Ok guys & gals, there's a lot of info that have surfaced in the past couple of days, so I put up this diary to keep us abreast of everything.  These details are things that we've learned about outside of the latest Game Informer article.  Big ups to Average for starting the bulleted details (forgive me if I've edited some of them & added more info)!  I copied & pasted some of my previous gameplay reveal analysis list as well.  **NOTE: I'll be constantly updating this diary with any new info as it rolls in, so refer to this frequently!

---CAMPAIGN---

•Framerate will not dip under 30 FPS promised Cliffy.
•Carmine is back (Anthony Carmine died in the first game & Cliffy acknowledged this, but wouldn’t give any further description as to why or how he returned.   Just that Carmine was a weird fan favorite so they brought him back).  Hmmm, shades of Halo's Sgt. Johnson maybe or perhaps something like South Park's Kenny? ;)
•COG "redshirts" have a minor redesigned helmet & appear to have a beefier build.
•Campaign will also be longer than Gears 1.  More variety of locust, more weapons, and more vehicle sections.
•"Thirty percent of the campaign is underground.  Cave games are cool, but this is not a spelunking game."
•Squad ordering (Assault/Cover fire/Regroup) has been dropped.

•New Locust enemy-types:
   •Kantus (healer/necromancer)
   •Small Locust-type that plants roadside IEDs & throws grappling hooks for boarding Derricks.
   •Rockworms that provide moving cover.
   •New locust 'Grenadier' is seen being pummeled by the new fisticuffs execution.
   •New locust 'Hammerhead' (helmet makes him look sort of like a hammerhead shark).

•“The chainsaw duel itself, moment for moment, takes about as long as the old chainsaw action does because what we do we actually make the actual act of chainsawing somebody at the end of the duel extremely quick,” states Cliffy.  You will no longer be invincible/god mode when chainsawing.  Attacks can be interrupted in mid-duel.  Two people can chainsaw one guy at the same time.
•You're locked into the chainsaw duel-win or lose.  It can also wind up being a draw in which you can grapple to re-engage in another duel.
•The Lancer has a longer barrel that extends a bit farther than the chainsaw attachment, blue targeting cross-hair on the iron sights, new muzzle flashes, and firing sound effects.  Also, new active-reload HUD display animation were seen for the Lancer and Hammerburst.
•Retooled Hammerburst sounds beefier and has the ability for semi-automatic.  It now has a barrel extension.  The faster you tap the the right trigger, the faster it fires.  However, with the faster fire rate comes more recoil.
•Specific weapons will cycle around the maps.
•Stopping power.  If you're running towards an enemy and he is firing straight into your chest, you will slow down.
•Tracer fire has now been added to give a better visual to where your shots are heading.
•The opportunity to spawn with either the Lancer or Hammerburst is available.
•Grenades can be stuck anywhere; not just on enemies.  They can be planted on the ground, walls, doors, etc. to produce a proximity mine.
•Smoke grenades now carry a stun effect that ragdolls anyone within range.

•New weapons:
   •Poison gas grenade.  It produces a cloud of smoke that kills anything that lingers in it (similar to gas in the Garden map).  Grenades can be tagged onto enemies were they will slowly die.  Players that are tagged by the poison grenade can also injure teammates if they get too close to them.
   •Scorcher (Flamethrower).  According to X360 magazine, "Most realistic fire in a game we've ever seen."
   •Gorgon Burst Pistol has four-six round burst shots in each clip.
•Gnasher shottie has not been nerfed.
•When using the left trigger aim feature, the perspective is tighter than in Gears 1.  Peripheral vision is now decreased much more than originally.
•Sidearms are now shown on COG thighs instead of magically appearing (Gorgon Burst pistol on Marcus' thigh).
•The smoke from the pistol barrel actually floats quickly towards the back of the Derrick, showing some impressive wind physics- Thanks Crunk!
•Active reloads have expanded.  Cliffy gave a few examples: Boltok pistol will fire faster in AR, better accuracy & certain weapons will have better range when AR is pulled off.

•New weapon-specific executions:
   •Chainsaw to the back-"Taint to the throat"
   •Meatshield option when your sidearm is out (press A-button)
   •"Fun use of Torque Bow blades," according to Cliffy
   •Longshot will be used like a golf club.
   •UFC beatdown on downed enemy (pressing Y-button) dubbed "GnP" by Major Silva & Degrees!
   •Curb stomp returns.

•Meatshields will deteriorate under fire, as well as drip blood on the floor as you drag them mercifully along.  As they leak blood onto the ground, they will leave trails.
•Once you are taken as a meatshield, you are automatically dead.  According to Cliffy, you are now a lifeless husk & you'll either respawn or wait in the lobby to spectate depending on the gameplay mode that was chosen.  So this sounds like meatshields are allowed in multiplayer!
•Bullet shields.  Big metal shield that stops you from getting hit.  They can be planted into the ground to make a new cover.  Enemies can kick it down if they get close enough.
•When people are down, but not out; they can tap the A-button and try to crawl away.
•When you're injured & moving along the wall, the blood will drip down the wall.
•Destructible cover.  "No more hiding behind that crate taking loads of fire," according to Tsunoda.
•The A-button usage has now been expanded for the slide/slam into cover.  By pressing it again & depending on the orientation of the thumbstick, you can change the angle approach, back up, or stop mid-slide.
•According to Cliffy,"The hundreds of Locusts pouring out of the emergence holes can be killed if you want."  However, on the gameplay reveal, the reticule doesn't turn red which might indicate that the multitude of enemies are window dressing.  Also, several Boomers are interspersed among Drones.

•New COG vehicles: Derrick and Centaur.
   •Derricks towing Grind Lifts need to be positioned at specific locations in order to drill & insert the two-man grinder pods.
   •The Centaur is a combination of a tank/monster truck(seen shooting two rounds into the face of a Brumak on the gameplay reveal).  There will be a level dedicated to driving one & the Centaur will have an active reload!
•More vehicular sections were promised.

---MULTIPLAYER---

•Multiplayer is 5 vs 5.
•Online functionality will also be very competitive to other titles.
•Party system has been confirmed.
•Kotaku's Crecente got Tsunoda to use the terms: "co-op", "tactical", & ""squad" when asking him about the number of players in co-op play.  Possible four player co-op.
•They are shipping with more multiplayer maps out of the box than Gears 1 and many more multiplayer modes.
•"As far as the multiplayer goes, we're shipping with at least ... well, I don't know what the embargo is ... but we're shipping with a lot more f#cking multiplayer maps this time time around. A lot more multiplayer modes.  So when you look at the matrix of maps to modes, it's literally hundreds of hours of gameplay.  And there's also some fun stuff that we haven't announced yet in regards to co-op."  Ah, leave it to Cliffy to amp up the multiplayer love!
•GameDaily's 10 Questions for Cliffy garnered this response:
   Q." "Is there any way to remove the HOST ADVANTAGE in Gears of War?"
   A.: "We have many, many optimizations planned for Gears 2 that will 'drastically' reduce these issues as well as another few tricks up our sleeves that I'm not able to reveal quite yet.  Trust me that it's really high on our list of things to make right."

•New/modified Gametypes:
   •Assasination gametype (renamed Guardian) has been altered.  Everyone respawns until their leader is killed.  When the leader is killed off, they stop respawing and the game ends when everyone is eventually dead on one team.
   •New gametype "Wingman" has 10 players split into teams of two.  Each team is played as a different character (e.g. Marcus and Marcus vs Dom and Dom, etc).
   •New gametype "Meatflag" (variation of CTF-Epic style).  The flag will instead be character wandering around the center of the map. That character has his own weapons and even a place on the leaderboard.  To capture him; you will need to down him, pick him up as a meatshield, and take him back to your base.  If you shoot the 'meatflag' enough times while he's being dragged back to the enemies' base, his captor will lose him and he'll go crazy on everyone around him.
•On games with no respawn, you can fly around the map as a "ghost cam" when you are dead.  You can even take screenshots that will be uploaded to the community!
•Achievement whores will be mitigated.  "If you're going for headshots," he gave as an example, "you get one headshot that counts and any other headshots won't count towards your Achievement, so players don't just play to get headshots the entire round just to get Achievements."
•Achievement progress has now been simplified & will be tracked in real-time which is viewable thru a menu.
•Cliffy talks about how each player can play on a different difficulty setting in co-op.  "It's just a number of tweaks, number-wise, behind the scenes as far as player health and player weapon damage.  We know which pawn is which, and we know what all the variables behind the scenes, so we can control all that.  We have the splits, where one player goes one way and one goes another way.  Those co-op splits, that's where it really kicks into high gear as far as players being able to be in their own difficulty.  We found in Gears 1 that a lot of players had a tough time, dying during those splits. We're making casual difficulty truly casual."

•New Maps:
   •New map 'River': Each team has a thin strip of land with a house and sniping tower, and in-between them is a river.
   •New map 'Security': long thin map.  To the left and right are stairs leading to verandas that run the entire length of the map.  You are barred access by red lasers, which will kill you if you attempt to pass through.  A power weapon is barred on the other side of the map while the other end is defended by sentry guns.  There is a button in the middle of the map that turns off the lasers and sentries for 20 seconds.
•Gridlock returns, but looks overgrown with vegetation (shown in Game Informer Gears 2 issue).
•Dizzy's character model (looks like Chuck Norris) will be available in multiplayer.  You can even shoot off his cowboy hat!
•Early adopter tax (buy now, free after a set amount of time) & sponsored DLC multiplayer maps are bring explored.  Remember the Discovery Channel's Future Weapons' sponsorship for Old Bones & Raven Down? :D

"Buckets and Buckets of blood," according to Cliffy.  Hell, bring a mop as well!  LOL

Update [2008-5-23 14:10:55 by Blankman]: