Gears of War 3
or as it shall henceforth be known in this here household, the GRIND.... part 3.
These achievements are ridiculous, but i completely understand where they come from. Gears of War 2 was an immensely popular game that earned more than it's fair share of fans, and definitely still brings people to the figurative table. I should know, because every time i heard the call about 22x xp events i logged in to play a few rounds of a game i didn't particularly care too much for. Turns out, i was just experiencing only the parts i hate. So when Gears of War 3 came out i decided that i wouldn't play at all, never played the first one, enjoyed the story of 2 but didn't care for multiplay, so no real need to spend money...
and then i bought it, and it is exactly what i think every xbox owner should have. It has the solid story, it has multiple enemy types (kinda reminiscent of Halo, but then again what shooter genre game doesn't look a helluva lot like every other shooter genre game?), and as I have sine discovered loads and loads of fun multiplayer options. I absolutely hate team deathmatch in the Gears of War world. playing against other humans rolling around like it's some sort of Gymboree class and our supersized COG warriors are 4 year olds covered in explosives, its not my thing. I've never been a fan of any game where it takes a clip or more to down a foe. So that's why i started exploring the other game modes. Horde mode is the standard fallback for any Gears fan, and now they've included some tower defense mechanisms to really up the ante when it comes to fighting wave after wave of enemies. Round 10 they have added Boss fights which draw out the curse words in my small team and really tests our willpower to play one round over and over as the bosses destroy our defenses completely. i doubt i'll ever finish 50 waves, but wouldn't it be great if i did?
Another mode, Beast, allows the player to become the creatures we've learned to just despise with all our hearts... and you find out that it's just about the most satisfying experience one can have in a video game world. Each beast has it's own benefits and working as a team in this realm really pays off. For instance, near the end of the first time i played i found that i could best help my team by starting as one of the non explosive tickers that have the ability to just tear through enemy defenses to allow the bigger guys on my team to wreak havoc. Once i finished making a path to the enemy i switched to the higher end beasts and had fun eliminating the main characters of the game.
Here is a tip to you Gears of War 3 players out there. If you're playing multiplayer and care AT ALL about ever finishing every onyx medal (the Grind i associate with this game) then play as a woman character. If you need to knock out those ribbon associated medals and unlocks, then I suggest you play a lot of private KoTH matches with 60 points, casual, fill, and choose map. you'll find that you can typically get a shut-out, MVP, Executioner, Button-up, Match, Match win, pistoleer, K/D, and a few other ribbons EVERY time you play.
where is the fun in that? the achievements you get every now and then, but you don't play gears for the fun, you play for the grind, knowing that this game will still be around in 2 years when you've maxed everything else out and want something to do. i'm about over the Call of Duty franchise, but i know it's still my go to game for 5 minute rounds. i'm also starting to feel really scared about how Battlefield 3 will come out. It looks so damn beautiful, and they didn't have to change much to do well, and they did, so we'll see how that pans out.
Anyway this post wasn't so much about Gears of War 3 as it was about the original Gears of War, i picked it up for 7 bucks since i've never played. And according to the Grind 3, i have a few achievements i have to earn there to unlock stuff in Gears 3. Already i'm making steady progress through the game, the COG tags are WAY easier to find, and i just finished Act 1 on hardcore.
Having played both now i can see there are a lot of improvements between the two. I remember when it first came out the cover mechanic was a HUGE deal, and honestly it still is, not many games can pull it off effectively, and my experience with it in 3 is that it's more useful than annoying, and when you are trying to run between two points and your dude just flattens himself on a wall, it's thrown controller worthy. I still appreciate it though EPIC games, you done good by me. You have sold me on every chapter of this Gears Saga when i don't really care about any of them, that takes skill. I'm like the Eskimo with the Refrigerator.
Why did i buy Gears 3? enough people said they were buying it around me that i did, now that i see most of them never play or stick to casual... maybe i need to rethink that strategy.
What's next on the gaming list? Skipping Rage, Skipping Batman, Going for BF3 and MW3, that's it for the year. Unless Star Wars the Old Republic can generate some non-hype with some great reviews i might even pass on that. It's starting to feel a bit like the hype that came along with Star Trek Online... i know, i know, it's too soon to talk about it. you're still sore and i'm sorry.
Lastly, I joined Major League Gaming, probably won't compete as the last time i did some kid named Justin Beeber kicked my ass at modern warfare 2 (a game i hadn't touched in a year), you know i may have lost, but that kid deserves as many wins as he can have thrown his way, poor kid has to go through life like Michael Bolton in Office Space.
Drink NOS, send me your can codes, and have a great day!
These achievements are ridiculous, but i completely understand where they come from. Gears of War 2 was an immensely popular game that earned more than it's fair share of fans, and definitely still brings people to the figurative table. I should know, because every time i heard the call about 22x xp events i logged in to play a few rounds of a game i didn't particularly care too much for. Turns out, i was just experiencing only the parts i hate. So when Gears of War 3 came out i decided that i wouldn't play at all, never played the first one, enjoyed the story of 2 but didn't care for multiplay, so no real need to spend money...
and then i bought it, and it is exactly what i think every xbox owner should have. It has the solid story, it has multiple enemy types (kinda reminiscent of Halo, but then again what shooter genre game doesn't look a helluva lot like every other shooter genre game?), and as I have sine discovered loads and loads of fun multiplayer options. I absolutely hate team deathmatch in the Gears of War world. playing against other humans rolling around like it's some sort of Gymboree class and our supersized COG warriors are 4 year olds covered in explosives, its not my thing. I've never been a fan of any game where it takes a clip or more to down a foe. So that's why i started exploring the other game modes. Horde mode is the standard fallback for any Gears fan, and now they've included some tower defense mechanisms to really up the ante when it comes to fighting wave after wave of enemies. Round 10 they have added Boss fights which draw out the curse words in my small team and really tests our willpower to play one round over and over as the bosses destroy our defenses completely. i doubt i'll ever finish 50 waves, but wouldn't it be great if i did?
Another mode, Beast, allows the player to become the creatures we've learned to just despise with all our hearts... and you find out that it's just about the most satisfying experience one can have in a video game world. Each beast has it's own benefits and working as a team in this realm really pays off. For instance, near the end of the first time i played i found that i could best help my team by starting as one of the non explosive tickers that have the ability to just tear through enemy defenses to allow the bigger guys on my team to wreak havoc. Once i finished making a path to the enemy i switched to the higher end beasts and had fun eliminating the main characters of the game.
Here is a tip to you Gears of War 3 players out there. If you're playing multiplayer and care AT ALL about ever finishing every onyx medal (the Grind i associate with this game) then play as a woman character. If you need to knock out those ribbon associated medals and unlocks, then I suggest you play a lot of private KoTH matches with 60 points, casual, fill, and choose map. you'll find that you can typically get a shut-out, MVP, Executioner, Button-up, Match, Match win, pistoleer, K/D, and a few other ribbons EVERY time you play.
where is the fun in that? the achievements you get every now and then, but you don't play gears for the fun, you play for the grind, knowing that this game will still be around in 2 years when you've maxed everything else out and want something to do. i'm about over the Call of Duty franchise, but i know it's still my go to game for 5 minute rounds. i'm also starting to feel really scared about how Battlefield 3 will come out. It looks so damn beautiful, and they didn't have to change much to do well, and they did, so we'll see how that pans out.
Anyway this post wasn't so much about Gears of War 3 as it was about the original Gears of War, i picked it up for 7 bucks since i've never played. And according to the Grind 3, i have a few achievements i have to earn there to unlock stuff in Gears 3. Already i'm making steady progress through the game, the COG tags are WAY easier to find, and i just finished Act 1 on hardcore.
Having played both now i can see there are a lot of improvements between the two. I remember when it first came out the cover mechanic was a HUGE deal, and honestly it still is, not many games can pull it off effectively, and my experience with it in 3 is that it's more useful than annoying, and when you are trying to run between two points and your dude just flattens himself on a wall, it's thrown controller worthy. I still appreciate it though EPIC games, you done good by me. You have sold me on every chapter of this Gears Saga when i don't really care about any of them, that takes skill. I'm like the Eskimo with the Refrigerator.
Why did i buy Gears 3? enough people said they were buying it around me that i did, now that i see most of them never play or stick to casual... maybe i need to rethink that strategy.
What's next on the gaming list? Skipping Rage, Skipping Batman, Going for BF3 and MW3, that's it for the year. Unless Star Wars the Old Republic can generate some non-hype with some great reviews i might even pass on that. It's starting to feel a bit like the hype that came along with Star Trek Online... i know, i know, it's too soon to talk about it. you're still sore and i'm sorry.
Lastly, I joined Major League Gaming, probably won't compete as the last time i did some kid named Justin Beeber kicked my ass at modern warfare 2 (a game i hadn't touched in a year), you know i may have lost, but that kid deserves as many wins as he can have thrown his way, poor kid has to go through life like Michael Bolton in Office Space.
Drink NOS, send me your can codes, and have a great day!
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