Gears of War Gets Patched

In addition to two new multiplayer maps, Gears of War owners will be receiving a slight revive this week in the form of a patch, according to Epic Games' Mark Rein.  The fix is set to make its way across Xbox Live tomorrow, one day before the official launch of "Raven Down" and "Old Bones".

Details about the patch released on the Epic forums reveal a few important changes to online multiplayer.  Ranked matches will no longer list host names, meaning that teams looking to get around the game's built in clan-hating will have a little more work on their hands.  Grenade taggers will also have to work a bit harder, as the distance for a successful tag is being shortened.  Nothing like getting up close and personal, and having even farther to run from the explosion.

Here is Mark Rein's official announcement:

A Gears of War update should start pushing through the system at some point tomorrow, Tuesday January 9, 2007 prior to the two new multiplayer maps being available on Xbox Live Marketplace on Wednesday January 10, 2007.

The maps, plus an introductory video featuring Gears designer Cliff Bleszinski, are free thanks to the kind sponsorship by the Discovery Channel's Future Weapons series which launches next Monday January 15th, 2007. Be sure to check out the show to see some really cool firepower. I expect game designers all across the country will be watching the Future Weapons series very carefully looking for ideas for their future games

Here is a list of what was addressed in this update:

•    Fixed aspect ratio distortion when using VGA cable with 4:3 displays at resolutions higher than 640x480
•    Fixed voice issue with new players joining Player Match games in progress
•    Players can now get the Achievement for "Dish Best Served Cold" when using Troika turret to kill RAAM
•    Fixed rare situation where host could loop countdown and never start match
•    Fixed rare situation where players could get stuck after chainsawing in multiplayer
•    Reduced Grenade Tag melee distance
•    Enabled “Strict” NAT check on host to prevent possible connection issues
•    Optimized server browser queries to return results more quickly and prevent scroll bars from hiding quality of service icons
•    Reduced number of possible revives in Execution to match Warzone
•    Removed host name from Ranked match server browser
•    Disabled security cameras in Ranked matches
•    Ranked matches now require balanced teams (3v3 or 4v4)
•    Increased penalty for quitting a Ranked match to -50 points
•    Added additional cheat detection code
•    Additional housekeeping updates