Swimming with Sharks: Multi-Player Gears 3

Minority Report

The sudden shift in Standard area play that took place on Friday caught a lot of the Games Journo's by surprise. It is not so much that they did not know that it would happen when the game released, but rather that they were not expecting it to happen until Monday or Tuesday, and thought that they would have a few more days to get the play time that they needed to experience each of the modes and draw their conclusions from that experience. Obviously they will need to plan out a different strategy now.

One of the results of the early access to Gears 3 was the formation of several chat groups for Games Journo's to get together and plan out match times and discuss impressions of the game. Until Friday those bull sessions were largely pleasant though they contained a fair bit of testosterone-fueled kidding and teasing, as some of the members were better at multiplayer than others, and so tended to be on the top end of the statistics at the end of each match.

Before you jump to the conclusion that I am saying this is bad, or that I am critical of them, no and no. In fact the good-natured ribbing and bragging was a pleasant and anticipated event, because for the most part none of us really take that seriously, and besides, we were enjoying the process of getting to know this game. That was before Friday morning.

By Friday afternoon the mood -- and the chatter -- in the groups had changed. It was not that the members were unhappy with the change in the environment so much as they were stunned by it. What had been up to that point an environment of friendly rivalry suddenly -- and without warning -- changed to a vicious and instantly deadly arena filled with players who knew how to dodge nimbly, avoid your shots, and then spin-kick insta-kill you in one melee strike. Players who were not shy about hunting you down and doing that particularly nasty attack over and over again, because why? Well, because that is how you win the match for your team, and for these players that is the whole point.

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We talked about this in the groups -- and I was surprised to see how bitterly some of the members felt about it. It was not that they did not expect this, as I mentioned above, but rather it was that they had believed there would be a honeymoon extending through the weekend, and as a result had concentrated their efforts on the Campaign rather than drinking deeply of the multiplayer side, and now it was clearly too late.

As we mulled this over, looking at options, one of the members voiced a concern that was in the back of all our minds, but as yet had remained unspoken: will the new players to the series understand that the Standard area is for a different class of player? If they don't and they wander into that environment and find the instant death that awaits there to be as frustrating as we know they will, will that make them give up on that side of the game?

Only time will tell, but if that describes you, and you are eager to experience the multiplayer side of Gears 3, we have some advice for you: spend as much time as it takes in the Casual area to learn how to dodge and melee and get comfortable with the controls and snap-shots, because there is no kiddy pool in Standard, and unless you master the basics and some of the advanced tactics, frustration awaits.

What you can expect in the Casual area is a mixture of other new players and bots -- bots being opponents and teammates who are AI, controlled by the server, and nowhere near the challenge level of a real live human player. The bots are what divides the two areas -- there are none in Standard -- and you will find that your matches begin quickly in Casual but take time to form in Standard because of that.

Finally there is one bit of fair warning: some of the players who belong in Standard are using Casual to boost their scores, which means that the Casual area is no guarantee that you will be facing players closer to your skill level. When you find yourself in a game that is dominated by a single pro player, your only real option is to quit-out and try to get a game that they are not in.

Just remember -- this is a game -- it is supposed to be fun.