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| | Title:
Gears of War: Annex
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System:
Xbox 360
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Genre:
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Publisher:
Microsoft
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Developer:
Epic MegaGames
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Release:
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Online:
Yes
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ESRB:
Mature (M)
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Free content is never a bad thing no matter what game it comes from. It’s even better when this free content not only changes up how the game plays but fixes some of the problems usually left for development in sequels. Such is the case with the new Gears of War gametype known as Annex. Along with the new update the team at Epic also tried to fix some problems which were plaguing the online multiplayer matches. Key word: tried.
Annex can basically be thought of as a territories match with Gears of War slapped on top of it. The goal is to capture a certain location, and then defend it until the next point pops up. It’s really nothing new to gamers who have been playing Battlefield, or Halo 2. Because of this the game is relatively easy to understand. There won’t be anybody confused during matches. Annex has tweaked the rules slightly. After capturing a point, no one from the capturing team needs to be within the circle of light in order to rack up points. This is a good thing since all the capture points don’t lend themselves very well to cover. You’ll be in the open. Obviously, this is a design choice in order to make capturing harder.
How capture points are shown is with a small HUD pointing to a weapon. All the capture points spawn where weapons spawn so those who know these maps inside and out will find themselves with a distinct advantage for the first few days. Once a point is captured the points tally up until the goal is reached. A nice audio cue alarms the other team when their opponents are near winning, but after the fiftieth time it gets annoying and can even make team chatter hard to hear. This is not something you want happening during a tight match. As anyone would expect teamwork is vital to winning. Those groups of people who love to play together will destroy anyone who just jumps into a match. As a result there are very few close matches. Either one team will win or one will lose. This becomes apparent within the first capture. There is absolutely not way to come from behind.
The real draw of Annex is the fact that it has respawns. No more sitting on the side lines for three minutes because the cheap “flip a coin to determine who wins” mechanics didn’t go your way. This is great for those who are still trying to figure the convoluted system that Gears employs to determine who wins a one on one encounter and who loses. Within one game I learned more than I have my entire experience of playing Gears up to the release of Annex. In this way it was a breath of fresh air. Still don’t expect the cheap deaths, and the “what the hell” moments to disappear. At least you get to come back into the game.
There are three things about Annex and this update which are just terrible. One in particular has almost broken the entire gameplay experience. The first is the fact that you can’t earn your achievements for killing so many people with a certain weapon in ranked games through Annex. In short there is no reason to play a ranked Annex game. Why suffer through waiting for people to join when you can just jump into a Player match and capture away. Great way to promote ranked games Epic. Secondly, (here comes the broken game part) in the update Epic tried to fix a problem with the roadie run and how it would sometimes make gamers stick to surfaces. This was a problem and I’m glad Epic was knowledgeable of it. Just one problem; they didn’t fix it, they made it ten times worse. Every time I roadie run my character sticks to absolutely every piece of cover I get close too. Cheap and unwanted deaths are obviously the end result especially when in intense fights that gamers need to get away from. Be prepared to stick to everything and not like it.
Finally, Annex while great in its own right, shows once again the biggest flaw in Gears multiplayer; the total lack of the simple deathmatch with respawns gametype. Why Epic, the king of multiplayer games (Unreal Tournament) refuses to create a deathmatch gametype (respawning included) still eludes me. There is no comparison to this lack of gameplay feature. It just makes no sense. Granted Player matches have already surfaced where the general rule is to not capture points and just frag away, but fans shouldn’t have to make their own make-shift death match gametypes.
Overall, Annex is a great addition to Gears of War. The respawns and new mode of play beyond the simple “kill everyone will no respawns” is a nice change. It burns though that the roadie run is basically broken now, and that the deathmatch gametype is still absent. Get on this Epic. Halo 3 is coming out this fall (Beta on May 16th) and if you expect us fans to still play your game while there is a superior experience in Halo 3, you better start listening to us. Deathmatch with respawns.
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| The Core Score |
Overall
8.8 |
| Fun |
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8.5 |
| Gameplay |
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8.0 |
| Graphics |
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10 |
| Audio |
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10 |
| Replay |
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9 |
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| Kid Safe Score |
| 1 Horrible |
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Blood, chainsaws, parents beware. |
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