Handsome man caught playing Gears of War 3 Beast mode
Gears of War 3 - Beast Mode
First on the plate was some hands on time with Gears of War 3’s new Beast mode, a deviation on co-op friendly Horde mode. However, unlike this mode, where you play as the honorable COGs defending against the Locust, in Beast mode you are the Locust attacking the COGs. I was able to get a couple of single player sessions on a timed preview build that gave a taste of how the mode plays. The Locust type on offer was limited to a Ticker, Retch(er) and a Butcher. Once spawned, you make your way across the map to the enemy base and try to eliminate as many AI controlled COGs as you can before dying. Unlike Horde mode, once you are dead, you are not out, as you can spend points on respawning. Points are earned by killing COG members; can you kill enough of them to earn another life? The secret to this game mode will be balancing the number of spawn points that you and your team share; the more powerful characters cost more spawn points. I found using the Butcher to kill off the bulk of COG defenders was a good tactic, and then a Ticker to finish off the dregs.
From what I played, this game mode already looks pretty solid, although the human AI were perhaps a little dim for my liking. Getting to play as the various breeds of Locust was great fun, and gave the game a certain Left 4 Dead feel. My anticipation for the 5-month-away title was already as high as when I hear the first ice cream van of summer, and getting some hands on time with the game only added to this.
However, at the time of playing, I was oblivious to the fact that Co-Optimus readers were learning that the game was being pushed back to a fall 2011 release. This chaffed me more than plummeting down a ‘death slide’ with no pants on, however, with a full 12 months to further polish the mode (and the game!), there is no reason to believe it will not match the intensity levels of Horde. Perhaps they will have time to introduce the various types of Locust into the core multiplayer versus, or create a rolling beastly battle of hordes not unlike Left 4 Dead’s Team Versus mode?
Here is some footage of the game caught at the expo:
Peter Molyneux talks reason, shock!
Fable 3
What do Sleepy Hollow, Kill Bill and Ico, all have in common? According to Peter Molyneux’s conference talk, they are all inspirations for the Fable series. With only 4 weeks till the release of Fable 3, Molyneux came to the stage at this year’s Eurogamer Expo stating that he was nervous about the upcoming launch. Rather than run through the features of the upcoming game, Molyneux decided to treat the crowd to the story of how the series came about and what influenced its evolution.
The talk was a very interesting one, but unfortunately did not touch on the co-op aspect of the series. The only note worthy comment being that Molyneux suggested the co-op was far better (could it be much worse?) in Fable 3 than the disappointment of Fable 2. Despite the talk being ‘concept heavy’, it did get me excited for the new instalment. Molyneux also talked about how the end of the second game tried to elicit an emotional response from gamers; a technique Lionhead studios planned to use earlier, and frequently incorporate in Fable 3.
I seriously need to take some photography lessons
As well as attending a conference talk with the mind behind the Fable series, I also got a chance to have some personal time with the single player. As you would expect from a game that is near completion, the experience was highly polished. Graphically I felt that the game had improved slightly on its predecessor and that the aesthetics were darker and suited to the more ‘modern’ setting of the game. I also felt that the game had a greater sense of scale, with the concept of evolving your weapons through action adding an innovative touch. It almost goes without saying that the classic Lionhead sense of humor was on offer, and in the mission I played I actually felt the snippet of writing was better than the majority of the last game.
It was unfortunate that I was not able to get a chance to play the game in Co-op, as this will make or break the game for many Co-Optimus readers. Rest assured that Molyneux believes the co-op will be a significant improvement this time. Players will be able to bring in their own persistent characters to another players game where they are able to work (and play!) independently of one another. Given the addition of these fundamental co-op elements to what is already a great set of games, we may have a contender for co-op game of the year on our hands.