention in a proper review. Sometimes major issues deserve to be expanded upon elsewhere. Whatever the magnitude of a flaw, it’s always worth detailing them for the sake of future improvement. This is where nitpicking comes in.
Gears of War 2 is, in my estimation of it, one of the finest action games I’ve ever played. A shining example of the “complete package”, it features a full campaign, online co-op campaign, fully featured suit of online multiplayer modes, not to mention the five player cooperative Horde mode. Still, Gears 2 has its issues in each of these respects, ones that are easy fixes, and others not so much.
Online Matchmaking is Sllllllllllloooooooooooooooowwwwwwwwww…
Not long after release, Epic issues a patch and auto update in order to fix longer than usual matchmaking when going public on Xbox LIVE. In my experience, I would often sit there without end as the matchmaking process continuously grasped at thin air, never successfully completing. This, apparently, was especially pronounced for players going into matchmaking alone and, oddly enough, four player parties. So the update gets issued, we all download and install it, and everything gets fixed.
Wrong.
Although I’ve noticed an improvement, matchmaking still takes an unacceptable amount of time to kick in, if at all. I’m not sure how Epic fares with its net code, but one would assume that the makers of Unreal Tournament, a predominantly online competitive multiplayer shooter that’s been around since 1999, would have a handle on this. I guess not. Moreover, too frequently in matches that actually do get started succesfully, the game lags and stutters in a completely unplayable state. Something’s gotta happen here.
Allow randomly grouped players in matchmaking the option to stick together.
Directly related to my previous point, if I manage to get into a good match with great connections and players that aren’t a bunch of douchbags, I’d like to have the options to stay with them in subsequent matches. Instead, Gears 2 kicks you out into the lobby after every match, forcing you to start all over again if you haven’t gathered party members in the first place.
Halo 3 does this right: after every match, the game offers everyone the option to stay or leave. After a short countdown, those who remain will continue to play with one another, randomly assorted into teams in subsequently matches, with new players recruited through Xbox LIVE. With Gears 2 online functionality so wonky, the inclusion of this option could have effectively headed off this issue altogether.
Better multiplayer camera controls and allow record function of matches.
Want to get really nitpicky? How about the camera function in matches?
While this addition to Gears 2 is definitely welcome, it’s basically handicapped. Here’s how this works: you die, you spend several seconds up to the rest of a match in limbo, watching the match play out from multiple pre-set angles or freeing the camera altogether to fly about the map. You can then position the camera anywhere you’d like and take pictures of the live action which get scored and saved.
The problem is that the camera controls are really difficult to master, with the camera always plunging to the floor where is scoots along from the perspective of an ant. Capturing any meaningful or well placed pictures is nigh impossible, especially since, unlike Halo 3, Gears 2 does not have a playback function of previous matches which can be paused to position for exactly the kind of shots you’d like to take.
With most players being acclimated to the excellent execution of such a function in Halo 3, most will regard Gears 2’s implementation poorly. It would be nice to see this fixed.
More polished, responsive, and dynamic controls.
When Gears of War 2 pushes ahead at its usual methodical pace, there isn’t much to complain about in the controls department. With a calm head and time to consider your options, navigating your way through cover points and adjusting to your enemies is a breeze.
However, when things get bat shit crazy, so does your ability to properly manipulate your character and maneouver appropriately. The cover system is a fantastically implemented system, but it must be able to respond to more twitch based controls when the situation demands it.
As of right now, pressing the A button is like turning on a magnetic switch that attracts your character to walls. But it also happens to control diving, mantling, running and more. I’m not suggesting that this one-button philosphy be turned into a two or three button philosophy; indeed, this would likely complicate things further. However, something more fluid in the cover department such as simply pressing up against an object might work, while leaving the A button to perform evasive maneouvers exclusively.
This, really, would need a great deal of experimentation to perfect. But should they strike just the right balance, not only would you reduce frustration, but also allow for more tense and frenetic battles.
Better stat tracking.
You can get a pretty concise and complete set of your stats at gearsofwar.com. However, the in-game implementation of stat tracking is awful. First of all, just finding your stats is a chore. Secondly, once you do find your stats, it isn’t even remotely clear what the stats apply to. Is it for the map you just played? The game type? Both? Is it for all time stats or just for that map?
Whatever the opposite of intuitive is, this is it. I hate to beat a dead horse here, but Halo 3 does a much better job of this. A complete overhaul is necessary.
peachey @ December 1, 2008