Games 2

Gears of War Update

A Gears of War update should start pushing through the system at some point today, Tuesday January 9, 2007 prior to the two new multiplayer maps being available on Xbox Live Marketplace on Wednesday January 10, 2007. The maps, plus an introductory video featuring Gears designer Cliff Bleszinski will be available free.

Here is a list of what was addressed in this update:

  • Fixed aspect ratio distortion when using VGA cable with 4:3 displays at resolutions higher than 640×480
  • Fixed voice issue with new players joining Player Match games in progress
  • Players can now get the Achievement for “Dish Best Served Cold” when using Troika turret to kill RAAM
  • Fixed rare situation where host could loop countdown and never start match
  • Fixed rare situation where players could get stuck after chainsawing in multiplayer
  • Reduced Grenade Tag melee distance
  • Enabled “Strict” NAT check on host to prevent possible connection issues
  • Optimized server browser queries to return results more quickly and prevent scroll bars from hiding quality of service icons
  • Reduced number of possible revives in Execution to match Warzone
  • Removed host name from Ranked match server browser
  • Disabled security cameras in Ranked matches
  • Ranked matches now require balanced teams (3v3 or 4v4)
  • Increased penalty for quitting a Ranked match to -50 points
  • Added additional cheat detection code
  • Additional housekeeping updates

Now, I am not usually one to complain, but Epic took their sweet time releasing a patch that only fixed a handful of issues. At least they reduced the range for grenade tagging, which should make the game a lot less annoying. Still, not being able to play with friends in ranked matches in a team based game is ridiculous and is the main reason I have not played enough ranked games to get any of the achievements. At least we got some new maps, but I would rather they build in a party system or something instead.

Details about the new maps:

  • Raven Down: “A Raven Helicopter has gone down in the middle of a large scale battle with the omnipresent Locust Horde. Gears have taken out the Seeder and gamers join Delta Forces moving into the crash site from all angles to search for survivors.”
  • RavenDown.jpgRavenDown2.jpg

  • Old Bones: “In an attempt to eradicate any traces of human history and culture, the Locust Horde has emerged under Sera’s Capitaline Museums and has begun to destroy them brick by brick. Each gamer’s mission is to help the Delta Force recapture the museums before all remnants of humankind’s existence are obliterated.”
  • Museum.jpgMuseum2.jpg