Cliff Bleszinski: We've added five new chapters to the single player campaign. These chapters take place later in the campaign, right in the middle of Act Five. Marcus and Delta Squad are driving away from Adam's House - and the hungry Brumak creature - when they encounter an open drawbridge. They've got to figure out a way to get the bridge closed while the four story tall beast is stalking them the entire time.
Rod Fergusson: It really is a sight to behold. In "Gears of War" for 360, the Brumak, aka "40 feet of guns, armor and teeth," was a cinematic character but in "Gears of War" for Windows, the Brumak is a relentless beast that chases you throughout the five new campaign chapters and ultimately climaxes in a boss fight where you can finally take the big guy down.
IGN: What does each level of GFW-Live, Silver and Gold, give you in terms of play options with coop and multiplayer?
Rod Fergusson: Fortunately both Silver and Gold level members are able to enjoy "Gears of War" co-op and multiplayer, within and across the two levels. The big differences between the two levels are the extra services that GFW-Live provide exclusively to its Gold Members. For example, the ability to use custom matchmaking and post scores on Leaderboards.
http://pcmedia.ign.com/pc/image/arti...059141-000.jpgCole Train brings anger, jokes, and chainsaws.
IGN: Why doesn't Gears of War support cross-platform play?
Cliff Bleszinski: We felt that while this feature does add value, it just wasn't that desired nor worth the extra months of design and development time. We want "Gears of War" to be out this holiday on PC. The side bonus of all this is that players can accrue an extra pile of points to add to their Gamerscore on PC.
IGN: What additional multiplayer options are available to PC players? Can you talk specifically about how the three new maps look?
Rod Fergusson: In multiplayer we've added not only the 3 new exclusive maps (all 16 previous maps are included as well) but we've also added a new game type called King of the Hill. Like Annex it's about fighting over map-based objectives. But unlike Annex you have to stay in the circle to hold it, it's using "execution" rules so you have finish everyone up close and there's only one objective per round. On top of that you can instantly break the other team's capture simply by entering the circle which leads to some very rewarding last second break attempts.
The three new maps look awesome, especially at 1920x1200, assuming you have the hardware to crank it up that high. The first map, Courtyard, looks like a destroyed city park amongst downtown government buildings. It's outdoors and bright and a lot of fun when the Hammer of Dawn starts falling. The second map, Sanctuary, has a very creepy gothic feel where you fight under a full moon at night around what looks to be a dilapidated church. The third map, Gold Rush, puts you on an Imulsion drilling platform deep inside a crater. Looking up and seeing the rock walls, the buildings on the lip of the crater and the sky overhead is one of my favorite views.
IGN: Halo 2 and Shadowrun, the other two Microsoft-published games that support GFW-Live both required Vista - it says as much on the back of their retail boxes. Gears of War runs on XP and Vista. Why is that? Was that your decision at Epic, or something mandated by Microsoft?
Rod Fergusson: "Gears of War" runs on XP and Vista because we wanted to bring the "Gears" experience to the broadest audience possible.
http://pcmedia.ign.com/pc/image/arti...058609-000.jpgNow you get to kill this guy.
IGN: Is the cover and sprint functionality still mapped to the same key? If so, why? Is there any way to map the functions to separate keys?
Cliff Bleszinski: We've modified this system to work nicely with a keyboard and mouse configuration without deviating too far from the original Xbox 360 design. The pacing of the game, while fast and tactical, had to remain intact and that meant maintaining certain tradeoffs for the player. Aim and your field of view shrinks, run and you cannot shoot, run and turn slowly, etc… We ultimately default to the spacebar giving the player the same functionality of taking cover, sprinting, and climbing over obstacles while a double tap on the W, A, S and D keys will also perform this functionality. Players can play either way they choose.
Rod Fergusson: And of course, using the controller is still a great way to play.
IGN: Was it always the plan to include extra content, such as the Brumak fight, on the PC?
Rod Fergusson: The success of "Gears of War" on Xbox 360 was what determined that we should bring the experience to PC. Given that it was going to come out almost a year after the original version, we wanted to give PC gamers something to reward their patience. When we discussed what our opportunities were for providing exclusive content, the Brumak came up because of all the fan feedback we had received about really wanting to fight it. Providing new exclusive content that fans were asking for seemed like the right thing to do.
IGN: Were these features originally planned to go into the Xbox 360 version and couldn't make launch, or did you just want to give PC gamers an extra incentive?
Cliff Bleszinski: Way back in the day we had hoped to fight the Brumak on the Xbox 360 but once we did our first schedules for the original title it became obvious that the beast would have to wait for later. (Players had the Corpser, Boomers, and Raam to deal with!) Now, thankfully, he's able to be revealed in his full prime.
IGN: Will the five extra chapters in the single player reveal more of or elucidate any of the storyline? If so, can you give any hint as to how?
Cliff Bleszinski: In addition to being good fun, the chapters also help fill in some of the narrative elements that some felt weren't explained enough in the original game such as the Lightmass Bomb being on a train and its destination. We also get a bit more of Cole, which is always a good thing.
IGN: Will Xbox 360 gamers ever receive the extra features in the PC version, either as a downloadable pack or in another retail release?
Rod Fergusson: There is no plan to provide the PC exclusive content to Xbox 360 gamers for a number of technical reasons. One is simply the size and scope of the new content which would be difficult to deliver as an update. But more importantly, "
Gears of War" for Windows was not created with the same version of Unreal Engine 3 as "Gears of War" for 360. We wanted to take advantage of all the latest and greatest optimizations and features that are constantly being added to UE3 and as such, this new content is not easily compatible with the Xbox 360 version.
http://pcmedia.ign.com/pc/image/arti...058031-000.jpgDamon Baird still wearing the goggles from his JRPG tryouts.
IGN: How close are you to finalizing specs for the PC version?
Rod Fergusson: Very.
IGN: Why are there 1250 Achievement Points? Doesn't that break the rules?
Rod Fergusson: We are able to have 1250 Achievement Points so that the PC game has feature parity with the Xbox 360 version. Initially though, like the Xbox 360 version, we'll only be using 1000 of them.
IGN: In co-op mode, can you play as someone other than Dom and Marcus?
Rod Fergusson: The "Gears" story still revolves around Dom and Marcus, even on PC, so you get to play as one of those two characters in the co-op campaign. You can play as other members of Delta squad when you play Versus multiplayer.
IGN: Can you describe what's possible with the level editor or generally how it works?
Cliff Bleszinski: This is the same exact tool that our designers used to build, script, and visualize the "Gears of War" environments. All of those graphics - from the pillars in the House of Sovereigns to the intricate cave stalagmites in the Hollow - will be available for mod makers to build whatever they can imagine. We're dying to see what the community comes up with, not just in environments but also with the scripting tools.
For an environment a designer can block in simple geometry in order to feel out the flow of a scene. He can then script in enemies, custom events, dialogue, and ammunition. A visual pass here and there is always good to ensure that the scenario looks nice and then, always remember to play and polish over and over. Who knows what conversions or game modes we'll see!?
IGN: Is there any way for created levels on PC to be transferred and played on by Xbox 360 players?
Rod Fergusson: Not at this time.
IGN: Are you trying to implement cross-platform play into Gears of War 2, or will that be a staggered release like with this one?
Rod Fergusson: I'm sorry, I've never heard of that game.
Cliff Bleszinski: These are not the droids you're looking for. Move along.
IGN: Damn you Obi-Wan!
