Weapon Selection
You've got a number of different weapons to choose from in Gears of War, from a lowly pistol to the mighty Hammer of Dawn. You can only pick up two weapons at a time, though; you'll be familiar with this mechanic if you've ever played Halo. (You will have a separate slot for pistols, though.) Here are quick descriptions of all of the major choices.
Lancer
- Keep in mind that your enemies will start using the Lancer late in the game, so you may find yourself chainsawed eventually.
The Lancer is the famous chainsaw-machinegun combination that we've seen in so many trailers and promo videos for Gears of War. It's the one weapon you should pretty much always have in your inventory, mostly due to its accuracy when used in aimed mode; you can direct a tight stream of fire at almost any enemy you spot, with the accuracy only fading away at long distances.
The chainsaw attachment is cool, but it'll get you into trouble if you try to use it too often, since getting shot while revving the blade will stun you momentarily and normally ensure your death. It's best to use it on wretches, which can't fire at you and will thus run right into you and get sliced. For other enemies, you can use it when someone is crouching on the other side of a piece of cover and jumps over to your position, or when an enemy is firing on one of your teammates and doesn't see you coming. It's an instant kill, obviously, but you're locked into place while it cuts, which can let other enemies pile on the hurt.
Gnasher
Your standard shotgun. Doesn't do anything at medium or long range, except throw a bunch of metal at everything but your target, but close up, this is capable of completely gibbing your foes. Let your foes get close, then bust a round or two into their bodies to finish them off. The reload time can be substantial, so try your best to obtain an active reload.
Torque Bow
A tricky weapon to use accurately. Much like Rambo's famous rocket bow, the torque bow fires explosive-tipped arrows which can attach themselves to enemies, resulting in an instant kill when they detonate a second later. The trick here is that you have to prime the weapon by holding down the attack button; after a couple of seconds, the reticule will change from blue to red, indicating that the arrow is ready for impaction. (If you fire the arrow before it's fully charged, it'll simply bounce off of whatever it hits, but it will still detonate.)
The bow can be used as a means of indirect fire. If you know an enemy is crouching behind some cover, firing an arrow at the ground nearby can convince him to move on, or kill him. The drawback is that you'll constantly have to be charging up arrows. You can't just hold down the button, either; if you do so you'll automatically launch an arrow after a few seconds.
Perfect active reloads will let you prime arrows much more quickly, so be sure to attempt them if you're in a tight spot. This is arguably the worst weapon for close-up encounters, since even the sniper rifle can be snap-fired at close range with a good chance of hitting.
Boomshot
The Boomshot is the rocket launcher/grenade launcher that's dropped by the Boomer enemies in the game. In areas where you encounter multiple Boomers, you can accumulate a good amount of ammo for it, but normally ammo (as well as the weapon itself) will be scarce, as the only way to obtain it is off of dead Boomers. When fired, it'll launch a shell a good distance away, but these shells do have a dip in their trajectory when fired, making it sometimes difficult to hit your target accurately. (Oddly enough, when Boomers fire this weapon, their shells go perfectly straight.) Just keep in mind that launching a shell at a nearby enemy will result in you taking splash damage, as well.
Hammerburst
This is the locust machinegun, the weapon you use in the tutorial section of the single-player campaign. It's a decent enough weapon, but its burst-fire mechanism will prevent you from quickly laying fire on enemies that leave cover. When you start Act I, you'll have the Lancer and will likely only use the Hammerburst until you find something more suitable to pick up. It reportedly deals more damage than the Lancer, though, even when you account for the gap between bursts of fire, so it may be a better choice for use on higher difficulty levels.
Longshot
If you hold the fire button down after you launch the laser beam, you can drag it across the ground.
The game's sniper rifle is named the Longshot. It's...a sniper rifle. You can aim it with the left trigger, then zoom in by clicking on the right analog stick. BOOM headshot! The reload time on this is rather drastic, so be sure to get a perfect active reload for even more damage on your next shot.
The Hammer Of Dawn
The Hammer of Dawn (sounds like it should be a ship name from Halo) is a situational weapon that you'll use from time to time in Gears of War. You don't fire it, so much as you paint a target with the laser pointer that pops out; a few seconds later, the military satellites will blast the area you've painted with pure energy, killing anything around. (You can only lock on to enemies or their immediate area; you can't just fire at any random point on the ground.) The Hammer is required to kill some of the bigger enemies, like Seeders or Berserkers, but does a heck of a job against drones and other weak enemies, assuming you can fire it off before they kill you. It can also seal emergence holes when fired into them.
Post a comment