Gearheads of War

Q - How does the movement/cover system feel?  Is there a noticeable difference?

A - The movement/cover system feels very similar to Gears 1. Sometimes you still get stuck in cover when you shouldn't and sometimes stick to things you don't intend to. It's certainly the exception rather than the rule, and Gears does it better than anyone else.

Q - For whatever maps you have played, what are their names?  We know about Avalanche and the "environmental hazard there.  How about other environmental hazards?

A - By now you've those of you that wanted to have already seen images of all of the maps. You've also seen footage of Hail the other multiplayer map that uses environmental hazards to great success. It's an awesome map with plenty of cover that leads to some epic battles.

Q - There is some confusion about the melee in Gears 2.  Is there a stun effect that follows the melee?  Or are we correct in believing that the melee will only cause damage, but no stun whatsoever?

A - I don't believe I was ever actually melee'd by someone else so I can't be 100% certain whether or not there is any stun effect on someone who is melee'd. However, there weren't a lot of people running around meleeing everyone else, so draw your own conclusions.

Q - Could you tell us what the "Active Reload" is for each weapon?

A - No, I don't remember what everyone is off the top of my head. I can say that for the Longshot the amount of space allotted for an active reload is different on every reload. Sometimes it's so tiny you can barely see it, and sometimes it's a bit larger. As you all know it's not an immediate down anymore though, so you should all be happy about that.

Q - If you plant your grenade in the wall and then meet your virtual maker is your grenade still active?

A - Yes. Until someone explodes the grenade by walking past it or shooting it, it most definitely is still active.

Q - David what are your thoughts from playing MP?  Did you feel like when you shot at something, they were downed or killed in the appropriate manner?

A - Unfortunately in our review session we DID NOT play online. All multiplayer sessions were handled via LAN. It was not an ideal situation, and I mentioned this in my review. However, I did not see any evidence of the classic "host advantage" which is noticeable in Gears 1 even over LAN.

Q - My question is pacing. With the introduction of stopping power does is sometimes lead to boring stalemates of 1v1 or 2v2, where people are just basically shooting the wall the other guy is behind, or are the maps built well enough so that there's enough flanking sections and such so that doesn't really become an issue.

A - I didn't see any evidence that stalemates were more likely to happen than in Gears 1.

Q - Also, how often do shotty battles breakout and if they do, is the shotgun still as inconsistent as it was in Gears 1?

A - The shotgun is very powerful, but has an incredibly slow rate of fire. I did not see many shotgun duels in Gears 2.

Q - And finally, when chainsawing or in any kind of execution animation and you're killed is the other guy automatically dead?

A - Once the animation starts, you're dead.

If you have any additional questions post them and I'll try to answer those that I'm allowed to.