Gears of War 2 - Pacing Analysis

7/29/2019 Gears of War 2 - Pacing Analysis

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Pramod Nautiyal – F2 ,

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Analysis: Concept of Pacing in Gears of War 2 2011




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ContentsIntroduction .................................................................................................................................................. 4

Game Structure ............................................................................................................................................. 5

Difficulty Structure ........................................................................................................................................ 6

Gameplay Principles ...................................................................................................................................... 7

Cover ......................................................................................................................................................... 7

Choice of Weapons ................................................................................................................................... 7

Prioritize the enemy to be killed first ....................................................................................................... 7

Active Reloads ........................................................................................................................................... 7

Pop and fire Shooting................................................................................................................................ 7

Gameplay Loop ............................................................................................................................................. 8

Advance in the Game ................................................................................................................................ 8

Killing enemies .......................................................................................................................................... 8

Shooting System (Guns) ............................................................................................................................ 9

Shooting System (Turrets) ........................................................................................................................ 9

What balances the Difficulty in the GamePlay Loop? ............................................................................. 10

New type of enemies .............................................................................................................................. 10

Increased Difficulty of Enemies .............................................................................................................. 10

Increased Number of Enemies ................................................................................................................ 10

New weapons.......................................................................................................................................... 10

Obstacles in the game environment ....................................................................................................... 10

Story Pacing................................................................................................................................................. 11

The Rhythm of play ..................................................................................................................................... 12

Movement Impetus ................................................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.

What increases the Movement Impetus in the game? .......................................................................... 12

Objectives ahead ................................................................................................................................. 12

Narrow Physical options ..................................................................................................................... 12




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What decreases the Movement Impetus in the game? ......................................................................... 13

Obstacle .............................................................................................................................................. 13

Increased Tension ............................................................................................................................... 13

Dialog .................................................................................................................................................. 13

Threat ...................................................................................................................................................... 13

Tension .................................................................................................................................................... 14

Tempo ..................................................................................................................................................... 14

Tempo in Movement .......................................................................................................................... 14

Tempo in Combat ................................................................................................................................ 14

Case Study: Gears of War 2, Act 4, Chapter 6: Royal Inquisition ............................................................ 14




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Introduction

Gears of War 2 is a third-person shooter game. In the game the COG (Coalition of Ordered

Governments) continues its fight against the Locust horde, who is attempting to sink all the cities on the

planet Sera. Sergeant Marcus Fenix leads Delta Squad to stop the Locust and to save the city.




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Game Structure

Below is the structure of how the levels are classified in the game. The game has a very linear structure.

The game consists of 5 Acts(Levels) and each Act has 6 chapters(Sub Levels), expect for Act 5 where

there are only 5 Chapters




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0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6

D i f f i c u l t y

Act Timeline

Act 1

Act 2

Act 3

Act 4

Act 5

Difficulty Structure

Here’s a link to the video of Act 4, Chapter 6 of the game, then followed by the link for the final boss

battle

Act 4, Chapter 6

Act 4, Chapter 6 Skorge Boss Battle Part1

Act 4, Chapter 6 Skorge Boss Battle Part2

In Gears of War 2, the Skorge Boss Battle is considered to be the toughest boss fight and then followed

by the Sea Monster in Act 3 Chapter 6. The final boss fight in Act 5, Chapter 5 was a disappointment

because; it really didn’t feel like a boss fight, when Marcus sinks Jacinto city, riding a Bumark and then

finally killing him by the Hammer of Dawn.

Hence, the Chapter 6 of Act 4 is marked highest in difficulty even though the player doesn’t encounter

the final boss at this stage.

(Videos on page 13, 14, 16)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XMK4rPJurz8


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jqCtTlX0Xn4


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AaMrqC3VRM4&feature=related








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Gameplay PrinciplesEvery game has some very essential gameplay principles which once understood correctly the player can

be the best in the game.

The following are the main Gameplay Principles

Cover

Cover is a key component of Gear of War 2 and a

Golden Rule of the Gears. It’s also mentioned in the

game. Here are some excerpts from the game,

Marcus Fenix to Benjamin Carmine “The Golden

Rule of the Gears is: Take cover of die”. No matter

what difficulty level, if a player masters the skill of

taking cover he has an edge in the game.

Choice of Weapons

Other main principle that the player should follow while playing the game is the right choice of weapons

to kill the enemies. For example use Shotguns to kill enemies when in short range, sniper rifle to knock

out the enemies at a longer range, throw grenades close

emergence holes (the hole on the ground from where the

locust reach the surface and attack). The lancer riffle is

good for mid range combat and is also very effective when

use in a close combat to melee using the chainsaw.

Prioritize the enemy to be killed first In the game there are instances where the player has to encounter a variety of enemies at once. In this

situation the player must prioritize the enemy to be killed first. For ex. Drones (the locust that you will

encounter the most in the game) when they come in a party with the Boomers it becomes important to

kill the Boomers first because they are deadly and can lead damage which results in instant down. After

taking down the Boomers, the player can concentrate on killing the other enemies.

Active Reloads

Active Reloads in the game means using the perfect timing to reload your guns. When the player

successfully completes an active reload, the reloads are instant and the gun also receives a slight

damage dost for a short period of time. If Active Reloads are not performed with proper timing it causes

the weapon to jam and hence takes longer to reload.

Pop and fire Shooting

This game is all about pop and fire shooting. This means you hide while the enemies attach, then you

pop up for a while and either attack them as they were firing somewhere else or wait for them to pop

up. The best move is to let the enemies attack someone else, and then pop up and fire.




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Gameplay LoopThere are events in every game that keep repeating every time in the game and it’s still the part of the

gameplay. The following are the events that keep repeating every time in Gears of War 2.

Advance in the Game

The player starts the game with a new Act, then kills some small enemies, then proceed to the next

chapter in the Act, kill the boss in the Final Chapter of each act it any and then Start with a new Act

again. The game has 5 Act in total and each Act consists of 6 Chapters, expect for the final Act.ie. Act 5

Killing enemies

What will be the fun part in the game if the player didn’t had to kill some enemies to progress in the

level? The key to the next chapter or the next act is to kill the enemies in all most all the levels. So to kill

enemies, the player must shoot at them or perform a melee attack, take cover when loosing health, wait

for health to regenerate and kill more enemies

Shoot at enemies/ Melee Attack to kill

them

Wait for health toregenerate

Take cover whenloosing health

Killing enemies

Proceed to next

chapter in the Act

Start New Act

Kill small Enemies

Advance in the Game

Kill the Boos in theFinal Chapter of

each act




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Shooting System (Guns)

There is a loop in the firing system,

very common in all the game. The

player first aims or blind fires then

shoot and then reload and the process

continues.

Shooting System (Turrets)

Reload

Aim/Blind

Shoot

Shooting System

(Guns)

There is a loop in the firing system, very common in all the game. The player first aims or blind fires then

shoot and then cools down the weapon and the process continues.

Cool Down

Aim/Blind

Fire

Shooting using a turret




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What balances the Difficulty in the GamePlay

Loop?

New type of enemies

Killing the same type enemies can become boring and

might get easy after killing the same type of enemies over a

period of time, new type of enemies gives the player new

challenge.

Increased Difficulty of Enemies

The difficulty level of the enemies increases with the progression of the player in the game.

Increased Number of Enemies

The number of enemies encountered increases with the

progression of the player in the game.

New weapons

When the difficulty and the number of enemies appearing in each wave increases, to balance the system

each time a new gameplay element for ex advanced weapons is introduced. For ex. The Centaur,

Brumak etc

Obstacles in the game environment

With the increase in the level the difficulty of the game is not only limited to the enemies even the game

environment has some obstacles which appear as

a challenge in addition to killing the enemies. For

ex the razorhail, breaking ice floor.




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Story Pacing

There are various events noticed in the story of Gears of War 2 that’s changes the pace of the game

story wise.

In Act 1 Marcus gets to know he is on a new mission to save

the cities on planet Sera.

In Act 2 Marcus finds out that a huge worm is sinking the

cities into it and finds a way to kill the worm

In Act 3 Dom convinces Marcus to help him to seek his wife

Maria.

In Act 4 Delta Squad discovers that locust have messages

from Adam Fenix, Marcus Father, That suggest and alternate

way of ending the war, in case they can’t take out the queen.;

ension

23

6

9

7

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

Act 1 Act 2 Act 3 Act4 Act5

Story Pacing

Story Pacing

Acts in the Game




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to sink Jacinto city in order to let water flood the Hollow and wipe out the Locust Horde. They then find

out from the queen herself that she is not only trying to destroy humans but also to destroy the lambent

Locust that have been exposed to Imulsion and are attempting to overthrow the queen.

In Act 4 the tension also raised when the Queen appears. The queen appeared to be beautiful instead of

ugly.

In Act 5 When the Brumak is exposed to to high levels of

Imulsion, he beings to Mutate. The Brumak attacks the

helicopter transporting the bomb. Marcus then comes

up with a plan that includes killing the lambent Brumak

as a replacement of the Bomb. He uses the Hammer of

Dawn to kill the Brumak, which explodes taking out the

Brumak and it sinks Jacinto.

The Rhythm of playThe gears series is one of the most rhythmically engaging non-musical games. The gears universe has got

a punchy gravity from the firing of a lancer on the screen to the weighty slam as Marcus and Dom take

cover. The Rhythm of play is noticed in every aspect of the game. For ex the Gears sniper rifle. It offers

the most undiluted way to regularly experience the awesomeness of reloading. The rip and spray of a

Gears weapon is like a snare-drum roll, and the active reload is the cymbal crash at the end. Waiting the

perfect amount of time before jamming the right shoulder button to slam in a super-charged round is so

rhythmically satisfying.

Movement Impetus

Gears of War 2 if studied in full in terms of the Movement Impetus, most number of times it will be

noticed that the Movement Impetus is on the higher side. A balance is required in the game to maintain

a perfect balance of Movement Impetus so that the game doesn’t get boring if the movement impetus is

too high. On the other hand if the movement impetus is too low then the player might feel that there

isn’t any progression happening for him in the game.

What increases the Movement Impetus in the game?

Objectives ahead

All the objectives in the games are ahead, so the player has to advance through levels to reach the final

objective and finally beat the game. At no point in the game there is a scenario where the player moves

back in the level to complete an objective.

Narrow Physical options

The game has predefined boundaries and the path available for the player to explore is also very limited,

this leaves with the player with no option but to move ahead in the game.




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What decreases the Movement Impetus in the game?

Obstacle

Killing enemies forces the player to halt in the game. The player will only proceed further after killing

them all.

Increased Tension

When killing big enemies like the bosses at the end of ever Act, the tension is usually high as the player

is fearful of moving quickly because one wrong move may result in killing starting the boss battle again.

Dialog

There are instances where the Marcus interacts with people from the COG team and pedestrians in

some areas. This certainly reduces the pace of the game.

Threat

In the game the player goes through three levels of threat patterns.

High

o The player most of the time experiences high threat in the game for ex threat is

extremely high when the wretches pounce on him out of nowhere. The threat is high

when the player is in a boss battle.

Medium

o The threat is medium when the player is on a range combat where the player can take

down the enemies from a range using a Sniper Rifle or a Torque Bow or even a Lancer

for that matter.

Low

o The threat is low when the player is a combat and is moving




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Tension

The game is inspired from the art of

destroyed beauty. Hence the destroyed

atmosphere of the game creates tension in

the game with the help of the audio that

also plays an important role in creating

tension in the game.

Tempo

Tempo usually describes the the level of intensity of action. Tempo in the game can be classified in 2

types i.e. Tempo in Movement and Tempo in Combat.

Tempo in Movement

For example, to move around in the environment (Explorative Movement). The player here has time to

look around and determine his route. Explorative Movement usually has a low tempo

Tempo in Combat

The tempo during the combat in the game is high. Extremely high during the boss battle.

Case Study: Gears of War 2, Act 4, Chapter 6: Royal Inquisition

This case study examines a small 11 minute section (Watch Video) of the beginning of the level, showing

how the threat, tension, movement Impetus and tempo Change of the scenario.

0:00 sec – 1:26 sec

Threat – 2

Tension – 2

Movement Impetus – 7








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Tempo – 5

Here the player doesn’t encounter any enemies but just moves ahead in the level as he knows

his objective is ahead in the game and hence the movement Impetus is high and the threat and

tension are marked low

1:27 sec – 4:30 sec

Threat – 5

Tension – 5


Tempo – 7

Here the player enters into a combat since most part of the combat is at a mid range the threat

is not very high but medium.

The movement impetus is reduced as the player will only be able to move ahead after killing the

enemies

4:30 sec - 5:05 sec

Threat – 1

Tension – 1


Tempo - 5

The observation again here is that since the player is heading ahead the player the movement

impetus is one the higher side.

The threat and tension is very low as the player doesn’t encounter any enemies.

5:06 sec – 8:51 sec

Threat – 4

Tension – 5





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Tempo – 7

The threat here ranges from low to mid because the player user a mortar to kill the enemies at a

range.

The movement impetus is also very medium as the player also advances ahead in the level to

take the next wave of enemies The tempo here is slightly on the higher side as the player is fighting enemies (Combat Tempo)

8:52 sec – 11:44 sec

Threat – 6

Tension - 6

Movement Impetus - 5

Tempo – 2

Here even though the player doesn’t get into to the boss fight. The threat and tension still goes

up as the player knows that a boss fight is about to begin.

Here’s a case study of a boss fight with Skorge

Threat – 6

Tension – 7


Tempo – 8

In this boss fight threat is

medium, the tension is on the higher side, the movement impetus is also medium and the

tension and tempo are on the higher side.




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Boss fight with Skorge continued

Threat – 8

Tension - 7


Tempo – 9

The movement Impetus her is also the

higher side as the Marcus moves towards

the Jacinto city to sink the city.

The threat, tempo and tension are also on

the higher side as due to the intensity of

the boss battle and the ambience in which

the battle takes place.

Gears of War 2 - Pacing Analysis

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