The Gears of War online multiplayer experience can be, at times, somewhat frustrating.‚ Whether it is from trigger happy teammates, obscenity screaming ten year olds, exploited glitches, or flat out unfair skill ranked matches, I am often left irritated and ready to quit.
Epic Games, creators of the Gears of War franchise aim to remedy the situation March 24th by way of a brand new title update refreshing the multiplayer experience and a week later adding four new and exciting maps to the marketplace available for download March 31st.
The third title update will not completely eschew the odd “TrueSkill” system; instead it will remain hidden “under the hood” while still creating “the most competitive matches possible.”
Under the new system, players will earn experience points for scoring in public matches, advancing all the way to level 100.‚ In addition to gaining levels and street cred, gamers can unlock a total of 250 Gamerscore via 9 brand spankin’ new multiplayer achievements.
Rod Fergusson, Executive producer at Epic remarked how players did not understand the mechanics of the TrueSkill system and became aggravated by the lack of apparent vertical progression in their rank.
Fergusson went on to say:
So to remedy the issues, we figured we should impose a system where people could earn experience, even if they lost the match they would feel like they’re moving up the ladder. We want them to feel like they’re progressing, gaining levels of experience in multiplayer play. It was really a reward thing to make people feel better about their progression online.
If a new title update doesn’t excite you, because it should, Epic is dropping the third batch of downloadable content for Gears 2 March 31st with the “Snowblind” map pack containing Grindyard, Under Hill, Courtyard, and a remake of Fuel Depot from the original Gears game.
No indication of pricing for Snowblind has been made, but 800 MS points is also a sure thing.
Hit up the gallery for images of Grindyard and the new experience system.
Full story and interview with Rod Fergusson over at GameSpot UK.
I think this new update will be cool but im not to thrilled with the ranks but i do like the system