EPIC revealed today a LOT of information about the multiplayer changes taking place in
Gears of War 3, which is now being finely polished with an extra 6 months of development time.
The largest change is one that gamers will not actually be able to see as EPIC is finally using dedicated servers. No more host advantage, no more painful host migration, everything will be handled by EPIC's servers.
New Modes
Guardian and Submission have had a baby: Capture the Leader. While each team will again have one player as the designated leader, your goal is to simply capture the enemy leader for 30 seconds. A captured leader can struggle and throw off their captor's aim or even kill them if they're injured. Leaders also have enhanced abilities as now they can hold down LB and see all of the enemies positions.
King of the Hill and Annex have also been combined into a mode called King of the Hill. The score node will move around the level at timed intervals and spawn locations will, finally, be randomized throughout the level.
Team Deathmatch is the new mode on the block. In this mode, each team has 20 lives that drop each time someone is killed and re-spawns. The last team with lives left gets one point and matches are a best 2 out of 3 format. Spawn locations are again, going to be randomized and so there will be no spawn camping.
New Weapons
An older version of the Lancer is the new primary weapon added to your arsenal. Larger and with a bayonet instead of a chainsaw, this Pendulum-era Lancer is harder to aim but hits harder then your standard Lancer. So hard in fact, that while roadie running you can wind up for a one hit melee kill with the bayonet. A new Sawed-off shotgun is also available, which has a very long reload time, a very very short range (about half the normal shotgun) but makes a very, very big mess when it hits. Both the Pendulum-era Lancer and the Sawed-off can be chosen as your starting weapons.
Already announced is the Digger Launcher which shoots a ground-burrowing piranha-thing at your enemies, complete with a trail of kicked up dirt. The result, like most weapons in the Gears universe, is a large explosion. Shooting this is akin to throwing a grenade with a curved aiming reticule.
A new sniper weapon joins the mix in the form of the Oneshot. True to its name, this large, heavy duty sniper rifle will kill an opponent in Oneshot. It also leaves you exposed with a loud whirring noise as it fires up and a yellow targetting indicator similar to the torque bow.
There is a new grenade, the Incendiary Grenade, which like the revamped Ink Grenade, will not give off a warning beep before it explodes.
Old Weapons, New Features
The Gorgon Burst Pistol is gone and instead we have the automatic firing Gorgon SMG. The Hammerburst has been improved with an added zoom feature and an iron sight. Expect more adjustments to the older weapons to be announced once the game moves into its Beta Test.
The New Experience System
Yes, XP and ranking up are back for
Gears of War 3 but do not groan or roll your eyes just yet. The system has been revamped to the point that it is now Bigger, Better and with more rewards. Earn Ribbons by completing simple tasks each match, such as reviving teammates, first blood or going on kill streaks.
The next tier of reward is Medals, which track stats from match to match. This includes the standard "X kills with [Insert Weapon Here], headshots and the usual shooter fare. Finally, Titles are being added. Get good enough with a certain weapon and you can show off your prowess! The other reward for getting good with a weapon? New executions.
At the start, you can only use the most basic of executions, but keep using a weapon and eventually you will unlock a higher tiered execution. Using this new execution will reward you with bonus XP. Max out a weapon and you can keep mashing the execution button to keep humiliating your opponent. Why teabag when you can ram a chainsaw down someone's throat instead?
As you rank up and earn all of these rewards, little pop ups will alert you when you have surpassed your friends scores in the various weapons. Just like the achievement pop ups from
Gears of War 2 but with the added bonus of bragging rights.
All the Small Things
Characters move faster, you can revive yourself by mashing A when downed, chainsaws have a smaller window to be stopped (approx. two seconds while it is revving), press 'Y' while targeting an enemy to "spot" them for all of your allies to see and each match begins with a brief overview of where all the weapons spawn.
In addition, when two players are on opposite sides of cover, there is the option to 'mantle kick' by hopping over the cover, kicking your opponent and leaving them pushed out of cover. Ideally in perfect range for a shotgun blast to the face.