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Gears of War
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11-22-2011, 03:36 PM
Post: #1
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Gears of War
OK disclaimer up front-I'm a product of the mid-20th Century,
learned to write with real ink & inkwells.The picture on the wall was Harry S.Truman...so take some comments with that in mind. I don't do Vid Games or read comics(pardon me "Graphic Novels") so I knew nothing about Gears of War.Then FFG actually released the Gears of War Board Game. I never paid much attention to the Game other that it was rather funny to see it listed as "Under Development" on FFG upcoming section for 3 years.I just figured it was some sort of tactical modern combat game. When the Rules were put up I looked them over & thought they look really cool,especially the AI Mechanic.I then saw that it was based on a Vid Game & began to check out the background from some GoW dedicated web sites. I also checked out Amazon & saw some titles but they appeared to be Comics(pardon me "Graphic Novels") and passed.I was able to get a good idea of GoW Game World from the GoW web sites anyway,so long story short got the Board Game. Now to Topic,I was in Barnes & Noble a couple of weeks ago & found that there were indeed Books,a whole series by Karen Travis on Gears of War:Aspho Fields,Jacinto's Remnant,Anvil Gate & Coalition's End.So of course I scooped them up & have been reading them,I'm up to Anvil Gate. Traviss writing style is a little weird,the books go back & forth often chapter by chapter.Your reading about stuff in the Pendulum Wars & then your thrown ahead to the Locus Wars only to go back to the Pendulum Wars a little later. Events are referred to that haven't appeared in the book, which aren't explained until the next book.I have a feeling it's heavily patterned on the Video Game where you have to get to a certain level to unlock information. It's a good read,the characters have depth & the gritty Sera setting is handled well once you get use to the time shifts.I went on a long hunt when the story mentioned meeting the Locus Queen,thinking I perhaps missed that part by accidentally skipping a page.However,in going back I didn't miss anything,so somewhere ahead of me this Event will come out even though time wise the story is past that part. So all in all a Good Series that keeps you interested from Book to Book.Perhaps if your a Vid Game fanatic that played GoW to death the books may seem redundant, but if your not it's a good page turner. Then again if you never heard of the Vid Game the Books may lack a little context.Reading the "Story so Far" on the GoW web site helped me get a good general background which made the Books read more smoothly. OD Sighing like the night wind and sobbing like the rain,— Wailing for the lost one that comes not again: |
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11-22-2011, 11:27 PM
Post: #2
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RE: Gears of War
What an interesting perspecitve. I have been a fan of the Gears games since the first one. They focus on intense fire-fights and introduced a really neat "duck behind cover" mechanic I had never seen before in a game. I hope the feel of being pinned down and sneaking shots in isn't lost in the boardgame. I am really excited about it. That and FANG are the only two games I asked for this Christmas. I hope I get one. If you ever play the Gears Boardgame, I would love to know what you think of it.
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11-23-2011, 12:18 AM
Post: #3
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RE: Gears of War
Hopefully you'll have a Good Christmas there both Great Games.
I've played several GoW Board Games (I made myself stop simply because I wanted to play Elder Sign and F&G)It's hard for a Board Game to capture a Vid Game action but I think GoW comes close. The duck into cover & taking pot shots is nicely covered as is the constant tension between doing the Mission & getting into firefights.Here's a Session Report on the Introductory Mission Team 2-Emergence Sector 4:Marcus Felix & Dominick Santiago CoG HQ Jenico City Lieutenant ...Sgt.Felix is here ....Send him in. Sgt.pull up a chair,first of all congratulations on your successful mission .Now lets get to the debriefing, just give your run down of how things went. Lieutenant it's all in my report. I know Sgt. but Command feels that a visual & audio record is valuable,it allows them to pick up nuisances that simply reading a report doesn 't provide. You've been through these before so lets get to it. OK...Well Santiago & I were checking out Sector 4 looking for an Emergence hole.The Sector is mainly the campus of Janico City College & it's fairly busted up being on the perimeter but the R.O.T.C. building is still standing & it's a large complex so we figure that's the first thing to check out. Santiago takes point and Advances through the foyer and takes cover behind the reception desk, and puts both barrels into a Boomer.The damn thing is hit but doesn't go down. Now all Hell breaks loose,this is obviously the Emergence location Two Drones fire on Santiago he's wounded but as he's in full cover the damage is minor. I haul ass around the Boomer & Assault the Drone nearest to Santiago with my chain blade cutting the thing in two. Now I can hear other Locus coming in our direction,but my immediate concern is the wounded Boomer & behind me & the other Drone in front.The Boomer swings his Boom Shot in my direction but I beat him to it & put a full clip from my assault rifle into him & this time he stays down. I just have time to try to dodge the Drones attack, he still hits me but it could have been worst. I 'm worried about Ammo,taking out the Boomer has cost both Santiago & me clips.I know from studying plans of the building that an ammo storage locker is just ahead to our left,so I yell for Santiago to move up & secure it.He does & I can hear him ripping shells from their packing cartons. We now get a break as the Drone in front of me just holds up in cover.But I can hear something big coming our way. I figure why wait? so I move up & assault the approaching Boomer,I kept my finger on the trigger & emptied another full clip into him,I'm burning ammo but I gotta stop the damn thing.He goes down & I breath a big sigh of relief. The Drone I slipped by now tries another attack on me but Santiago opens up on him full bore with that shotgun & cuts him down even though it was in partial cover. I'm still in trouble as the Drone who was with the Boomer now opens up on me but I managed to avoid any damage. Santiago is just setting tight in the ammo locker & I'm hold up just outside as a Drone moves into my area.Santiago draws it into the ammo locker & Ambushes it taking it out. We're free of Locus but I can hear them moving out somewhere in front of us. I pick up the dead Drone's Hammer Burst. Santiago moves ahead causiously as the sound of Locus approaching is getting louder. I slip into the ammo locker to cover him. Just then another Boomer takes a bead on Santiago but I've got his back & blow the Boomer away with a Bolo Grenade. Santiago now breaks for the end of the corridor & follow.He runs right into another Boomer & empties his pistol point blank into it killing it. A Drone & a Wretch now attack Santiago but do only minor damage. I attack the Drone into coming after me & then take it down with an Ambush. We're in the clear again but we can still hear Locus of somewhere in the next corridor. Santiago charges toward the sounds and moves into the grenade storage room where he can see the Emergence hole & 2 Drones just across the corridor.He lobs a Bolo Grenade into them with perfect timing both Drones are taken out and the Emergence Hole is sealed under the debris. Then 2 wretches & 2 Boomers come through the back door and into the hall way! A wretch goes for me but I dodge the attack.The other Wretch goes for Santiago but he catches it on the edge of his shotgun & blows it to hell. I use the Hammer Burst to to Ambush the Boomer coming in on me and stop it cold. It's now a real Firefight The last Boomer attacks me along with a Wretch but their aim is off and I get off with only minor damage.Another Wretch goes after Dom but he escapes without damage. Santiago now Pummels the Boomer but it remains standing The Wretch renews it's attack on me but Santiago intercepts with a shot gun blast. The remaining Wretch goes for Santiago but he dodges the attack. I uses my last ammo to open up with my assault rifle on the wounded Boomer & put it down. The Wretch is now alone but still attacks Santiago who uses his final ammo to shred the thing. We give it several minutes to make sure nothing no other Locus are around then signal for pick up. That's it Lieutenant,you need anything else or is Show & Tell over? No Sgt.your excused. Sighing like the night wind and sobbing like the rain,— Wailing for the lost one that comes not again: |
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11-23-2011, 12:44 AM
(This post was last modified: 11-23-2011 12:44 AM by vikinglad.)
Post: #4
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RE: Gears of War
Quote:I haul ass around the Boomer & Assault the Drone nearest One of my favorite things to do in the game! I used to play as Santiago with my buddy online a lot. Sounds like lots of the video game is represented in the boardgame. Sweet report; thanks. |
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