Mike Epstein's discussions

These days it seems like every game has to add at a little bit of tower defense to their multiplayer. The single biggest change to Horde mode in Gears 3 is the ability to add fortifications to help stave off your lambent and locust attackers. Read more

Another Thought: Does anyone dislike the fact that the Smoke grenade is your only starting grenade option. Yes, the smoke grenade has some tactical functionality (especially in Capture the Leader where it lets you free someone) but wouldn't you prefer to have the option to use frag grenades instead? Or do you think… Read more

I'd like to see mode where a large team has to fight against a smaller team with a silverback. It could be a modified version of King of the Hill, Warzone or Capture the Leader. I really like the idea that silverback can turn any spot into a fortified position and I'd like to see that incorporated into versus somehow. Read more

Do you think that making the sawed-off a pickup gun instead of a starter would be enough to shift the balance, or do you think the gun should be removed entirely? Read more

Well I'm not sure if I'd change it or not. I like the fact that it makes players much more mobile because they're relying on close-range weapons. On the other hand, it's very powerful and used a lot. Sometimes it feels like it depreciates the value of every other gun. Read more

There are six modes of Versus. Clearly there are one or two that each of you prefers. Let's use this thread to discuss our favorites. Read more

Though I wasn't especially impressed with the new weapons of Gears 3 during the campaign, while playing in versus I began to see just how much they change how we play Gears competitively. Specifically, the Sawed-Off Shotgun dramatically changes the pace and tactics of these modes. The ability to run up and instantly… Read more

I thought the same thing about Myrrah's comments, but the conspiracy theorist/soap opera writer in me thinks otherwise. Apparently the idea that Myrrah might be Adam's wife isn't that farfetched. Read more

They really did cram a lot of Adam Fenix-related business into the end of the game. It wasn't really a crucial pacing problem because it didn't effect the main story, but the explanation would've been better if it had been broken up and fleshed out a bit. Read more

You know after all of that fanfare about whether he would live or die, I really wanted to be excited but in the end I was just slightly amused. You know what it needed? There should've been a little text at the end saying that Carmine became president 20 years later or something, like with John Belushi at the end of… Read more

That was my number one unanswered question. At first, I felt like Dr. Fenix's explanation about the locust and emulsion shut the door on the idea of the locust being genetically engineered by human/evolved from humans, but thinking about it more it seems like there are a lot of last-second comments implying exactly… Read more

I was hoping that there would be more memory sequences too. There were good spots for a Dom section (Visiting the family grave), and an Anya section (When she used the hammer on Char). Baird would've been tougher, but I feel like they played up the fact that he's a "scientist" much more in Gears 3, and I definitely… Read more

This is the thread where we talk about Fenix's hair. Was anybody else freaked out by it? It kind of looked like a fro at first, but then it looked straight. I really just couldn't make heads or tails of it. Read more

Gears 3 closes the trilogy, but in the current gaming landscape, one should never rule out the possibility of another sequel. Halo was a trilogy, and now they're making a trilogy of sequels. Would you be ok with Epic making Gears of War 4, or would you prefer to let franchise rest? Would you prefer a prequel or side… Read more

To answer my own question from the post above, I was disappointed by the plot in the second half of the game. A lot of the emotional nuance that I saw at the very beginning of the game seemed to fade as the story played out. Read more

I think its important to lock player one into a particular character for the sake of the narrative. I certainly think the section with Cole at the stadium would feel a lot different if you were playing as Baird, Sam or Carmine. When the stranded are admiring Cole, they're looking at you. Marcus has had fewer moments… Read more

I've had that happen a couple of times. I think you're seeing it more this time because (and this is based on my memories of the first two, which I havent played in awhile) the cover system is looser this time around. Since there's an emphasis on enemies pushing you out of cover with diggers and so on, it was… Read more

I miss the darker tone of the original Gears. One of the reason why I'm enjoying the combat of Gears 3 so much is that there are lots of new enemies. That feeling of not knowing what you'll run into next is something the campaign of Gears 2 really lacked. Read more

I'm with you guys. I started playing the game Co-op, and its really fun, but I felt a little rushed because I wanted to keep up. I was more mindful of what was going on when I played solo. Read more

I think the computer controlled allies in Gears 3 are a sort of fable, warning players; "be careful what you wish for" when it comes to your AI partners. We often gripe at how the AI of our computer controlled allies is terrible, (admittedly, it often is) but I think Gears 3 some times suffers from the opposite… Read more