Gears of War vs. Gears of War 2

Gears of War and Gears of War 2 are often argued about among xbox gamers. There is a highly distinguished difference between Gears of War and Gears of War 2 (GoW and GoW 2). The differences ranged from how the weapons were used, to how the ranks went, all the way to the players themselves.

GoW multiplayer was extremely based off of the Gnasher Shotgun (pictured below).The Gnasher was great in close range and can “split” people. If you were not using a sniper, torque bow, or boom-shot, then you were most likely using your primary shotgun. GoW 2 made the shotgun almost useless compared to the original Gears of War. The gnasher in GoW 2 is only used in extremely short range battles and as a last ditch effort.

Another now well known weapon that people had never heard of before were the torque bow. The torque bow was basically a sideways crossbow that shot an exploding dart. It always comes in handy and is guaranteed a kill if you can stick them. There was only 1 fault with the torque bow. If someone was skilled enough (or lucky enough) a person could “rub a torque bow.” The process is hard to explain and everyone does it their own ways.Other then that problem the torque bow was my favorite weapon in GoW.

The boom shot is Gears of Wars version of a missile launcher. As i always say, “You pull the trigger and everything explodes. How could you not like it?” The torque bow features laser that shoots out so you can guide your shot ad be sure it hits its target. The most common problem people have is not holding the trigger long enough for the torque to really warm up and fire. If you do not let it warm up than the torque bow will bounce instead of sticking to a target. In some cases bouncing a torque bow shot can come in handy if you have someone wounded behind cover, you can bounce a torque bow shot near them and hope it finishes them off. After playing Gears of War for long enough you can have some really funny moments with the torque bow. The best i have had was one one map called Clock-tower i bounced a torque across the map and it bounced off a wall and right into an enemies back to blow him up.

Our next weapon we will talk about will be the boomshot, as shown above. Before a patch (update) to Gears of War (the original) the boomshot would not even have to hit you directly. The hot could hit in your general area and it would still blow you up. These days in both GoW and GoW 2 the shot must hit you directly. If it hits next to you, you will only be downed. There is not much of a change from Gears of War to Gears of War 2.

The last gun i will mention will be the Longshot sniper rifle. The longshot is a futuristic styled sniper rifle. The bullet is not a laser beam like for some reason people believe. It is a normal bullet, just the scope and gun dynamics are futuristic. The sniper rifles in GoW and GoW 2 are very different. It is hard to explain the difference honestly. The best way to describe it is that it seems less powerful and is less sensitive to head shots in GoW 2 as it was in the original GoW. The most easily recognizable change is the colors. If you are a locust when you pick up the Longshot, than the Longshot scope will appear red. If you are a COG then the scope will appear blue. The color difference changes nothing contrary to some people’s belief.

Difference in Multiplayer

Gears of War had no ranks, so there was no judging going on before a match even started. The only thing to possibly judge a person by was their ranked achievements which meant little anyway. GoW 2 added an experience system. At first the experience system was a “True-Skill” system. This system had been used on games like Shadow-Run to make sure that players are ranked correctly. How long you played did not matter in a True-Skill ranking. Games like Call of Duty really do not tell a players skill with their ranking system. All it tells is who plays the most. On the original ranking it was not too bad. I was ranked a 4 out of the possible 5 ranks. I did not play GoW 2 that often so the 4 was fine with me. The other thing about that ranking system was that you would lose rank if you did not play for a while. It was good because obviously players lose skill if they do not play for a while. GoW 2 then switched to the experience ranking system. All that did was make GoW 2 like Call of Duty. Players that played the most got the highest rank. GoW 2 is actually near impossible to quit out during a game unless you join someones session in progress while they are at the main menu or if you sign out of xbox live. GoW 2 seems to “hold you hostage” as many players joke. In the original Gears of War you could join and leave games when you wanted. It was much more relaxed and it showed in the people who played the game. A lot of new players tend to player GoW 2. What i call “new” players are players who have never played the original Gears of War before. Anyone can be instantly good at Gears of War 2 so i believe it really ruined the fun of Gears of War. The first GoW was all about skill. You had to take time, play, and learn to get good with the gnasher. Now in Gears of War 2 a little kid could pick up a controller and destroy someone who had been playing for years.

The Wrap Up

It is my opinion that the original Gears of War is better. The experience system really made it corny and made it like a knock off of every other on-line game. The guns seemed much better in Gears of War over Gears of War 2 because the main gun was the shotgun instead of the hammer-burst. In my mind it is more fun to have a shotgun battle than to have a slow-shooting automatic fire-fight. GoW 2 really “broke” the shotgun as many experienced players would say. That is why i believe the original GoW is the best GoW.