Johnny Trinh

Sept. 17, 2015

UWRT Observation Analysis 1
Relevant Background Information
This is the beginning of the Gears Series. The events take place 14 years after E-Day. E-Day is
when the Locust invades the upper world for an unknown reason. E-Day is also dubbed as
Emergence Day. The Locust is considered to be very hideous by the humans who live on the
planet of Sera. The humans inherit the upper world, or in other words, the upper level of the
planet (think of the crust and how we live). The Locust however lives in the lower world, or in
other words, they live in the mantle of the planet. At some point, the Locust Horde decided that
its secondary goal was the extermination of the human race, down to every man, woman, and
child. The Locust Horde's primary goal was to populate the surface of Sera. The Locust waged a
tactically beneficial war of genocide against the Humans due to the existence of a civil war
between the Locust Horde and the Lambent Locust. This civil war had existed for an
undetermined amount of time, but was gradually forcing the Locust out of the Hollow and into a
war with humanity for control of the surface. All known attempts of the Humans negotiating with
the Locust Horde ended in violence, although Adam Fenix believed he could end the war
peacefully.The victory of the COG over the Union of Independent Republics in the Pendulum
Wars allowed the COG to become a global superpower, and gave it near-complete domination
over the entire planet, comprising of almost every nation.However, the outbreak of the Locust
War ended the peace that the end of the Pendulum Wars had, for the most part, been given to
Sera and its people.
IMPORTANT
Instead of having different time intervals such as 5 minutes into the game the observations
will take place in acts. The reason for this is because it is difficult to place a timestamp on the
events within the game. Each player plays a different pace than one another. One might
thoroughly enjoy spending hours figuring out puzzles, doing side missions, hearing the dialogue,
and watching the cutscenes in between action. On the other hand, one person might just want to
advance in the storyline without hearing any of the dialogue or doing any side missions.
Terminology
Before going in depth with the observation, there are specific terminology that some people will
need to be associated with. Gears terminology is a bit different than the regular game
terminology introduced out there (such as Call of Duty). These terminology can be used for both
the campaign and multiplayer portion of the game. With the terminology there will be videos
showing them what the term actually is. There are a lot more terminology but this is consider
some of the basics.
NOTE: Gameplay will be violent/gruesome. Foul language as well.
Get your dome rocked - This is essentially a headshot which results in a peculiar sound
and having the head exploded. Most of the weapons in the game are capable of doing so
(except launchers, and flamethrowers)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wg0ak68RH6A
Roadie Run - Roadie running is when the character is low to the ground almost in a
crouching stance. While in this crouching stance, the character is also moving at a very

fast pace. This is more beneficial than running regularly because it makes you harder to
hit.
Superman - When someone gets a Superman it is deemed as an achievement that is
acknowledgable for the person who earned it. However, it is deemed as demoralizing for
the person who was received said Superman. A superman is when a character is in the
act of rolling forward but during the rolling they are headshotted resulting in instant
death.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eA0G5lzHO-U
Batman - Batman is the opposite of Superman. While Superman is the art of
rolling forward, Batman is the art of rolling backwards and being killed by a headshot.
Again, the person who accomplished the Batman feels accomplished, while the person
who received it is demoralized.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GvaxG4fhvKk
o Side Note - Both of these acts, Superman and Batman are extremely hard to
acquire. If acquired, it is mostly luck. It takes a severe amount of practice to
actually get both of these by skill.
Bodied - Getting Bodied is typically getting killed by a shotgun. It is when the
character shoots another character equipped with a shotgun (typically one time) and their
whole body is blown away.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sy7YOFiEcmE
Wall Bounce - Wall Bouncing is one of the hardest things to practice within the
Gears world. Being able to wall bounce means that person is essentially invincible. When
wall bouncing, the character is not necessarily taking cover, instead he slides into cover
quickly, and in that quick second, he moves to another cover. This gives the illusion that
he is bouncing off the walls making it harder to hit him.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VvHxBwtmZkE
Two Piece - Typically being two pieced to death makes Gears players a bit angry. Two
piece is when someone shoots you at close range (typically with a shotgun) but they dont
kill you with one shot. When this happens, they will then melee you so you go in a
downed state. A downed state is when you arent dead yet, but you cant fight or
protect yourself. By doing so, you are disabled and susceptible to being killed.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i1bTdSRPpxU
Hammer of Dawn - The Hammer of Dawn was a COG weapon that utilizes the satellites
that ran off of imulsion. It fired a power incendiary laser that when the device was
pointed an object, it would obliterate anything in its path. It is capable of burning
anything, including Locust or humans.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ytGCQsfnSmU

Actors
Marcus Fenix - He is the main protagonist of the series. He was in prison for defying
orders and going to rescue his father. When the Locust invaded, his best friend Dominic
Dom Santiago busted him out to help out with the war. Marcus shows charisma and
leadership. He is cold hearted but shows his soft side when his comrades or close ones
are in danger. He will put his life on the line to protect the things that he holds dear.

Dominic Santiago - Dom is the protagonists best friend. He is the counterpart to

Marcus Fenix. Where Marcus shows very little emotion, Dom shows compassion.
Marcuss mission was to eradicate the Locust, while finding his father on the side. Doms
mission from the start was to find his lost wife, Maria. Even though he despises the
Locust just as much as Marcus, his love for Maria is what thrives him to destroy the
Locust.
Damon Baird - Out of Delta Squad, Baird is the snarky, sarcastic genius. When in a tough
bind, Baird will be the one who thinks of ideas (whether or not theyre crazy). Baird is
the one who brought back an old robot named Jack who has gotten them out of tough
situations like opening doors.
Augustus Cole Train Cole - Cole is the enthusiastic one out of the four main
protagonists. He enjoys showing his skills off. However, somewhat reckless, he is a
reliable partner to have.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WO_ojzJMZfw (Shows off Bairds snarkiness and
Coles arrogance)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GM1unPJ6N00
Rules And Conventions
The rules of conventions for the planet Sera is that there are people called Stranded
who utterly hates anyone who is associated with the COG. The reason being is that the COG
used a device that utilizes the satellite system which in turn created an incendiary laser that
beamed down anywhere the pointer was. The COG destroyed countless cities and towns with this
device deemed The Hammer of Dawn. One part of the rule of convention is that the Stranded
refuses in any way to help the COG. The Stranded does not affiliate with the COG at all. Another
rule is that when there is a barricade that can be cut through easily, it is assumed that the COG
will use the lancer. The lancer is a fully automatic assault rifle, equipped with a chainsaw for
either killing, or convenience. Another convention is that typically, the COG used their standard
issue guns, the lancer, the gnasher shotgun, and the snub pistol. However on the other hand, the
Locust are equipped with the hammerburst (a semi-automatic burst rifle), and a boltok pistol
(essentially a magnum). The Locust communicate by roaring at each other. Nonetheless, each
and every Locust follows the order of the Queen. The COG communicates by radio
communication devices. They all take orders from Chairman Prescott. During the time period of
Gears, if anyone made a sudden movement, they would arouse suspicion regardless of who they
were. Any noise that the COG heard that they did not necessarily know, they identified it as a
threat and took precaution. During times when the COG are entering unknown territory, they will
be as quiet and as alert as possible. It is possible that anything might appear from nowhere. To
counter this, the COG rarely talked between each other for an extended period of time, and if
they do, they do so in a hushed tone.
Literacy Practices
The literacy practices happening with Gears of War are typically through radio communication
devices for the COG while the Locust roar or growl at each other. Every so often there will
be writings on the wall signaling there was life there at one point, or a warning for people
passing by. Typically the Stranded will use this as forms of communication. Besides this, the
characters will communicate with each other through normal dialogue expressing threats,
enemies, plans, etc.
Artifacts

COG Tags - COG Tags are issued to any Gear within the COG. Marcus sees this as a
representation of brotherhood and when one of his close COG members dies, deems this
as a tremendous loss.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J6HpHCTXB5I
Jack - Jack is a functioning robot that follows the Gears around and helps whenever
needed. He shuts down systems, and also turns them back on. He can also open doors that
the COGs cannot open by means of force, such as electric barriers.
Communities of Practice
COG - The COG has one sole purpose, to eliminate the Locust. Made up of several
Gears, they will go out of their way to eliminate any, and all Locust even if it means
throwing their life on the line.
Delta Squad - Comprised up of Marcus, Dom, Baird, and Cole, these are the main
characters with which the player will interact with. These are the heroes of the game
series. They all rely on each other to get through obstacles, and fighting through the
massive horde of Locust.

Domain
Bairds Intelligence - Throughout the series, Baird is coming up with all sorts of ideas,
though they sound mad, they work out in the end. The Gears pick up on this, and devises
some plans of their own as well every so often.
Marcuss Leadership - Though Prescott is the higher up that everyone takes orders from,
Marcus is the one person who guides the ground forces (Delta Squad). Everyone relies on
his ability to lead Delta in and out safely of Locusts ways.
Eradicating the Locust - An obvious domain is ridding Sera of the Locust. The COG
deems them as a threat and feels the need to destroy all of the Locust, or better yet their
Queen. The Locust invaded the world and caused grief and sorrow by taking away their
loved ones, tormenting fellow Gears, and even making the Gears kill their beloved.
Practices of Community
Finding a way to eliminate the Locust - The Gears main objective is decimating the
Locust at any cost. This means even putting their own cities on the line with the Hammer
of Dawn strikes. All of the COG recognizes the Locust as a threat to be dealt with
seriously.
Crippling the Locust army - The COGs are always finding ways to try and cripple the
Locust army in any way possible. Killing the lowly Drones of the Locust army will not
do much harm to the Locust in any way. However, by killing a higher ranked Locust, they
lose much of their strength. For example, the Gears finished off General RAAM and that
severely hurt the Locust army. The queen had to appoint a new right hand man by her
side.
Observations

Before continuing on with the observations, there are a few confusing points within the game.
The main objective of the observations is a rundown of the game. The game is split up into three
different acts so the three observations are based off of the acts. The observations is based on the
campaign itself. I decided to do the campaign because with multiplayer, I felt as if I could not get
enough information out of it. Plus with campaign, the player gets to choose the difficulty. With
the availability of choosing the games difficulty, the gameplay changes. If it was on casual, the
player can easily stroll through the game without taking cover for most of the game. However, if
on insane, the player has no choice but to take cover. A couple of shots fired would instantly kill
the player. The observations made here are based on the games difficulty of normal.
Act One - The game opens up with Marcus Fenix being rescued from Jacintos maximum
security prison by fellow COG member and best friend, Dom Santiago. Dom brings
Marcus to meet up with the rest of Delta squad. They narrowly escape the prison
moments before it is destroyed by a corpser, a spider-like Locust. Marcus and Dom meets
up with Anthony Carmine and Minh Young Kim. When they met up with Anthony
Carmine and Minh Young Kim, they had a mission.Their main objective is to locate
Alpha squad and to find the resonator to destroy the Hollow. Delta squad then meets up
with Private Cole who is from Alpha and says that the rest of Alpha is in the tombs.
While proceeding to the tombs, Carmines gun jams in the process of reloading. He
remarks that his gun is always malfunctioning. While fixing the jam, Carmine is killed in
the process by a Locust sniper. The Gears took cover while blind firing in the process.
The Gears then advanced forward into the city where they are ambushed by Locust and
Kim is killed in action by General RAAM while providing cover fire for the rest of Delta.
Moments before Kim is killed, Delta runs into a seemingly abandoned building. Marcus
turns around and yells out to Kim to follow them in. However he witnesses Kim being
impaled by General RAAM instead. Marcus then radios into HQ and informs them that
Kim was KIA. HQ then appoints Marcus to the rank of sergeant and makes him the new
leader of Delta Squad. Marcus and the rest (Dom, Cole, and Baird) are then confronted
with a Berserker (the only female Locust besides the queen). The four runs through a
building thinking that itll stop the Berserker only to fail. They then learn that the
Berserker is susceptible to flames and that is when they decide to use the Hammer of
Dawn. They lure the Berserker outside in the open where the Hammer of Dawn can be
used via satellite. By doing so, they relay the message onto HQ that the Berserker can be
killed by massive amounts of fire. They need to first weaken her by flames. After she is
weakened by fire, regular bullets will work. During the actual gameplay when the
character was playing, (my friend Devaughn and I) we had some troubles going through
it. We kept failing through the mission because we had no clue at first on how to kill the
Berserker. The Berserker kept killing us because we were not fast enough to maneuver
out of the columns that were in the way of us roadie running. After a few attempts on
going through the game, the game finally gave us a hint to use the scorcher. Once we
used the scorcher, one of us used the scorcher, while the other one fired at the Berserker.
The Berserker went down in a matter of seconds.
Act Two - The beginning of act two, the Gears need to make it to Lethia Imulsion
Facility. Dom suggest borrowing a Junker from a Stranded that owes him a favor from
the past. Before even going to the Strandeds location, the player(s) had to go through a
swarm of Locust. Depending on the number of attempts will determine the types of
Locust will spawn in. Since the difficulty is on normal, the Locust that appears will be

fairly aggressive, yet at the same time they will not be that hard to defeat. The first few
times, the more heavy set Locust came out such as a Grinder ( A Locust who is equipped
with a gatling machine gun), a corpser (spider-like Locust), a Mauler (Locust with a mace
and a boomshield which covers his body). If the player is unable to beat these brands of
Locust after a certain amount of tries, the game will reduce the difficulty and send out
different types of Locust. These other types of Locust can range from wretches (monkey
like creatures which can scream and stun characters), tickers (suicidal small Locust
strapped with a bomb), and the standard Drone Locust. After the player finally emerges
from the furious battle with the Locust, the player finally reaches the Stranded. After a
couple of cutscenes and dialogue, the Stranded finally reluctantly agrees as long as Cole
and Baird stays back for protection from the Locust. They agree and depart. Nightfall
dawns on them and the Gears fear this. When night appears, then so does the Krill, bat
like creatures who relentlessly attack at anything, shredding them apart. In order to keep
them away, light is their weakness. Dom and Marcus fight through Locust to the gas
station, where the Junker is kept and fight their way back to help the camp. However
when they reach the gas station, the two are ambushed by a bunch of wretches. The
player has to survive onslaught after onslaught from the wretches. They seem to be never
ending because each time they would shriek, the players would be stunned and
vulnerable. When the wretch screams, the other Locusts would come in and kill the
players. The players would have to repeat through trial and error. The best tactic to do
would to take cover and then to toss out either a smoke or frag grenade. The smoke
grenade would stun any of the Locust nearby it and make it hard to see both the player
and the Locust. However, the frag grenade would kill anything or anyone within the
general vicinity of the radius.After acquiring the junker, the players finds out that the
Junker is equipped with an ultra violet light to keep the Krill away from the Junker and to
keep the Junker in good condition to travel.
Act Three - Delta Squad then travels to the outskirts by means of the Junker. While
traveling by the Junker, the player has to fight through the krill. The only way to prevent
the player from dying constantly, was to shine the ultraviolet light upon the krill to stop
them in their tracks. However, it is somewhat hard to maneuver the light as it takes a bit
to move the light. The player has to have time to turn the light. The player then died
frequently because it took a while to get accustomed to the light being turned at such a
slow pace. After a few attempts, the player finally succeeded and finally reaches the
mining facility. The Junker then breaks down just as they reach the outskirts of the
mining facility. They then abandon the Junker and travel by foot through the abandoned
facility and into the imulsion filled tunnels. The player here is cautious as it is dark and
they already had an encounter with the Krill before. The tunnels weave extremely and the
player here is suspicious of each turn they have to take in order to find the predetermined
location. The player had a few jump scares out at them when the Krill came out of
nowhere only to block off their path. By doing so, the player had to backtrack to a place
they were already at only to take a different path. They head towards a predetermined
location where the resonator should have maximum effect. While doing all of this, they
are fighting through the hordes of Locust. The team eventually reaches their target
destination, only after Marcus beats a Corpser thats in their way. Securing the area, Baird
sets off the Resonator and shortly after, Delta narrowly escape from the tunnels and
resurface. Sadly, Delta learns from HQ that the resonator didnt have enough data

computed on it for the Lightmass Bomb. Baird finds a device that does already have an
etched out map of the Hollows, linking to Marcuss father, Adam Fenix and their
hometown, the East Barricade Army.
Interview
For the interview, I decided to interview one of my closest friends from High School. He has also
been the only one with me for the Gears Series.
Name: Devaughn Outerbridge
Background Info: Devaughn knows the whole concept of the game. Both he and I played through
the tutorial together, and through the game on each difficulty. By doing so, we knew what to do
at each part. However that doesnt mean the game became easier just because we knew what to
do. By increasing the difficulty, the increase in time spent in cover went up as well. Both he and I
are very familiar with the mechanics of the game because we watched trailers of the game and
before even diving into the game, we stopped at the first part of campaign to master down the
controls of the game before advancing on through.
Date interviewed: September 19, 2015
1. Tell me about your first experience playing Gears of War. Were you impressed by the
game mechanics? What stood out to you?
When I first obtained a copy of Gears of War, I was so excited I stayed up all night just to
play. I remember when I first played the game, I didnt skip anything. I watched as the
game was loading. I instantly jumped into the campaign. Im the type of person who has
to play the campaign first and beat it before heading into multiplayer. Gears stood out to
me in a multitude of ways. I was always accustomed to how Call of Duty handled. In
Call of Duty there was no revive system unless you used a perk. However in Gears of
War, I was shocked to find out people could be revived, to a certain degree. The game
also featured a new way of reloading. In typical games, reloading was just regular
reloading. Press a button and you reloaded. However, in Gears of War you had the option
of performing an active reload. If done correctly, your gun will reload much faster and if
done perfectly, you will have a damage boost for a short amount of time. What stood out
to me the most was how much the developers introduced new aspects that other games
did not think of. Some examples are roadie running, active reload, the chainsaw
attachment to the lancer, and the revive system.
2. Tell me about the final boss fight with General RAAM. What was the hardest part of the
battle and why?
During the boss fight with RAAM, my hands were shaking to the point where my palms
were sweaty. I could already tell from my first encounter with RAAM that he would be
the final boss. It took me multiple tries to understand how to effectively beat him. I had to
go through trial and error to understand his tactics and how his AI operated. I got so
frustrated at the final boss, that I threw my controller onto my bed and had to calm myself
down. Ive already beaten the game once on casual, as I was just getting use to the
controls of the game. I thought to myself that this game was way too easy, so I bumped
up the difficulty to hardcore. The difficulty was so intense, that I had to get Johnny to
play through the campaign with me as human players are always better partners than AI.
The hardest part of the battle was not General RAAM himself. The hardest part was the
Krill that he had control of. One false move, whether it be getting out of cover to fire, to
going to a different type of cover, the Krill would tear you to pieces.

3. What different approaches could EPIC Games could have done to make the game better?
I like the game itself but the game was lacking some different things. Nothing is perfect,
so everything can always use some sort of touch up, or an improvement. For example, the
multiplayer was lacking. When I think of team deathmatch, I think of earning a certain
number of points to be the victor. However, EPIC decided to take a different approach.
They had a set number of lives (typically one) and the last team standing (COG or
Locust) would be the victor. In the modes where there was more than one life, they had
no sort of spawn protection. They could have implicated it in so it would discourage
campers in the game.
4. What were you surprised at when you first played Gears of War? Why?
When I first played it, I was surprised at the controls. Its not your regular shooter game.
It had no mini map to display where you are, but instead it has you hold Y to see the
point of interest instead. Also the way to reload took me by surprise as well. Most
games only have the regular way of reloading. Instead in here you are able to active
reload. You also have a revive system. There are also different executions with each
different gun that I never thought about.
5. What do you think the strongest aspect of Gears of War was? What was the weakest
aspect of it? Why?
The strongest aspect of the game that I think is multiplayer. Its not like traditional
multiplayer. You actually have to work as a team in order to win. If one person goes
astray then the whole team will suffer and that might cost them the round/match. Also
there is a set number of lives so if one person is not as skilled as the others, it wont affect
the whole team. The weakest aspect of the game was definitely the lack of direction.
Sometimes the game does not tell you what exactly to do, until youve messed up a
couple of times. For instance, the point of interest might be obscured by the
environment such as cars, trees, and buildings.
6. Which character, Locust or COG or Stranded, stood out to you the most and why? Could
you relate to them? If so, how?
I think the character I can relate to the most is Cole. Cole is the loud one of the group and
hes also the most reckless. Cole and Baird are a pair when it comes down to it. To me,
Baird would be Johnny. Johnny is always making sarcastic, snarky remarks like how
Baird does it to Cole. I can also relate to Cole because he is boastful of his skills and the
fact that he likes to show it off. I, in a way am somewhat like that. I like to say Im better
at a certain game or have a certain skill that my friends arent that talented in.
7. What would you say is your favorite part of Gears of War is? What is your favorite
campaign part and why? What about multiplayer mode and why?
My favorite part of the game was definitely Horde mode. In Horde mode, its 50 waves of
Locust that progressively gets stronger and harder. You start off small and easy then as
you advance further into the game, it progressively gets harder. My favorite campaign
part was fighting the berserker. My heart was pounding as she ran towards me with
enough destructive power to down me in one hit, and potentially kill me in one hit as
well. My favorite multiplayer mode is assassination because it causes the team to work
together. You have one leader that you have to protect, and if you fail to protect them,
then your team would lose.