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Gears Sells a Million
Gamespot reports that Gears of War has sold a million units in two weeks. This has made it the fastest-selling 360 game to date, beating out GRAW and CoD2 for the honor. From the article: "Microsoft dropped some other statistics as well, saying 'more than 850,000 unique gamers have engaged in 10 million [Gears of War] gameplay sessions while unlocking an impressive 7 million achievements.' Since the game went on sale November 7, the rate of Xbox Live Gold subscriptions, which are required for online play, has increased more than 50 percent. According to Microsoft, the impressive subscription rate is because more than 85 percent of Gears players play one of the game's various multiplayer modes, which include full campaign co-op." The GamerScore Blog wants you to know that rumours you have heard about Gears for Windows were mistaken. For the time being, anyway.
According to Microsoft, the impressive subscription rate is because more than 85 percent of Gears players play one of the game's various multiplayer modes, which include full campaign co-op.
Is it surprising that a game that is meant to apeal to hard-core gamers sells to people who like to play a game in the way that hard-core gamers like to play their games?
I may be wrong, but I think it would be more impressive to hear that 50% (or more) of people who got the free XBox live subscription with their XBox 360 used it and of those 50% (or more) continued paying for the service when their subscription ended.
A song which was attached to a commerical which grabbed the attention of millions and made them get shivers down their spine from the sheer amount of awesome. Ten karma points to whoever replies to this with the name of the song and the artist.
The rest is history.
TLF
I do not respond to cowards. Especially anonymous ones.
7 million achievements is impressive. With 850k unique users, that is an average of ~8.25 achievements per user. The game has 49 achievements possible. Beating the game yields 7 achievements: one for each of the 5 acts, one for the prison breakout (the closest thing to getting an achievement by turning on the console), and one for completing the game. That means that on average, each player has played and completed the game. I realize that the stats are slightly skewed by those players that play all the time and have achieved 40+ achievements. I consider myself a pretty average gamer (for a 360 owner) and I have 11 achievements. But, wow, 7 million achievements for 850k users is really impressive -> almost everybody who plays this game plays it until the end. Granted, this game is fairly short (7-10 hrs?), but these stats highlight that the gameplay in Gears is very compelling. Well done CliffyB.
On a side note, was CliffyB famous before Gears of War? I had never heard of him. His wikipedia page doesn't make him sound like a game designer god by any means.
well to start, it isn't an FPS. It's a third person shooter.
I can't tell you why OTHERS find it so fun, so I will relay my own personal experiences with it.
To start, the way that the cover system is implemented gives it a greateer sense of realism...after all, you wouldn't just go standing behind a wall in a warzone...you would have your back to it and pop out...you would transfer from one cover to another, not just simply jog over to the next one...I suppose what I am trying to say is the strategies required to play the game succesfully are very different from your typical shooter in that if you do not utilize cover correctly, you WILL die.
Generally, I find graphics take a seat to gameplay and story, but in this case they help a LOT. They are done in such a grity, grimey way that when you finish playing you feel the need to wash your hands. It is a dirty, dirty game.
The reloading system adds alot too. When you mess up a reload and you see your char on screen cussing and getting slightly frantic...you start getting the same way. In the middle of a firefight when you are flanked/pinned down, being stuck with a jammed weapon (just like in real life) is one of the most heart-attack inducing moments you can imagine. There is a great sense of satisfaction and accomplishment with each enemy you take down. While some may cry foul about the AI, on the harder difficulties (not unlike Halo) things start getting really tough.
The char's are developed JUST ENOUGH for you to care about them, which is perfect considering it is supposed to be a trilogy. The first one sets it up, the second gives the backstory, the third concludes everything.
All things combined, it is plain fun. It isn't particularly revolutionary, it won't change HOW games are played or anything...but it will most likely change how much effort people put into games. I lack the vocabulary to describe to you how excited I am for the second and third installments.
Living With a Nerd
Technically, it's a 3rd person shooter. You're zoomed up pretty close to the guy, without the ability to change the perspective (except sniping). Normally I hate games like that, but this does it rather well.
Graphically, it's a pretty nice game. Sure, PC shooters already surpassed it but for a console game it's quite magnificent. Lots of detail gets rendered nicely for HD content.
Its gameplay is nothing ground-breaking, but it remains quite fun. The enemy AI isn't super intelligent, but smart enough for a good time. The whole game is big on taking cover: IE you walk up to a wall or ledge or stone debris and hide behind it. Then you peak out and fire, run to some different/better cover and repeat; failure to do so results in your death. Sure, there are places with little to no cover at which point it is simple shoot them until one of you die, but those environments are sparse.
The game takes place in a post-warzone Earth. It's been invaded by beings that have burrowed beneath the surface that pop out to slaughter the surface dwellers. Most of the creatures are bipeds (walk on hind legs like a human) with scatterings of more monsterous animals. The atmosphere is pretty dark (literally and metaphorically). The world is in shambles, there's not a building or neighborhood that isn't trashed. You meet some survivors who feel the military has turned their backs on the people, and see that their lives really really suck.
Pretty much, it's THE big console shooter (for the moment). Personally, I found it a lot more enjoyable than the Halo games.
It's not "just another FPS". In fact, it's not a first-person shooter at all. It's third-person, which is an important distinction. Like many people, I prefer my FPS games on PCs, where the keyboard/mouse combination really can't be beat (at least IMHO). When I play a typical shooter (which have been mostly first-person based, hence FPS) on the console, I get the sense that I've lost a lot of control. For some reason, the third-person controls in Gears
As for innovation, it's got plenty of interesting bits to it: a very comprehensive "cover" game mechanic, a new twist on reloading (called "Active Reload"), and the concept of being able to revive your teammates on the fly. None of them alone are "OMG!!!" material, but all together, makes it one very nice package.
Also, one huge bonus to the game is that it has Live-enabled co-op through the "single"-player experience. It's very seamless. I haven't tried it myself, but friends can't stop talking about how cool it is. Apparently that's a similar sentiment with many other folks. It's a feature that many folks wished Halo 2 had.
Does Gears have flaws? It certainly does. Zonk and other reviewers have pointed out that the AI can be fairly dumb (although many people, myself included, think it's just fine), and the multiplayer is somewhat shallow (not enough modes). That said, the sentiment is that the game is just so much fun that despite some flaws here and there, it's very much Game of the Year material.
Oh, and one last thing, yeah, the game is very pretty. But graphics alone don't sell a game, and the things people love about it, go beyond graphics. That's nice to see for a change.
So, in short, give it a shot. It's quite original for a shooter, and a whole lotta fun.
-- jchenx
Yes, the game is pretty, no doubt about it. But if you read through a lot of the comments, opinions, reviews, etc., you'll quickly see that it's actually the gameplay that people are gushing over. Nice, no?
If this game were released last generation on the Xbox, PS2, or GC
-- jchenx
They aren't easy, and they're not impossible. You get one for each act (and another for full game completion) on each difficulty. On casual difficulty, they are only worth 10 points. More on the harder difficulties. There is one for 100 Live kills for each weapon (that would take some work).
Most notably, there is one called "A Series Of Tubes" for hosting enough games, and Ted Stevens is credited for the inspiration in the ending credits. Also Ted Nugent ("The Nuge" Torque Bow 100 kills).
Anyway, here is the actual list.