Gamers can enlist to join Delta Squad from the Xbox 360 exclusive game Gears of War 2 at Comic-Con International 2008 (July 24-27), the largest comic book and pop culture gathering of its kind. Xbox 360 is bringing this blockbuster sequel to the original five-million-selling action game to San Diego, along with renowned design director, Cliff Bleszinski of Epic Games. Comic-Con attendees may also walk away with one of two limited edition Xbox 360 consoles - featuring custom artwork by Brandon Badeaux from the upcoming "Gears of War" comic book - in exclusive giveaways being hosted in both the Xbox 360 (#5225) and DC Comics (#1915) booths.

To meet and get an autographed Gears of War 2 poster from Cliff Bleszinski and lead writer Joshua Ortega, Comic-Con attendees are invited to drop by the Xbox 360 booth on Saturday, July 26th from 2:00-2:45PM. For those who want a more in-depth look into the next harrowing chapter in humanity's struggle against the nightmarish Locust Horde, fans are invited to the Xbox 360 Gears of War Showcase Panel on Saturday from 3:30-4:30PM in Room 6B. Epic Games' Cliff Bleszinski will again be joined by writer Joshua Ortega (of Spider-man, Batman and Star Wars comic book fame), as well as New York Times best-selling novelist Karen Traviss (Star Wars: Republic Commando novels) from Del Rey Books, to discuss exciting new installments to the Gears of War universe. Those in attendance will also get a sneak peek into the action, characters, weapons and vehicles of Gears of War 2 for the Xbox 360.

As one of the most popular and best-selling Xbox 360 games, the Gears of War phenomenon continues with the much-anticipated sequel debuting November 7th worldwide

GameStop Hypes “Gears of War 2” with In-Store Tournaments

Participants Receive Extra 30 Percent Trade-In Credit During Event

GameStop Corp. (NYSE:GME), the world’s largest video game and entertainment software retailer, today announced that it will host GEARS OF WAR video game tournaments at 2,000 of its U.S. GameStop locations on Friday, July 25, 2008.

Each tournament will provide players with an opportunity to test their skills one-on-one with other contestants in a single-elimination tournament. Participating GameStop locations will begin their tournaments at 9:30 p.m., local time.

Customers who trade in used games during the tournament will receive an extra 30 percent trade-in credit good toward the reservation of GEARS OF WAR 2, which is available this November. In addition to the tournament and used game trade-in credit, enthusiasts can watch an exclusive 4-minute DVD created by Microsoft and Epic Games. The DVD features a personal introduction from GEARS OF WAR 2 lead designer, Cliffy B, a montage of GEARS OF WAR and footage from GEARS OF WAR 2. GEARS OF WAR 2, an Xbox 360 exclusive, continues the story of Marcus Fenix and Delta Squad as they battle the nightmarish Locust Horde from the underbelly of the planet.

Epic: There will be no Gears of War 2 for PC

http://www.joystiq.com/2008/08/29/epic-there-will-...

First things first... the game is 5 versus 5 and it definitely adds a lot more action to the matches. Thankfully, adding two more players doesn't seem to have slowed down the game and it runs smooth, even is the most hectic firefights. We cannot comment on how these two extra gamers will affect lag over Xbox Live as we were playing over a local System Link.

So is the game "bigger, better, and more badass?"


Yes. Yes it is. If you were a fan of the original Gears, we're pretty sure you're also going to love Gears of War 2. It takes everything that was great about the first game, amps it up, and adds a lot of new things to freshen up the gameplay.

New Observer Mode

The original Gears had a fairly lackluster observer mode for deceased players, but this is all fixed for Gears 2. You'll get the original chase cam and map views, but Epic has added a full, free-floating camera for manual observation. It definitely lets you keep on top of all the action instead of watching your stupid teammate search around the map for that elusive enemy they just can't seem to find.



Stopping Power and The Tale of the Nerfed Shotgun

Stopping power is a BIG deal. It completely changes the flow of the game and mostly puts an end to the frantic shotgun dance that was so popular in the original game. It's much harder to charge an opponent head-on, as you will lose all of your speed as you take more fire. This makes the Lancer extremely powerful at mid-range because shotgun users will have a harder time closing the gap.

This doesn't mean, however, that the shotgun isn't still deliciously powerful up close and personal. Well, unless your opponent has picked a downed enemy up and is using them as a...

Meat Shield

The meat shield is a useful new ability that let's players grab a downed enemy as a human (or Locust) shield. The enemy's corpse holds up quite nicely to incoming fire and will even take a few shotgun blasts before it disintegrates. If you have any skill with the pistol, you'll probably want to think twice about curb stomping your foes and start picking them up for a nice shield instead.

Crawling

When you're downed, but not out, you'll be able to tap the 'A' button and a direction to crawl away from your impending death. It won't get you too far, but it can get you behind cover to give your teammate time to come revive you or even make an enemy miss from a distance.

Player Lobby

While we weren't playing on Xbox Live, we were able to check out the party system before each match. There were several options we noticed including selecting your starting weapon, map voting, and changing gametypes on the fly. Definitely an improvement over the first game and we can't wait to see how it performs on Live.

Closing Thoughts

At the end of the day, Gears of War 2 takes the team-oriented gameplay from the original game to the next level. There are more options, balance fixes, and two more players. We still regularly play Gears of War, and we're looking forward to playing Gears of War 2 for the next 2 years.

Gears 2 is going to be immmense. Cheers dc.

Anyone not else not hyped for GOW2 like me?