James Hawkin's GOW3 concept artwork

You might have seen me take the piss out of this 'Savage Grenadier' but if you'd had followed the link you might have found this website by concept artist James Hawkins where he's put up some pretty cool images of the concept design work he did for the Gears of War 3 game. You've heard of it right?

Here's some of the images, full set is here.

The shotgun

Silverback design.

When is a Gears of War prequel not a prequel?

When is a Gears of War prequel not a prequel? 

When Judgment ships with a second, unlockable mini campaign set in the GOW3 time period.

Maybe People Can Fly realized that having a prequel was not exactly the coolest thing to do for a franchise 3 games in.

They mixed up the Judgement campaign with optional missions, flash backs to give the campaign a bit of novelty. One thing they kept secret until the game’s release was that having completed the campaign, a second campaign called 'Aftermath' is playable if the player has done enough diligence during the first campaign.

That’s a nice way of mixing it up.

Aftermath takes place at the end of GoW 3 when Baird, Cole, and Carmine set out to track down reinforcements before the COG invade Azura. Aftermath is set at a two game play length.

Aftermath can be unlocked by completing each level of Judgement with style and panache. More head shots or fancier execution finishers will grant players ‘stars’ and the more stars you get, the more of Aftermath becomes available.

Gears of War: Judgment’s lead level designer Jim Brown said “We wanted to do something that added context to the game, so you had that beginning part, but then this ties everything together with the main trilogy as well.”

“So you’ll see when you go in there some people you recognize, some places, maybe even some enemies and then see how the two storylines weave together in the context of the whole. Obviously, we don’t want to give away too many spoilers in how it’s going to end or what you’re going to see.

“But the basic gist of it is that when they’re at the fort, Marcus sends Barrett and Cole off to find supplies and reinforcements, and then he goes off to Azura. Then at the very end they show up with helicopters. This is where they went and what they did on that mission.”

I gotta admit, I was fairly worried about GOWJ being a prequel but it looks like a lot of work has gone into making it a great game.

Can’t wait to get my hands on it. 

Impressive cosplay of Flame Grenadier from GOWIII

Captain of the Locust BBQ Team

Once in a while you come across a cosplay outfit that well and truly impresses. Today's the day we're truly truly impressed. Check out this costume from Gears of War of a Flame Grenadier - matched with the cosplayer's partner as COG Samantha. Both characters can be found in the third game.

You can find more pictures at the Epic site where Billy and Heather talk about how they became fans of GOW and how they made these wonderful costumes.

Shane Pierce's Gears of War 3 Concept Art

Artist Shane Pierce has put up some of the concept artwork he did for the Gears of War 3 game - mostly the images posted are of landscapes and buildings. Pretty awesome design work for the world of Sera!

Check out more of Pierce's artwork here.

Nobody give Christina Norman a gun

Christina Norman worked for BioWare on the Mass Effect series. She's apparently with with a company I've never heard of these days..

At the Game Developers Conference was talking about release day DLC - probably in light of the stir about Mass Effect 3's Prothean Ashes DLC. She gave the punters who buy the games and thus pay her wages quite the serve:

"There's no point in releasing DLC a year after your game has come out when most people have already sold your game back to GameStop three times"

"That means getting it out early; that means even day-one DLC. That is a terrible thing to some players.

"Players rant—they know nothing about this DLC that's coming out except its name. But then it's 'oh this game must be incomplete, the game must be ruined.'

Oh woah is me lady. let's be frank, it's all about the money. Plain and simple.

Norman also said "We just want to release awesome stuff. Players please, give us a chance. Judge our games based on what they are. Judge the DLC based on what it is. Stop thinking you're a producer and telling us when and where we should be building our content."

I think she still misses the point. Forget arguments about quality (as a lot of DLC is sub par) if it DLC wasn't an opportunity to extract some economic rent from the players, it simply wouldn't happen.

You could make the argument I guess that some DLC could never have been incorporated into the game in the first place. Take Gears of War 3 - there was no place in that brilliant campaign to add in the clever Raam's Shadow DLC.

As for Norman's rant at fans, that's a really bad way to encourage and foster a fan base? Do you ever seem Bungie or Frankie from 343 Industries mouthing off about fans publically? I didn't think so either. 

Gears' Forces of Nature DLC hits March 27

Gears of War's Forces of Nature DLC hits the XBL on March 27.

It's the final DLC that forms part of the season pass that allowed buyers to get all the DLC, including Raam's Shadow for one fee.

Forces of Nature, is what it sounds like, all the maps are themed around that notion of forces of nature -- tornadoes, tsunamis, and huge fog.

The DLC will feature five multiplayer maps, three new locations and two older settings that have been remastered.

The three new maps are named Artillery, Aftermath and Cove and each will  highlight a specific weather element. The DLC will also bring back popular maps Jacinto and Raven Down.

Forces of Nature will cost you a whole costs 800 MS Points.

Tip: How to use the Boomshot on Gears of War 3

The Boomshot

Boooooom! say the Boomers on Gears of War 3 - it's their signal to you that a massive bomb blast is headed in your direction - time to duck into some cover and return fire with your lancer right?

If you are playing Gears of War on its notoriously difficult Insane Mode you may not be so keen to take on a Boomer or Drudge with simply a lancer rifle. You might want to soften them up with a grenade first - or you could get one of you squad members to do your dirty work for you!

The trick is to arm your squad member with some heavy firepower - that way you can utilise their special ability of unlimited ammo - so for instance if you load all three squad members up with the boom-shot there's a good chance during a fire fight at least one of them will chose to use the boomshot and increase the damage dealt out to the lambent horde!

I'd recommend that everytime you get a chance to pick up the boomshot during a campaign session you should do so and then immediately give it to an A.I. team mate. So every time you fell a Boomer, take their weapon and do the weapon swap. Also there's plenty of times you come across a handy weapons cache so stock up then too - you can kit out your entire squad at the times!

How to give you team mates the boomshot:

1. To exchange weapons or share ammo in any mode, move within close range of a squad mate.

2. Aim at said squadmate with the Left Trigger button and press [Y] to share ammo

3. [X] to swap your primary weapon or [A] to swap your secondary weapon.

4. Pistols and grenades may not be swapped...

Obviously you can swap any weapons you like, it doesn't have to be the boomshot - however on insane mode I think having your A.I. driven squad mates of having the option to use it increases you own chance of survival - some of the set pieces in GOW3 can be absolutely brutal so why not up your odds of making it through?

Using the boomshot effectively is also an art in itself. While you can use the reticle turning red as a rough guide that you have an accurate shot lined up, for further distances you may need to lead the shot a bit, or estimate  the angle you'll fire at - the boomshot's projectiles fall over time so you may need to aim higher than you think. 

Be wary of using the boomshot at very close quarters - you're likely to blow yourself up!

Want more? Here's a tip on taking down the Armoured Kantus with the Hammer of Dawn.

Tips about using ammo in Gears of War 3

Tips about using ammo in Gears of War 3



So like I got horribly stuck somewhere on Act III of Gears this weekend. It's just before you to get the cable car / gondala tower and a giant stalk comes up of the ground with a whole lot of lambents and drudges and the those fucking little dog / wretch like things that sneak up on you like no one business. Insane Mode, it's a bitch.


I kept dying as I ran out of ammunition. So low on ammo and with no hope of getting through solely by chainsawing the guts out of my foes alone, I finally remembered to use the 'weapon swap' feature with my comrades Anya, Jace and that really annoying one. It worked a treat - I had that extra few bullets that I needed to hold out againt the bastards and finally got past after some trial and error. Speaking of chainsaws, how come they never flood the saw's engine in the game?



Some hints about using ammo

• Try and stock up on ammo before you get to the next check point
• Use the Weapon Swap function as need be
• You can swap like with like (they may have more ammo in the same weapon)
• You can hand over an empty weapon too
• In a tight spot, you still should pick up ammo - pick you moment though!
• In a tight spot, if you can do it without dying, weapon swap - but be wise in your selection, don't take the sawn off shot gun for example if you're in a long range gun fight. 

A good tactical trick is to arm your Gears squad mates with Boomshots as well, especially on Insane Mode. It's a trick I learnt in Halo - arm your soldiers with the rockets and they had unlimited ammo - it stands to reason this should work in Gears of War 3. Every so often you come across a weapons cache - that's your chance to load up the boom shots....

In case you don't know how to swap weapons in Gears 3 here's the official way:

1. To exchange weapons or share ammo in any mode, move within close range of a squad mate.

2. Aim at that squadmate with [Left Trigger] and press [Y] to share ammo

3. [X] to swap your primary weapon or [A] to swap your secondary weapon. 

4. Pistols and grenades may not be swapped...

How badly acted is Samantha Byrne in Gears 3?

How badly acted is Samantha Byrne in Gears 3?

In two words. Very badly.

Do you remember how bad the acting in the original Gears game was? Baird was terrible. The Cole Train laughable. Marcus' only saving grace was that his voice was whole unique and actually managed to convey a true sense of emotional depth - well at least when he wasn't yelling "Bring it".

It's my view Samantha Byrne is the worsely acted character in the entire Gears franchise. How the heck that voice acting got through play testing without the testers murmuring about how dire it was? How did Cliff Bleszinski let this pass?

Samantha's character is voiced by Claudia Black, an actor who's voiced many video games and films and is known for her role in Pitch Black. Given her breadth of experience, how the fuck she turn in that performance? Was it the voice director or was she just simply trying to sound like an obnoxious Aussie actor from Home and Away?

Any ways, the actual character of Sam Byrne is quite interesting, here's a small biography - she's had more history that just other than the games as she's been featured in the associated novels.

Biography:

Private Samantha Byrne was born in Avengad, Kashkur, which is near the famous Anvil Gate, which featured as garrison in the Pendulum Wars. Her father was Sargeant Samuel Byrne who died during the Siege of Anvil Gate in the Pendulum Wars.

Like her father, she joined the COG army and was assigned to Delta-One, Marcus Fenix's company.

During the COG occupation at Vectes, Samantha was involved in multiple pivotal encounters including the discovery that Lambency had jumped across species barrier when herself, Bernadette Mataki, the now battle hardened Anya Stroud and Alex survived an onslaught of what appeared to be Lambent forces.

After the COG disbanded, she joined Marcus Fenix and Delta Squad on the CNV Sovereign rather than attempting a pilgrimage to Anvegad with the grumpy Colonel Victor Hoffman and Bernadette Mataki.

Sam survived the final campaign in Gears of War 3.

Jimmy Jangles Reviews: Gears of War 3's Insane Mode

Rod Fergusson reflects on Gears 3

Here's some snippets from an interview Rod Fergusson did with IGN post release on Gears of War 3 that covers the sucesses and merits of the game..

Was there anything you'd change if you had extra development time?

Generally speaking, anytime that we get additional time, we always find it's best to focus on polish.


It's about the little things; that last 10 percent. Would one feature make the game so much better that now Metacritic is 98? Probably not, but it's about that polish level, taking whatever time you have, and just make the experience that you have stronger.

How has fan feedback since Gears 3 launched influenced your team with Gears?

Probably the biggest piece of feedback is the double-barreled shotgun, or what we call the sawed-off shotgun. It's probably the most controversial weapon now in our arsenal because it allowed people who had less skill than the veteran players to have that successful shotgun kill.

It caused people to react to that.

We've definitely been playing with how we can tweak the sawed-off shotgun. That's one of the things we did with the Alpha playlist. We made it a pick-up in the map instead of being a starting weapon, so it turned it much more into a power weapon. That's had really positive response. The Alpha playlist has done really well.

Gears of War 3 was the first in the franchise to support stereo 3D gameplay. What are your thoughts on 3D gaming?

I think it's interesting. I think it's an emerging market. I'm part of that marketplace in the movie world that goes and sees the 3D IMAX version of a movie if I have a choice.

I feel like it heightens the experience.

When I saw Avatar in 3D, that was one of the great realizations of that. I think it's still coming into its own on the game side. I know playing it with Gears, that sense of depth in the word and being able to actually really feel like you're shooting into the world, is really compelling. I'd be interested to see whether that continues.

When I talk to my friends, there are definitely people out there who have that backlash, who purposefully avoid the 3D version of a film or feel like it's a trick or novelty and just another fad and will go away pretty quickly.

Meagan Marie will Curb Stomp your ass to Sierra

Eat this grub!

I came across this shot of some Anya Stroud cos play action by Megan Marie and just had to share it - you may have seen Megan's Gears cosplay before - she's pretty popular!

Quit bitching about paying for DLC you already have....

Seems some people are grumpy about having to pay for DLC content that's tecnhically already on the game disk they have paid for and Gears of War's Horde Pack is the lastest example to stir up the masses.

Kotaku has some words on the subject from Gears producer Rod Fergusson. He stated the move was "in an attempt to unify a game’s online community, game developers want all players to have access to new DLC content whether they pay for it or not. This makes DLC a trick proposition. The solution is that many developers provide new DLC to all players, but only allow those who paid for it to use the DLC weapon skins or host a new DLC map."

"One of the concerns was we would have to have people download compatibility packs,” explains Fergusson. However, since Gears of War was delayed from its original released date, earlier this Spring, Epic felt it had the option to include it’s first DLC pack on the disc, so that everyone wouldn’t have to download the new content. "We felt it was a win/win, because no one is going to have to download anything huge when the DLC comes out."

Indeed the decision to included the DLC makes some real sense when one realises the DLC will be visible in game to other players who haven't paid for it - we're talking weaponry here - persons who bought the pack get to use differing versions of guns - so everyone needs to see THAT - the DLC got put all on the game disks.

Paying for extras is the way of the world. You want extra sauce on your chips, you gotta pay for it. You want that suit tailored? You gotta pay for it. You want a new Halo map? You gotta pay for it. You wanna play the General Raam DLC? You gotta pay for it - it doesn't matter in this case that the Gears creators have put a bunch of code on a disk - that simply makes things easier so your game bloody works better.

So quit your bitching soldier - if you want DLC for your games, you gotta pay for it - don't matter the actual monetary exchange is simply a 'key'. People who make games make games not only because they like making games it's because they like making money. That's the bottom line. And hey, if you don't want to pay for DLC - you don't have to!

Michael Barrick to feature in GOW3 DLC

Michael Barrick, a key character from the Gears of War graphic novels looks to be the star of some DLC for Gears of War 3.

Cliff B, GOW3's producer dropped into NEOGAF's forum with this in response to a question:

'No, it won't be the graphic novel, but it will have all new campaign content that doesn't have Marcus, Dom, Cole and Baird in it. Expect Barrick and more...'

That is to say the DLC features Barrick but is not going to be a retelling of any prior Gears storyline. 

What's the secret achievement in Gears of War III?

On Act 4 Chapter 1, complete the Act 4, Level 1 without disturbing any of the Ash People - i.e. those killed by the Hammer of Dawn strikes. This will give you the secret Respect for the Dead achievement.

How to unlock the cluck shot Easter Egg from GOW3

How to unclock the cluck shot Easter Egg from GOW3. This is pretty damn random!

Sweet Fan Made Live Action Gears of War 3 movie

Sweet Fan Made Live Action Gears of War 3 movie

Does Adam Fenix die in Gears 3?

Here's an interesting snippet from an interview with Gears of War 3's Clif Blezsinski which talks of the game's ending - is Cliff telegraphing that Adam Fenix dies at the end of Gears? This is of course my own speculation...

"CB: Absolutely. Personally, when the project really started, I was 29 and 30 and going through a split, as far as my first marriage. If you're ever going through a rough time in your life and you're a creative person, the best thing you can do is pour that into your work. You hear about artists who are going through a tough time and it's cathartic; it's therapy for them. And some of the things that came out of Gears 1 were the result of that. Coming full circle to the end of Gears 3, let's just say the ending is very personal for me. I don't want to spoil a lot of it, but in regards to what happens--and the final shot--it's not only personal to me, but also Rod Fergusson and Lee Perry, who also lost their dads at a young age. My advice to developers often is make your products personal. Take things from real life, names of friends, locations you've gone to, and do that. That's what makes it not feel like a manufactured product; it makes it feel real and tangible."

Or maybe Marcus and Adam hug it out and walk off into the sunset......

Update: As suspected, Adam Fenix dies in a most noble fashion.

Check out my Gears of War 3 review or how I think Gears of War 4 could play out. 

Gears 3 is gold

I guess that means the release date really is September 20th! Here's the cake the Gears crew had to celebrate the milestone.

Will Carmine Live?

When I see a GOW3 screen shot like this I have a sneaky suspicion that Carmine will live.......

Update: He does!

Check out my Gears of War 3 review or how I think Gears of War 4 could play out.