Microsoft, Epic Detail Forthcoming Gears UpdateMicrosoft, Epic Detail Forthcoming Gears Update

Representatives from Microsoft and Epic Games have detailed the new update to its best-selling Xbox 360 title Gears of War due to be released today, including a new multiplayer game type and a number of gameplay tweaks. In its new king-of-the-hill-esque multiplayer mode, called Annex, gamers will score points by keeping control over key map locations, or objectives for a certain amount of time. Each map, Microsoft explains, will contain two to five objective points, with one active at each time. By maintaining ownership of each point until its 60 point timer has been distributed to the team, a new objective point is selected and the game continues. In addition to this new mode, the Gears of War update will also include VGA cable support for standard monitor users, allowing resolution widths greater than or equal to 1280 to run in letterbox mode, meaning users running monitors at 1280x1024 will now see the full 720p resolution in letterbox format. The update also makes a number of adjustments to the standard game, including tweaks to the Assassination multiplayer game, in which the leader no longer has to unlock weapons, and now has to be executed to die, more effective splash damage to the Boomshot, more forgiving aiming for the Hammer of Dawn, and reduced frequency of accidently grabbing cover while running. Finally, the kill message ticker can now be seen in down-but-not-out and spectating, and the team says a number of possible multiplayer exploits have now been addressed. The Gears of War update is expected to be released over Xbox Live today at 4pm PST.