MrREDthinker

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Quest Crew consists of Dominic "D-Trix" Sandoval, Hokuto "Hok" Konishi, Ryan "Ryanimay" Conferido, Ryan "Feng" Feng, Lydia "Lyddz" Paek, Aris "Sfffeee" Paracuelles, Andy "Rocket Man" Luo, Steve Terada, Brian Hirano, and Victor Kim. A number of the team members originally performed with the SickStep dance troupe, but later joined other dancers to form Quest. D-Trix and few other members are also part of the world famous b-boy crew Flexable Flav which recently won Freestyle session in 2008 and placed second at Kb-boy World Masters in Korea in 2008. The crew's name reflects the influence that the Quest Learning Center, located in Artesia, California, has had on the group.^[6] Steve is a well established extreme martial artist and tricker.^[7][8]. He has performed in the Black Eyed Peas "Pump It" video, and has also appeared in the film Memoirs of a Geisha.^[9] Ryan, Hok, Dominic, Steve, and Victor, all appeared on the show So You Think You Can Dance, with Ryan becoming a finalist in the first season, and Hok and Dominic reaching the finals of the third season. Quest Crew also performed on Idol Gives Back in 2008, and toured with Gloria Estefan and Sheila E.^[10] Later on, Ryan Conferido, Dominic, Hok, Steve, Victor, Feng, and Brian represented the crew on the third season of America's Best Dance Crew, winning the competition on March 5, 2009 on MTV. Lydia Paek also appeared in the third season of America's Best Dance Crew, but danced with the Boxcuttuhz crew instead. Quest has also been around the county performing at locals like WOD.

[edit] So You Think You Can Dance

Five out of the ten active members of Quest Crew have appeared on So You Think You Can Dance. Crew member Ryan 'Ryanimay' Conferido had appeared on the first season as a finalist. He was eliminated in the fourth week. Steve Terada, Victor Kim, and Hokuto 'Hok' Konishi had all auditioned for the second season. Steve and Victor were both eliminated in the early Vegas Rounds. Hok nearly made it to the top 20, but was only in the United States on a student visa, and was ineligible to be employed in the United States, which lead to his dismissal from the program. After obtaining a work permit, he had returned for the third season along with Dominic 'D-Trix' Sandoval. This time, both had made it to the top 20. Hok was eliminated during the fifth week of competition. D-Trix was eliminated in the seventh week. Because he was eliminated after making the top ten contestants, he went on tour with the rest of the top ten in 2007, Hok also went on the tour as a sub. The five of Quest who have appeared on So You Think You Can Dance have made appearances including a So You Think You Can Dance results show, Idol Gives Back, and the seventh season finale of American Idol.

[edit] America's Best Dance Crew Season 3

Quest Crew became the winners of season three of America's Best Dance Crew; beating out the runner-ups Beat Freaks. The seven members who competed were Hok, Feng, D-Trix, Brian, Victor, Steve, and Ryan. Lydia Paek was originally a member of Quest Crew, but instead she performed with the Boxcuttuhz due to the show's 7 member limit rule, meaning she could not dance with Quest. ^[11] Quest Crew originally auditioned for season one but were unable to take part of the show because of crew members D-Trix and Hok's original contract with So You Think You Can Dance. During their time, Ryan and D-Trix did most of the solo parts, Victor did a lot of the freezes and handstands, Steve did a lot of big flips and tricks, and they eventually became known for their comical attitudes both on stage and in rehearsal. On stage it was mostly D-Trix who did the comedy but it was also done by Hok and Feng. The krumping of Hirano was one of the group's secret weapons.

[edit] Week 1: Sudden Death Challenge

During the Sudden Death Challenge, Quest Crew performed to their own master mix featuring Hero by Nas. They received overwhelmingly positive comments from the judges and were saved from elimination. Kid Rainen, member of JabbaWockeeZ and was the guest judge in place of JC Chasez because (JC had to do an interview), complimented D-Trix's double halos to shoulder halos. Lil' Mama complimented Ryan on performing a backflip and landing on his head(Described him as, 'Crazy').Shane Sparks Gave them props , said, 'The battle is on.'

[edit] Week 2: Fit Test Challenge

During the Fit Test Challenge, Quest Crew was given the challenge of Kickboxing. This challenge was performed to a master mix of Kevin Rudolf ft. Lil Wayne's "Let It Rock".Steve is a martial arts instructor, he took them though all the basic punches, and kicks. The crew relied on him to deliver those heavy blow ups.... JC said they had great moments but thought the performance seemed a little too "Tae Bo" and said they had too much posing. Lil Mama, as she often does throughout the seasons, agreed. However Shane Sparks thought there were many moments in their performance where they killed the show, and praised them. Nevertheless, they were saved from elimination that night.

[edit] Week 3: Britney Spears Challenge

During the Britney Spears Challenge, the Britney Spears song that Quest Crew received was "Toxic". For this challenge, they had to perform a portion of their routine blindfolded.^[12] Their performance was given positive remarks from the judges with judge JC Chasez calling it his favorite performance of the night. Shane Sparks, stated that the crew "killed the stage" when they incorporated a little feminine vibe into their routine. Shane Sparks also complimented Ryan on doing a "Shablam," a stunt that's not even considered a b-boy move. This routine became known as the "Routine of Death" for the crew. D-Trix was originally planned to perform the solo at the end, but ended up injuring his shoulder while rehearsing the solo. This setback forced crew member Ryan to perform the solo, ending up injuring his knee during the "Shablam".

[edit] Week 4: Whack Track Challenge

During the Whack Track Challenge, Quest Crew got You Got It (The Right Stuff) by New Kids on the Block as their whack track.^[13] The crew chose to do the crotch grab pendulum and their routine featured Hok looking like he was on his hands but in reality he had switched his clothes around and eventually changed back into regular attire. The performance was again praised due to Quest's creativity and getting Hok in and out cleanly.

After this performance, there were controversies by some fans of the show throughout the internet. It was pointed out that the move done by Hok had been performed by Korean B-Boy crew, Project Seoul. Quest was accused of being "biters", however D-Trix soon issued an apology through a bboy forum. ^[14]

[edit] Week 5: Illusion Challenge

During the Illusion Challenge, Quest Crew had to put an object through their body. The crew chose to perform to a master mix of Got Money by Lil Wayne feat. T-Pain. In their performance, Ryan Feng "stabbed" Brian Hirano with a coat rack and broke it off, completing their task.

JC had criticized their performance by pointing out that there was too much posing, which was also a comment from week 2. JC also criticized Quest on their transitions. Some fans in the audience did not approve of JC's comments and responded with 'boos.' However, Lil Mama responded by instructing the fans in the audience not to boo because that would not enable Quest to listen to their "Words of Wisdom." Shane Sparks also stated to Quest that "Beat Freaks are on your butts", with Victor jokingly responded backstage saying "I'm honored that they're on our butts. I like them there, actually."

[edit] Week 6: Battle of the Sexes Challenge

During the Battle of the Sexes Challenge,It was between two boy crews, and two girl crews. Quest Crew had to take inspiration from "Forever" by Chris Brown. The crew decided they would imitate the smooth moves and gliding from the video. The judges complimented their performance and Shane complimented D-Trix(Dominic Sandoval) on having the cleanest air flares on the show.

[edit] Week 7: Hip-Hop Decathlon and Last Chance Challenge

During the Hip-Hop Decathlon Challenge, Quest was put into the bottom two for the first time against Fly Khicks. The crew had to incorporate five styles of hip hop into their routine: threading, krumping, housing, tutting, and waving. Hok knew how to tut, so the crew decided to put him in front when it was time for the tutting section in their routine. Ryan Conferido knew how to thread so they put him in front when it was time for the threading section in their routine. Songs performed in the Hip Hop Decathlon were: Poker Face by Lady Gaga, Love Lockdown by Kanye West, I'm in L.A trick by LMFAO, Closer by Ne-Yo, and Get Up by 50 Cent. The performance received a standing ovation from the judges and audience. The judges highly praised the crew with Lil' Mama mentioning how they want it. D-Trix performed elbow airflares, which received compliments from Shane Sparks, Hirano also received compliments from Shane Sparks for being buff, since he ripped his shirt off during the krumping part of their routine, and Steve Terada did a backflip from a sitting in a crossed legged Indian position. Victor Kim performed threaded handhops, and Hok Konishi choreographed the tutting section. JC praised Hok's cleanliness in his tutting by calling him a true Egyptian and stating that Hok should be called "King Tut". They received a standing ovation from all three judges and the audience.

The second challenge involved creating their own song, much like season 1 and season 2's last chance challenge. Quest's song was titled "orQUESTra". The song included Ryan Conferido's own piano piece. Ryan actually played the piano during the middle of the performance while D-Trix performed headspins to the music (slowing down when the music did and speeding up when the music did). After a box split and locking by Hok, Victor Kim performed a headhollow to a hollowback. At the end of the performance, D-Trix pushed Steve Terada who was in the middle of a vertical back flip over Hok and Victor, and ended with the Quest Crew Salute.

[edit] America's Best Dance Crew Season 3 Finale

They performed in a dance collaboration with Strikers All Stars and Dynamic Edition, which was chosen by Shane Sparks to the song "Right Round" by Flo Rida. Quest later that same night performed a routine with fellow Top 2 Finalist Beat Freaks to a mastermix of the song Beggin' by Madcon.

Nearly 20 million votes were cast in for the Finale, they were declared the winners of America's Best Dance Crew season 3 defeating the all female group, Beat Freaks. Their victory dance was to "On Top of the World" by T.I ft Ludacris

[edit] Similarities Between Members

[edit] Ethnicities & Asian community

Quest Crew became the first crew to win whose members are all of Asian descent.

[edit] Members on America's Best Dance Crew

• Ryan (Ryanimay) Conferido is of Filipino descent. ^[15][16][17]
• Dominic (D-Trix) Sandoval is of Filipino, Chinese, Indonesian, German, Irish, Spanish, Native American, and Portuguese descent.
• Hokuto (Hok) Konishi is of Japanese descent.
• Brian Hirano is of Japanese, Korean, Chinese, Portuguese, and Filipino descent.
• Victor Kim is of Korean descent .
• Steve Terada is of Japanese descent.
• Ryan Feng is of Chinese descent. ^[18]

[edit] Other Members

• Aris (Sfffeee) Paracuelles is of Filipino descent.
• Lydia (Lyddz) Paek is of Korean descent.
• Andy (Rocket Man) Luo is of Chinese descent.

The Official Quest Crew website shares this statement:

" Based at the Quest Learning Center in Artesia, CA, Quest Crew members have been featured in SYTYCD, American Idol, music videos, stage shows, movies and t.v. We support our community in events throughout the year like L.A. Mayor Villaraigosa’s Asian Pacific Heritage Shows, Disney’s Multicultural event, Coalition for Asian Pacific Entertainers’ Gala, LA 18 KSCI-TV interview and stage shows, Kollaboration, etc. We believe that giving back is important and that success is only success if shared. " ^[19]

[edit] Unique Hairstyles

Each member of Quest Crew^[20] has a unique hairstyle that allows them to stand out from the rest of the group. JC Chasez even said that Quest should also be called "America's Best Hair Crew."

• Ryan "Ryanimay" Conferido has been credited for being the mastermind behind the hairstyles of most of the members of Quest Crew, as well as cutting their hair. Ryan is also known to be a fan of anime, which is the basis of his nickname. ^[21]
• Dominic (D-Trix) has a faux hawk with the right side of it dyed blonde.
• Ryan (Ryanimay) has blonde highlights with the a small portion of his right side of his head shaved, his bangs covering his left eye, a tail in the back, and the rest of his hair spiked up.
• Hokuto (Hok) has the left side of his head shaved (with the exception of his braids which is dyed purple), a mohawk, and a partially shaved right eyebrow.
• Brian 's hair is shaped so that it makes a point at the top of his head, and has shaved blinds on the sides.
• Victor has red streaks in his flat haircut, and is one of the two members with facial hair.(Note: Victor Kim's hair was originally black and was later on dyed red during Week 5 of Season 3 America's Best Dance Crew)
• Steve has spiky black hair with blonde highlights and hints of red.
• Feng has half of his hair dyed purple (the Quest Crew color), and is the other member of the crew with facial hair.

[edit] Life After ABDC

• Crew members Hok and Victor Kim are set to appear in the upcoming film Boogie Town ^[22].
• The entire crew is set to appear in the film Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakuel, due to be released on Christmas 2009. ^[23]
• Crew members Hok and Steve were featured on Inside Edition. ^[24]
• The entire crew appeared in the teaser trailer for the fourth season of America's Best Dance Crew

Gears of War is an "over-the-shoulder" third-person shooter that places emphasis on using cover to avoid taking damage while strategically moving towards enemy forces. The game uses a number of weapon archetypes, but predominately featured is the Lancer, an assault rifle that has a mounted chainsaw bayonet that can be used to kill foes at close range. The player can attempt an "Active Reload" of a weapon to reload it faster and temporarily boost the damage from the gun, but failing to perform the Active Reload correctly will cause the gun to become momentarily jammed while the player's character fixes it. When the player takes damage, the "Crimson Omen", a red cog representing the player's health gauge, will fade into the screen, becoming more defined with larger amounts of damage. The player can seek cover to recover their health, but if they take too much damage, they will become incapacitated. Once this occurs, a skull will fill the center void of the omen. Depending on the game type being played, the consequences will vary. If single-player career mode is being played, instant death will follow. If there is a second player, they will have to revive their fallen teammate. In multiplayer, the player will fall and be rendered useless until either revived by a teammate, executed by an enemy, or "bleed out," dying from blood loss.

The game features a five-act campaign that can be played alone or co-operatively with one other player. The campaign focuses on Marcus Fenix and Dominic "Dom" Santiago as part of their efforts in the Delta Squad to wipe out the Locust forces. The players will be joined by AI teammates that will help fight the Locust. Certain sections of the campaign features two paths that can be taken as selected by the first player. If there is a second player, their character will automatically take the other path. Throughout the campaign, the players can find "COG tags" of fallen comrades to collect. The campaign can be played at three difficulty settings. From easiest to hardest, these are "Casual", "Hardcore" and "Insane". The "Insane" difficulty is unlocked only when the game is beaten on one of the other two difficulties.

Multiplayer Gears of War features up to four-on-four competitive gameplay, with teams representing the Gears or the Locust. Matches can either be played in Ranked mode where one's performance is tracked through leaderboards but prevents players from inviting friends or adjusting the settings of the match, or in Player mode in which a player can adjust several settings of the game and invite friends to join, but where performance in the game does not count towards tracking. Three match types were available with the game as-shipped for the Xbox 360: "Warzone" and "Execution" modes are standard deathmatch modes, with the only difference being that players must execute downed foes in Execution otherwise they will revive after a time. "Assassination" assigned each team a leader, who is the only one that can track the other team's leader and can pick up new weapons after which teammates can then pick them up, with the goal to eliminate the foe's leader. An Xbox 360 patch added the "Annex" mode, which is similar to King of the Hill, in which players must try to control a shifting control point for a certain amount of time to win.^[3] The PC version of Gears introduced "King of the Hill", a mode not present in the Xbox 360 version, which uses a fixed control point but varies the conditions on which it is controlled.^[4]

[edit] Story

[edit] Setting and characters

Main characters (left to right): Damon Baird, Augustus "Cole Train" Cole, Marcus Fenix, and Dominic Santiago

Gears of War takes place on the planet Sera. A liquid called Imulsion becomes a highly valued power source after a scientist discovers how to use it and the economic shockwave led to several wars between nations. The Coalition of Ordered Governments (COG) originally existed only as an obscure world-government philosophy, but it evolved into a legitimate, though minor, political party during the 79-year long Pendulum Wars. After "Emergence Day," when the Locust began their attack on humanity, the COG were the ones who took the necessary steps to ensure the survival of human civilization, instituting martial law and taking charge of the effort against the Locust. Fourteen years later, the COG is the only human government left on Sera.^[5]

The game focuses primarily on Marcus Fenix, the main character, and Delta Squad's (consisting of Marcus Fenix, Dominic "Dom" Santiago, Augustus "Cole Train" Cole, and Damon Baird) encounters with the Locust Horde. Players take control of Marcus Fenix, freshly rescued by Dominic Santiago from the Jacinto Maximum Security Penitentiary. When in co-op two player, the second player assumes control of Santiago. All four of the squad members are available for play during multiplayer games, along with Private Anthony Carmine, Lieutenant Minh Young Kim, and Colonel Victor Hoffman, in addition to the various Locust characters.

Some of the characters received voice-overs from popular culture icons. Marcus Fenix is voiced by John DiMaggio, best known as the voice of Bender in Futurama, and Augustus "Cole Train" Cole is voiced by Lester "The Mighty Rasta" Speight, who plays "Terrible" Terry Tate, the "Pain Train", in the Office Linebacker commercials made for Reebok.

[edit] Plot

The game’s plot begins fourteen years after Emergence Day. Marcus Fenix, a former COG soldier, is reinstated into the military after spending four years in prison. Dominic Santiago successfully extracts him from the prison, and takes him to meet Delta Squad.^[6] The group seeks to obtain the "resonator", a device that will map "The Hollow", the underground caverns which the Locust inhabit^[6][7] and later deploy the "Lightmass Bomb", which will destroy the heart of the Locust forces. Fenix and his allies recover the device, but suffer multiple casualties in the process. Amidst the chaos, Fenix leads the remaining soldiers through the ruins of Sera, to a mining facility, and finally into the planet’s depths.^[6]

Delta Squad succeeds in detonating the resonator, but only to shortly discover that the device failed to map the entire tunnel network. Fortunately, they discover a larger map of the network that originates from Fenix’s old home, specifically his father’s laboratory.^[6] The group ventures to the Fenix estate at East Barricade Academy, encountering heavy Locust resistance. After collecting the data, the group fights their way past Locust forces and boards a train carrying the Lightmass Bomb. Fenix and Santiago battle their way through the train, and defeat General RAAM, before finally uploading the data. Fenix activates the bomb and both he and Santiago are rescued onto a waiting helicopter with help from Colonel Hoffman before the train plunges off a destroyed bridge and into the Imulsion below. Fully activated, the Lightmass Bomb launches into the Hollow, and eradicates the Locust tunnel networks.^[6] In the game's final sequence, Hoffman delivers a victory speech as the tunnels collapse and explode, whereupon the voice of the Locust Queen promises that the Locust will keep on fighting, and will not stop.

[edit] Development

In an interview with Cliff Bleszinski, lead developer for Epic Games, he cites three games that were the primary influences in the game's design including the third person perspective from Resident Evil 4 and the tactical-cover system from kill.switch;^[8] Bleszinski also cited Bionic Commando's influence on the cover system, equating the actions of moving from cover to cover as similar to the action of swinging from platform to platform in the latter game. These design choices reflect themselves in the gameplay, as Gears of War focuses mainly on sound team-based and cover-dependent tactics with limited weapons rather than brute force. The game also includes a content filter, which will turn off the blood and gore, and the usage of profanity. The total cost of development was $10 million, according to Epic's Mark Rein, and only 20 to 30 people were involved with the development at any time.^[9] However, these figures don't include the proprietary Unreal Engine 3.^[9]

Gears of War lead designer Cliff Bleszinski said he hoped for the game to expand into graphic novels and eventually film.^[10] On November 21, 2006, Microsoft Corporate VP of Global Marketing and Interactive Entertainment Business Jeff Bell stated Gears of War is the first in a trilogy, through sequences on E-Day and the battle of Jacinto Plateau, as well as information on Adam Fenix and his research (which the character finds in Gears).^[11] Epic Games Vice President Mark Rein posted a message on the official Gears of War Internet forums, stating "It's not over until it is not fun anymore", and, in his view, Gears of War may become the next Halo series in terms of popularity.^[12]

The ending to Gears of War heavily suggested a sequel, and at the 2007 Game Developers Conference, Bleszinkski confirmed that Epic Games did "intend to do a sequel" to Gears of War.^[13] The game's sequel, Gears of War 2 was officially confirmed on February 20, 2008, ^[14] and was released at midnight on November 7, 2008.^[14]

[edit] Collector's edition

At the game's release, Epic Games released a Limited Collectors Edition. Some of the notable differences are a steel case instead of the regular plastic case and an extra disc which contains artworks of environments and stages including Locust that never made it to the game. The disc also contains a time-lapse on the creation of the "Emergence" mural. The game's disc and case has a different cover and instead features the Omen background. Another of the Collector's Edition extras is a book titled Destroyed Beauty which illustrates the games back-story and includes concepts, sketches, and descriptions of the game's characters. The Collector's Edition also includes the same instruction manual and 48-hour Xbox Live Gold trial as the regular game does.^[15]

[edit] Downloadable content

Epic Games has been working on new content for Gears of War since as early as August 2006. These updates will remain free according to Epic Games president Mike Capps.^[16] The first of these updates was released over Xbox Live on January 9, 2007,^[17] with two new maps released the following day on January 10, 2007. The two maps reflected background scenes from the game's storyline, known as Raven Down and Old Bones, which depict Gears fighting Locust amidst the crash site of a King Raven chopper and a museum.^[18] Another update was released for Gears of War on January 22, 2007,^[19] which, according to Epic Games' Marc Rein, is said to fix some compatibility issues with the release of Gears of War in Japan, and that no game play or functionality features were changed.^[20]

On April 9, 2007, Epic Games released their third update, containing a new game mode titled Annex, which requires teams to capture and hold certain areas of each map, as well as additional gameplay tweaks and fixing up some glitches, bugs and exploits. The update was free of charge.

Epic Games initially said that four new maps would be released in conjunction with the third patch. However, due to disagreements between Microsoft and Epic Games, Epic decided instead to "put these maps on sale at a reasonable price then make them free a few months later," according to Mark Rein of Epic Games.^[21] The map pack, titled "Hidden Fronts", was released on Xbox Live Marketplace for 800 Microsoft Points on May 3, 2007, and included the maps Bullet Marsh, Garden, Process, and Subway.^[22] Free downloads of these maps were made available on September 3, 2007, four months after their initial release.

A fourth update on June 14, 2007 added 250 additional Achievement points (bringing the total possible achievement points to 1250), in eight Achievements related to Annex mode and the maps from Hidden Fronts. Additionally, the update includes improvement of roadie run to keep the player from sticking to cover areas, and a patch to prevent the Annex clock from counting during connection errors. Other "housekeeping" issues were also addressed.^[23]

[edit] PC version

News of the franchise's future has emerged multiple times since the game's release. PC Gamer accidentally released an image in its 2006 holiday issue where Gears of War can be seen in a Games for Windows display, which led to suspicion that Gears of War would be released for the PC;^[24] however, the image was later stated to be a mock-up.^[25] Possible leaked pictures were released on February 4, 2007, leading to more suspicion of Gears on the PC. In an interview with Xbox fan site TeamXbox, Mark Rein stated that the game would eventually come to the PC; Epic was not currently ready to release it on that format, but the upcoming release of Unreal Tournament 3 was "helping (Epic) get optimization on the PC".^[26]

On July 11, 2007 at the E3 conference, it was revealed that Gears of War would indeed be released for Windows.^[2][27] New features include three new multi-player maps,^[4] five new single-player chapter extension of act five which describe events of Delta Squad escaping a giant Brumak between acts four and five^[4] (which Mark Rein claims is "about 20 percent extra" over the existing Xbox 360 content),^[28] new game modes, a game editor, and Games for Windows - Live support integrated into Unreal Engine 3. When asked about bringing the additional content to the Xbox 360 version, Mark Rein of Epic Games stated that "it is unlikely we will bring that content to 360". He then states, "Unfortunately the version it's built on is not really compatible with the 360 and so it would involve a massive patch, a patch larger than all five we've done so far, to Gears of War to do that."^[29] Additionally, the PC and Xbox 360 versions will not allow for cross-platform play; Cliff Bleszinski stated that "while this feature does add value, it just wasn't that desired nor worth the extra months of design and development time. We want Gears of War to be out this holiday on PC."^[4] This news angered many owners of Gears of War on the Xbox 360 due to the game no longer living up to its "Exclusively for the Xbox 360" title and not receiving the additional content.^[30] Mark Rein noted that despite their original label of the game as an Xbox 360 exclusive, Microsoft allowed them to develop the game as part of the Games for Windows moniker, as has been done previously with Halo 2.^[31]

A patch was released on November 28 to fix performance issues and also the Games For Windows - LIVE update issue.^[32] The patch was only released for American and Western European versions of the game; legitimate purchasers of the Eastern European and Russian versions were informed that "the game would continue to function without the patch" and never issued a corresponding version.^[33]

A Mac OS X version was confirmed by Mark Rein at the end of E3, on the Game Head television program on July 14, 2007, along with Unreal Tournament 3, but no release time frame was specified.^[34]

[edit] Expired Digital Certificates

In early 2009, an issue with a digital certificate, used to sign certain game-critical files as part of the Anti-Cheat mechanism, which expired on January 28, 2009, rendered the game unplayable without a temporary workaround of resetting the system clock to before the certificate expired.

Initial information from sources lead people to believe the issue was related to DRM within the game^[35]. EPIC later acknowledged the problem, clarifying it as being not in relation to a form of DRM but instead to a form of Anti-Cheat, and notified end users that they "[were] working with Microsoft to get it resolved." ^[36][37]

This issue was corrected as of February 6, 2009 with a downloadable patch.^[38]

[edit] Reception

[edit] Reviews

Upon its release, Gears of War received positive reviews from critics, maintaining an average review score of 94% at Game Rankings (ranked second game of 2006), and an average score of 95 at MobyGames.

While the game received high praise, reviewers did point out that Gears of War did not offer anything significantly new in its core gameplay. Eurogamer's review of the game states: "let's not pretend that we're wallowing in the future of entertainment. What we have here is an extremely competent action game that's as polished and refined as it could be, and is therefore very enjoyable. But if Epic had applied the same widescreen scope and ambition to the gameplay as it did to the engine we'd be much more excited than we are."^[43] The game's story was noted for not being very deep, as GameSpot's review states "The lack of exposition feels like a missed opportunity to make the characters and the setting even more compelling."^[47] Gamer.tv gave the game 5/5 praising the "Well designed maps" and " Great cover gameplay mechanics " and praised Epic games for the inclusion of co-op play.

The PC release of the game received similar praise as the 360 version, with reviewers noting various differences between the two versions. IGN commented that "The mouse and keyboard allow for more precise control, and the graphics have been improved as well;"^[55] however, 1UP stated that "the control scheme's a very central obstacle" to the game.^[42] GameSpot noted that the additional chapter felt out of place as "it changes things up a bit in ways that betray the difficulty progression of the game."^[48]

The Lancer weapon was recently featured in an Electronic Gaming Monthly article that discusses its practicality and historical precedents. Keirsey criticized this weapon by noting that real "chain saws are heavy." He noted that "medieval bludgeoning weapons are the closest" historical precedents.^[57]

[edit] Awards

Leading up to the game's release, Gears of War was one of the most anticipated Xbox 360 games of 2006^{[citation needed]}. The game premiered during the 2005 E3 show, and won, among others,^[58] several "Best 360 Game" awards, including from IGN,^[59] 1UP,^[60] and Gamespy.^[61] The game continued to win several awards at following 2006 E3 show prior to the game's release.^[62] These included the Game Critics Awards for "Best Console Game" and "Best Action Game",^[63] IGN's "Best 360 Action Game", "Best 360 Multiplayer Game", and "Best Overall Multiplayer Experience",^[64] and Gamespy's "Best Console Multiplayer", "Best Action Game", and "Xbox 360 Game of Show".^[65]

Upon release, Gears of War received numerous awards from many publications. IGN named Gears of War as the "Xbox 360 Game of the Year" among other awards.^[66] GameSpot named the game its "Game of the Year" as well as "Best Xbox 360 Game", among other accolades.^[67] Official Xbox Magazine named their game as their "Xbox 360 Game of the Year".^{[citation needed]} G4 TV during the 2007 G-Phoria awards, named Gears of War its "Game of the Year" in addition to other awards.^[68]

Gears of War won several awards at the 2007 Interactive Achievement Awards at the D.I.C.E. Summit, including "Overall Game of the Year", "Console Game of the Year", and "Action/Adventure Game of the Year", and "Outstanding Achievements" in Animation, Art Direction, Visual Engineering, and Online Gameplay.^[69] The game received the awards of "Ultimate Game of the Year" and "Xbox Game of the Year" at the 2007 Golden Joystick Awards.^[70]

In addition, the characters within the game received additional awards. Gamespot gave their 2006 "Best New Character(s)" award to the Delta Squad of Gears of War.^[67] G4 TV named Marcus Fenix the "Best New Character" and gave Lester Speight's performance for "Augustus ‘Cole Train’ Cole" the award for "Best Voiceover". The game was given the Interactive Achievement Award for "Outstanding Character Performance - Male" for its voicework.^[69] The Berserkers were named as Official Xbox Magazine's "Enemy of the Year".

Guinness World Records awarded Gears of War with 5 world records in the Guinness World Records: Gamer's Edition 2008. These records include, "First Console Game to Use the Unreal 3 Engine", "Fastest Selling Original Xbox 360 Game", and "First Music Single to Top the Chart After Promoting a Video Game" for the Gary Jules version of "Mad World", which was originally released in 2003, but topped the download charts in November 2006 after it was used as background music during the TV commercial for Gears of War.

[edit] Sales

According to Microsoft Game Studios Vice President Shane Kim, Gears of War preorder sales were second only to Halo 2 in the studio's history.^[71] Gears of War was also the first Xbox or Xbox 360 game to sell out and reach the top ten charts in Japan.^[72]

Gears of War has achieved major success since its release. On November 7, 2006—the day that it was released—it became the most popular game on the Xbox Live service, overtaking Halo 2, which had held the spot since its launch in November 2004.^[73] Gears was the second most-played game on the Xbox Live service throughout 2007.^[74] By January 19, 2007, just ten weeks after its debut, over three million units of the game had been sold.^[75] As of November 7, 2008, the game has sold 5.88 million copies worldwide.^[76]

[edit] Soundtrack

Gears Of War - The Soundtrack
Soundtrack by Northwest Sinfonia
Released	July 31, 2007
Genre	Video game soundtrack
Length	69:08
Label	Sumthing Else Music Works
Producer	Kevin Riepl

Gears of War - The Soundtrack is the soundtrack of video game music from the game Gears of War. It was released on July 31, 2007 by Sumthing Else Music Works. The music was composed by Kevin Riepl who has previously worked with Epic Games on soundtracks for Unreal Tournament 2003 and Unreal Championship.^[77]

[edit] Track listing