Gears PC impressions (+screenshots!)

Haven' t figured out how to take screenshots yet so heres a printscreen. Image got degraded a little when converting to jpeg.



Looks very similar to the 360 version as you' d expect. Most striking differences are how ultra sharp and smooth everything looks, and how easy it is to kill grubs and move around in general. 60fps and the freedom of mouse movement really opens up the game, and you find yourself making faster moves and completing each section much quicker.

Had the initial problem with LIVE as Kikizo kindly warned us about prior. Had to d/l the stand alone update from the link provided. Kinda frustrating they didnt spot that issue before they shipped. [:' (]

The keyboard controls take a little getting used to if you' re used to a pad, but they work well. Space works the same way as ' A' on a 360 controller, and you can also double tap the directional buttons for dives. F works as the melee/chainsaw button.

The frame rate can be unpredictable on my machine, its mostly smooth at 60 frames but has frequent jarring frame rate drops every so often. I think the best way to play this will be in dx10 and an 8800 of some kind. My X1900XTX doesnt seem to hold up as well as it does with the Unreal Tournament III demo.

Only cause I' ve always preferred M+K controls does it feel more natural playing Gears on PC, but it really does give the game a new lease of life.

I' ll post more screens when I find the screenshot button! It' d be cool if someone has it running in dx10 to compare though. Looking forward to playing the new chapters!

Gears must be more fun with a Mouse+keyboard. Normally I enjoy using a controller more but this would be an exception.

"This is sad. There's no other word for it. The person who invents a way to punch someone in the face over the Internet will make millions from the demand generated by people like this." Youtube comments

Yep, and its only really because Epic have the experience with PCs that it works so well. 360 and PC become slightly different experiences even though the game is the same. Even though Marcus Fenix cant side step, you can still be quick enough to mix up the cover/shoot play with a bit of run and gun.

My only gripe is the frequent judders in the frame rate. Might just be my machine, but they seem to happen on whatever setting I put it on just as frequently. Maybe I need more RAM or something (2Gb currently).

Nice Screens.

Ive just picked this up Along with Endless Ocean and Jam Sessions yet to try out any..

Always waited to play through GOW with optimum Framerate and controls (M&K), If i don' t have any people round to challenge on VF5, I' m gonna play through this in 1080p Via Projector tonight.. Should be sweet.

BTW, Mass Effect.. what are the chances of a PC release?

Currently playing:
Korg DS 10 (ds) /  Metal Slug 7 (ds)
Rhythm Heaven (ds) /  Fire Emblem (ds)
Super Stardust HD (psn) /  Virtua Fighter 5 (360)
FSX (P

ORIGINAL: Virtua fighter 5

Mass Effect.. what are the chances of a PC release?

Well , it hasn' t been announced yet . But since EA now owns the ip , I wont be surprised if it is ported by some other studio . Even if that happens , i dont see it coming out for atleast another year . Can u wait for an year for ME ? Why dont u drop the anti-MS stance and get it for the 360 . U know u want to ..

Well, now I' ve started to get crashes! I' m so pissed off. Looking at the epic forums its a big problem that noone has a definitive solution to yet. UTIII demo still works fine.

On the bright side I think I fixed the stutters (after a lot of hassle).

I think People Can Fly ***ed this port up in terms of bugs!

EDIT: looks like its a Windows Live thing thats causing the crash, haven' t had the chance to test it out yet but apparently if you nerf live by editing files it doesn' t crash.

But LIVEs integrated so much into it, that this stops you from saving. I haven' t found an easy way to create an offline profile. Even on 360 you can play your games offline. Not with GoW PC apparently.

I hate this Games for Windows LIVE bs. It makes no sense on PC. No pings in mp server menus, no standard chat functionality (need a mic, or type stuff in the games console menu!)

So...waiting for a patch from Epic I guess. [:' (]

Ah, so I got the nerfing LIVE thing to work. Now I can play from the beginning without crashes, but I cant save. So I guess its really MS that fukced up on this one, not People Can Fly, apologies to them.

When logged in you could actually skip to the new content in Act 5, but until theres a patch I' ll have to play all the way through. I was going to provide some more screens. (You have to use the console to bind a screenshot key first![:' (])

But heres one final one.



Apparently dx10 doesn' t make that much of a difference, maybe a little in motion with smoke effects etc, but screens will be mostly as above. You can turn on anti-aliasing with dx10 too, but its not a problem without tbh.

The game is an awesome addition to the 360 version, but as I say LIVE just doesn' t belong on PC. Unfortunately we' re only going to see more of it.

btw, what did you reckon to it VF?

btw, what did you reckon to it VF?

Yeah it' s cool. Enjoying playing the game how it should be played, M&K controls are effortless and instantly precise, helping me enjoy the atmosphere of the game and get into the story. I like how they mapped the ruun and side-jumps to the WASD, feels alot more responsive. Also Played online a few times and it works quite well.


BTW, is there any Co-op play options on this verison? ive not seen it?

Currently playing:
Korg DS 10 (ds) /  Metal Slug 7 (ds)
Rhythm Heaven (ds) /  Fire Emblem (ds)
Super Stardust HD (psn) /  Virtua Fighter 5 (360)
FSX (P

Gears without rumble?

you better kidding me,the feeling with a chainsaw must suck on pc.

Even if you break 2 legs from a crab it still runs!
What you gotta do is find its weak spot and do massive damage at it.

Gears without rumble?

you better kidding me,the feeling with a chainsaw must suck on pc.

Its a PC, you can downgrade to Pad with rumble if you wanted to.

Currently playing:
Korg DS 10 (ds) /  Metal Slug 7 (ds)
Rhythm Heaven (ds) /  Fire Emblem (ds)
Super Stardust HD (psn) /  Virtua Fighter 5 (360)
FSX (P

Its a PC, you can downgrade to Pad with rumble if you wanted to.

Yeah if you want to be hugely disadvantaged.

"This is sad. There's no other word for it. The person who invents a way to punch someone in the face over the Internet will make millions from the demand generated by people like this." Youtube comments

Are you telling me they don' t have keyboards and mice with rumble yet?! Come on, you know there is some percentage of suckers out there who would go for that.

ORIGINAL: Agent Ghost

Its a PC, you can downgrade to Pad with rumble if you wanted to.

Yeah if you want to be hugely disadvantaged.

You can' t sidestep in the game which makes A and D useless and moving from cover to cover is easier IMO with a pad. Mouse aiming adds very little to the game because all of the enemies are on the X axis.

BTW, is there any Co-op play options on this verison? ive not seen it?

Yea, theres coop. Haven' t tried it yet though, been crashing too much. Haven' t even gotten to try the new content yet. First game to be unplayable on my machine in years! *prays for patch soon*

Are you telling me they don' t have keyboards and mice with rumble yet?! Come on, you know there is some percentage of suckers out there who would go for that.

I definitely miss rumble on PC. I' d buy a left handed controller with one thumbstick, a few programmable buttons and rumble. Would be so easy to do, and now 360 controllers are compatible, devs should support analog movement.

You can' t sidestep in the game which makes A and D useless and moving from cover to cover is easier IMO with a pad. Mouse aiming adds very little to the game because all of the enemies are on the X axis.

Sorry Teardrop, I was wrong. I dunno why I said Marcus Fenix cant sidestep cause he obviously can. But you' re right about most of the game being on one level.

You kinda have to play it to get the feeling of how tight they' ve made the controls though. Usually a console port eg Halo ends up with floaty mouse smoothing and acceleration. This has none, where you point is where you look.

ORIGINAL: choupolo

Sorry Teardrop, I was wrong. I dunno why I said Marcus Fenix cant sidestep cause he obviously can. But you' re right about most of the game being on one level.

Hmmmmmm, but you can' t sidestep in the Xbox 360 version. I' ll have to play it and see how the mouse & keyboard controls change things. Does mouse aiming make the game easier?

It does for me, headshots are no longer a thing of skill, and its more about how many enemies you can string in one clip! Although, apparently they' ve tried to balance things by giving the weapons more kickback etc. But that just makes them feel more powerful and satisfying.

As VF said, it also gives you a chance to look around your environments better, so the atmosphere and story feel better too.

And I' m sure there was sidestepping in the 360 version as well, just not when you' ve got the chainsaw out, which disables the right analog stick/mouse for some reason.

ORIGINAL: Zoy

Are you telling me they don' t have keyboards and mice with rumble yet?! Come on, you know there is some percentage of suckers out there who would go for that.

There was a mouse that had rumble, but that was a long time ago and wasn' t very popular (i bought one). Probably due to the fact that so few games supported it. I' ve been waiting for a rumbling ' keyboard' and mouse, but looks like the chances of that happening are close to non existant. Shame.

Well, I figured out how to take screenshots and how to fix my crashes. So I thought I' d celebrate completion of the game with a whole bowl of extremely sexy eye candy! This game looks better than Crysis on my comp, and its more fun.












The added content is brilliant, they made a big mistake cutting it out of the 360 version. Now everything makes sense and the last level is extremely satisfying for it. The Brumak fight is suitably epic and takes most of the level to take it out! Its easy to do but its well coreographed.

If this comes out as downloadable content for the 360, get it, even just to play through the game again!