OXMUK

Padding out the framework with spectacle is a proven approach when it comes to sequels, but as Gears of War 2 demonstrates, there's a risk what people liked about the original will be lost in the tall grass. Epic's Cliff Bleszinski has confessed that Delta Squad's second outing took a few wrong turns with its campaign design, and promised that the upcoming Gears of War 3 will even things out.

"That's one thing that I've gone on record before and said about Gears 2 is we got a little - quote - 'drunk on set pieces.' It was like - wow, now I'm in a worm! Now it's like a Mario game!" Bleszinski commented in an interview with IGN AU. 

"I have a new phrase I like to say at work when I play a sequence in a game that I wasn't expecting called 'I did not sign up for this.' For me it's like, I love the Dead Space series - I really really do, so let me preface this - but the one part in Dead Space one that drove me crazy was the asteroids bit. 

"I was like 'I didn't sign up to play Asteroids in this game! I signed up to kill necromorphs!' It's like the tank on the ice in Gears 2 - I didn't sign up to pilot a tank over ice in this game. I signed up to be cool and kill Locust and have a great story. 

"And so that's [what we're going for is] giving people what they want, and to use the pacing that we have as creatives to know when a combat should crescendo into this amazing moment with a building falling down and then let it dial back, and let the characters talk, have a little bit of exposition - oh wait, a creepy Wretch just went by! 

"What's going on? Hell breaks loose! And play with that rollercoaster pacing that we've gotten very good at."

http://www.oxm.co.uk/33120/news/gears-2-got-drunk-on-setpieces-but-gears-3-has-sobered-up/

Yeah I could tell by their recent trailer that Gears 3 is going to be a much more somber game.

The ice segment was pretty good. I have a feeling they are going to turn gears back into the medicoreish Gears 1.

Not 100% sure how I feel about that. I know I tend to hate it when I'm playing a game, and suddenly, all of the mechanics get thrown out of the window and suddenly, my completion of an action game depends on how good I am at riding a motorcycle or flying Space Harrier style (Bayonetta) or I'm playing a stealth game and suddenly I have to win a fist fight (MGS) or win a game of Poker (Red Dead Redemption).

Maybe I turned a blind eye to such flaws in Gears of War. I really liked the variety in Gears of War. It was like the jet-ski/jeep sections of Uncharted. They weren't too difficult and they added a little spice to the game. In Gears 2, we were riding the Bruhmak, flying through the air on Reavers, driving a tank over an icy lake, defending assault vehicles from being hijacked, riding on boats, flying on beast barges, sneaking into enemy territory with stealth (via the DLC), cutting through the guts of a giant worm, or disarming traps in an abandoned lab. The game threw something new at you every few minutes and the glue that held it all together was the combat. It never got frustrating. It just went from one "Man, this is cool!" moment to another.

When GeoW1 released, it seemed very cool because the cover based combat was so tight and precise. It was special. Over the years, several games have attempted to duplicate its style. The setpieces and the high production values kept GeoW ahead of the pack. I'm hoping that GeoW3 doesn't feel stale after using that same tried and true mechanic that we've seen repeatedly, over and over and over again. Going from one battle to another is not what I want.  I hope the gameplay doesn't get stale without the big "wow" moments that made my jaw drop repeatedly in GeoW2. Maybe I'm one of those in the minority.

Sometimes, I wish developers didn't listen to fan feedback. Sometimes, the most vocal fans are the ones that will complain about anything, just for the sake of complaining. I hope to be blown away by GeoW3 regardless. This announcement just wasn't what I wanted.

I hated Gears 2 so this gives me some relief.

Every 5 minutes in Gears 2 it was some diversion which distracted from the core gameplay.

The first 30 minutes of that game has like 5 minutes of actual shooting gameplay. Then you have walk and talk custscenes galore, flying of some stupid creature, walk through some bloody worm and chainsaw its organs, drive a tank, ride some giant creature with a turret...

Only on the last level of Gears 3 do they finally get to it and offer what I paid 60 bucks for.

And I know I want the only one that thought so - http://www.giantbomb.com/profile/artie/gears-of-war-2s-campaign-sucks/30-15637/

..... yeah, dunno about this. I personally thought most of the set pieces in GeoW2 MADE the game an epic, awesome experience (the worm part an amazing surprise for me and beyond epic). It added a bunch of variety to the standard shootouts of GeoW and basically did what a sequel should do instead of just a prettier, harder version of the first game.

Hopefully he's exaggerating some, but if not this game might be better but feel ... lesser.

I kinda liked the diversity in the scenery in Gears 2, at least in the single player. It was refreshing to see a break from the typical grey and brown color pallete. But the multiplayer levels for the most part were dissapointing. I feel like they took priority over the exterior asthetics rather than the actual layout of the levels, which made them less fun and interesting. That's the main thing I hope they improve in Gears 3, since multiplayer is what I'm going to be spending like 90% of the time on.

I loved the the diversity of Gears2....The Tank mission and the Inside of the worm scenario was pretty cool!
I thought it was fun to mix up the combat a bit and I hope they didnt completely ignore this in Gears3!!

I think the Gears 1 campaign was probably more fun for two players than one player because there was always fighting going on. It kept things quick and exciting. For one player, there wasn't as much depth or much of a story. Gears 2 kicked the story into high gear (no pun intended) but, with a second player, a lot of time was spent just walking and talking. Some people I played co-op with online get bored VERY quickly.

With GeoW3 supporting four player co-op, I think they're going out of their way to make the game exciting all of the time, instead of giving us those quiet moments that I loved (they build tension, add story, and make the universe seem real). It will be great fun for four players but what about when I want to play alone?

I may have to go ahead and download Street Fighter 3.  I really feel like punching you right now.