Having been pumped about the game so long, the campaign is pretty much the awesome adventure I had hoped (although I was let down by no 4 player co-op mode but meh) and It really made me excited about the third installment. However, for anyone thats even tried to play this game online, they would probably have come to realise that there is a big issue of lag and host advantage. If your lucky enough to get host - You will have pretty much 1 hit kills, If your not, your screwed and destined to get raped. The lag online in multiplayer matchmaking is terrible...absolutely terrible. The online aspect, if it worked how its meant to, would probably be one of the best multiplayer experiences out there. But Epics reluctance in having server support and instead relying on people to host games between themselves via matchmaking - Is severely ruining the game. If the host leaves in a game - The game quits to the main menu - noone gets a win. How retarded is that? I think if they could just fix this BS lag, the game might actually live up to its potential.... /end rant =/ EDIT: Check out this video - it pretty much explains the lag issues in a nutshell: Unbelievable.
it's ruined my enthusiasm for playing it online, i have to admit. i ended up just playing the campaign, found out how disappointing it was online and then moved onto something else. i keep meaning to go back and play it a little, but... when i read posts like this over and over i can't say it makes me want to. bleh.
I normally just sit online and play horde now, I can occasionally get some lag free games but they do need to resolve it
Yea i was just at a lan since i don't have high speed at my house, they was talking about how bad it was. works well on lan tho haha.
I had really big problems with lag in coop mode. As the client the game would load but I might be outside the levels, the enemies might be disconnected from their models (models still where they spawn, me being shot at by invisible enemies).
This really annoys me now. I still play it cos it's great but I'm rubbish enough as it so when I'm constantly teamed up with people in the US it grates a bit. Sneak up behind someone, point blank shotgun to the back of the head and they turn round and one shot me!
Its getting pointless online multiplayer. If you are not host your screwed - in 1v1 situations your destined to lose because your shots wont register as quick. I was playing wingman yesterday and I shot this chap in the head twice and nothing happened to him. He had time to turn around, melee me and then shoot me and I died in 1 shot. I got host in one match and was up against rank 3's (like myself) and a rank 4 team. We obliterated them all - 10 kills by me alone and had won with 16 kills by the third round. The closest score hadnt even reached 10 kills yet ( I think it was 7) When were not host were lucky to even get any kills in because it cripples your responce time in everything so much, turning, aiming, shooting, running, diving, everything and it all mounts up in the battlefield - enough to make a big difference. In this game its about reaction, quick thinking and with the main issue being lag - your crippled. Really annoyed by this. I wish they would just fork out and get proper servers - atleast we wouldnt have to tolerate this. Its like they took a great idea, a great base with endless potential - especially in online play and royally ducked it up by using piss-poor coding/cheap alternatives than just putting in the extra work.
Gears 1 suffered from bad lag also. Even the pc version had the same problem. Its because Epic are unable to create a sophisticated matchmaking system (take halo 3 for example) and instead rely on actual players within the match being given the host for other to feed off. Problem with this is, everyone except the host suffers and if the host leaves the game - everyone is kicked out the match and the game ends with no one getting the points or stats. This is one of the big problems - the host gets creamed and is losing, quits the match and then everyone loses. Big problem with the game. Not to mention the lag issues mentioned. If they could just sort this whole host/matchmaking thing out - it would all be fine. The pc version was terrible too - I would sit there for literally 20 minutes looking for a host with a low ping for me to actually play in.....almost impossible...
Need I say any more? Watch this video that shows a shitload of problems - im talking big things - not tiny things that are unnoticiable....
It does explain a lot of my WTF moments, tbh I only play co-op now or Horde with mates (I hate public)
Yeah that would explain why one guy on someones team had about 20 kills while the rest had only 1 or 2, I thought he was running a bit fast. Halo 3 (and pretty much all 360 games) use one of the players to host the game, it's just for some reason they didn't do the online very well compared to most games.
And now a word from every bodys favourite genocidal maniac Hitler, to tell us what he thinks of this game:
Mark Rein has posted on the Epic forums about their planned improvements to the online play for Gears of War 2. He's mentioned little bits and pieces in his entry so I will let those interested read it themselves but they seem to address gamers woes with online play (Solidus!) as well as others. The update is expected to hit "within January" so shouldn't be too long a wait, although it is not clear whether this will arrive in the form of a patch or part of a DLC thats also been mentioned. Hope that cheers you up Solidus. - Jay
Yeah dude I read that this morning. I am however sceptical as to whether they actually are able to fix the main problem of improving their games Lag issues. They say they are making the shotgun more reliable - I'm not convinced. I am glad they have finally come out and said something but it begs the question why on earth could they not mention something earlier and try to remain in contact with the community. The lag problem wasnt mentioned - the game is practically unplayable right now and I was playing a game a moment ago and reached the end of my tether because there are just so many things wrong with the game im convinced it will take nothing short of divine intervention to sort it out completely...and i dont have that much faith in Epic. I am already looking for a new competitive multiplayer game, gears is great in campaign, loved it and co-op....but online it has so much potential but simply pisses it away on problem after problem - mainly lag! ...strange thing is - other developers never seem to have this problem with their games? not to this extent anyways...yet Epic cant even get this basic thing right. back to the drawing board i say in how they create this online experience.
Awe, they're getting rid of my favorite glitch for using against bots or horde, shotgun with shield. That's the only one I know since a friend showed me. I wouldn't use it online, if I ever did play online, lol.
