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Getting really excited about this now. Really going to try and get to level 100 (and the gold omen weapon skins). Don't know how easy that'll be when I'm just playing Horde, depends how they distribute the XP I guess. At least you earn XP in every mode now.

You should aim for playing on those XP events. Hope this can help you out on when you are getting your wings.

You should aim for playing on those XP events. Hope this can help you out on when you are getting your wings.

Ah no, I've given up on those. I'm only level 58 as it is and don't have the time to grind to 100 before the 20th. You need more than 6 million XP for level 100 and I've barely cracked a million. I meant get to level 100 in Gears 3, the reward is the golden omen weapon skins. It all depends on how difficult they made it to rank up though. IIRC in the beta I got to level 38, can't remember exactly though, but I didn't play that much.

Getting really excited about this now. Really going to try and get to level 100 (and the gold omen weapon skins). Don't know how easy that'll be when I'm just playing Horde, depends how they distribute the XP I guess. At least you earn XP in every mode now.

I'm almost positive that Epic's said that you'll earn XP in every mode now, including the campaign. I could be wrong, but that's what I seem to recall reading.

Seriously can't wait for this game. Only 12 more days left. Does anyone have any more info on how the 3D will work in Gears 3, other than knowing that it will have a 3D mode? My new 3D tv is being delivered tomorrow, and even though I didn't buy it for 3D, since it has it, I want to play the game that way lol.

Seriously can't wait for this game. Only 12 more days left. Does anyone have any more info on how the 3D will work in Gears 3, other than knowing that it will have a 3D mode? My new 3D tv is being delivered tomorrow, and even though I didn't buy it for 3D, since it has it, I want to play the game that way lol.

Well, even Rod Fergusson says the 3D looks dodgy, so don't hold your breath. By the sounds of it, it was a very late, possibly rushed addition.

Well, even Rod Fergusson says the 3D looks dodgy, so don't hold your breath. By the sounds of it, it was a very late, possibly rushed addition.

That's the impression I got when I read it would support it, that the implementation was an after thought and wasn't really designed for it. But I also read that they would be implementing better 3D support into Unreal Engine directly, so they can improve it through patches. Then the XDK is also supporting 3D as well now too, so the 360 itself will have better 3D support. A couple months ago I couldn't care less about 3D, now I'm excited.

Review copies of Gears of War 3 have begun to be distributed to the press, and with one of these copies, we?ve finally got a confirmed character roster list for both the COG and the Locust. Oddly enough, both Bernie and the Onxy Guard are missing in action. Keep in mind, these are only the retail characters and DLC characters are not included.

Cog:

Marcus Fenix

Dom Santiago

Augustus Cole

Damon Baird

Anya Stroud

Jace Straton

Dizzy Wallin

Samantha Byrne

Cog Gears

Cole Train ? Unlocked via Beta/Unlockable during progression through retail

Clayton Carmine ? Level 14

Classic Marcus ? Earn Silver Veteran Medal

Classic Dom ? Level 17

Classic Cole ? Level 23

Classic Baird ? Level 30

Civilian Anya ? Level 45

Unarmoured Marcus ? Complete Campaign (Any difficulty)

Benjamin Carmine ? Level 34

Superstar Cole ? Earn Gold MVP Medal

Aaron Griffin ? Unlock on Facebook

Chairman Prescott ? Earn Silver Allfathers Medal

Victor Hoffman ? Level 50

Anthony Carmine ? Level 75

Golden Gear ? Earn Bronze War Support Medal

Locust:

Locust Drone

Savage Drone

Grenedier Elite

Savage Granedier

Myrrah

Savage Theron Guard ? Complete 12 waves of Beast (Any Difficulty)

Theron Guard

Hunter

Beast Rider

Miner

Spotter ? Level 20

Flame Grenadier ? Level 26

Kantus ? Earn the Gold Medic Medal

Sniper ? Earn the Bronze Headshot Medal

Genadier ? Reach Level 39

Golden Hunter ? Earn the Gold Master At Arms Medal

Golden Miner ? Earn the Gold Rifleman Medal

Hunter Elite ? Reach Level 60

Skins list:

Unlocks:

Chrome

Gold

Gold Omen

Crimson Omen- Hammerburst/Retro/Gnasher/SOS from doing things in-game.

Flame

Team Insignia

Onyx

DLC:

Infected Omen

Liquid Metal

Liquid Green

Paid:

Garish

Artic Camo

Desert Digital

Desert Camo

Deadly Cute

Childs Play

Blood

Electric

Flower

Haze

Imulsion

Rainbow

Team Pulse

Oil Slick

Ocean

Thunderstorm

Team Distress

Team Metal

Tiger Stripe

Jungle Digital

Tribal

Urban Digital

9ssz29.png

So this is where there go with micro management.

Got the game in my mailbox today, big mistake by a Norwegian webshop who sent it out yesterday to everyone who preordered the game. Haven't had the chance to put it on yet though.

Don't attempt to play it yet. Especially if you have your Veteran Gear from Gears 2. It will somehow screw up some updates and you might not get your gold gun skins.

Cannot wait for this... I hope to score a LE from Best Buy, hopefully when I get there they have some left.

I'm not going to the Downtown midnight madness. lol. I know it's going to be hell, however, I'll have to wake up early around 7am to check my near Best Buy out if there is a line up. I want my EE!

The dreams in which I'm dying: Ars reviews Gears of War 3

gearsfeature-4e6e3f5-intro-thumb-640xauto-25364.png

The good

A great single-player campaign, and a wide variety of multiplayer modes mean you won't run out of things to do

Good variety of fun weapons and ways to use them

The classic formula still works

Beautiful graphics

A siege battle with multiple layers? So much fun

One of the most important characters in the series goes out with a whimper, not a bang. It's entirely appropriate.

Multiplayer is full-featured and expansive

The series comes to an end, without dangling a sequel in front of you

The Bad

There are still some questions left unanswered

Some of the enemies are more annoying than scary and/or satisfying to fight

Sometimes the game's levels get bogged down in fetch quests

The dialog is often stupid

The underwater scene was so close to Episode One I kept expecting to see a Gungan

The Ugly

Check out how they make that animal-barge move forward. I felt bad for it

Verdict: Buy

This topic is now closed to further replies.
  • Posts

    • You literally have to do it on a desktop, which is incredibly annoying in our mobile-first world. What???
    • What part of "you can’t really depend on service providers to maintain features forever" is not clear enough?
    • Nope. That lack of surround sound capability (analog) won't fly with me. Sure, I use headphones most of the time, but still.
    • Creative Sound Blaster AE-X PCIe review: your headphones will love it by Steven Parker If you have been reading Neowin for any length of time, you may remember that I reviewed the Sound Blaster Audigy FX Pro back in April. I found it to be an excellent budget sound card, even though it lacked support for formats such as DTS over the included SPDIF port. Anyway, Creative reached out to me again asking if I was interested in reviewing the Sound Blaster AE-X. It is a card mainly targeted at headphone wearers, which I'll get into a bit later. Before we get underway, here is a disclaimer: Creative Labs provided a free sample without any review pre-approval. Here are the full specs of it: Creative Sound Blaster AE-X Dimensions: 179 x 126 x 18 mm Weight: 263g / 9.28 oz Platform: PCI-e DAC: ESS ES9039Q2M Connectivity Options Side: Rear: 1 x HD Audio Front Panel Connector, 1 x ⅛“ Headphone port, 1 x RCA Line-out (Left) port, 1 x RCA Line-out (Right) port, 1 x Coaxial SPDIF-out port, 1 x ⅛“ Mic in/Line-in port, 1 x TOSLINK SPDIF-in port Surround: No DNR / SNR: THD+N: 0.0001% Dynamic Range 130 dB Recording Resolution: PCM up to 32-bit / 192kHz (Stereo) Direct Mode: Line Out (Stereo): PCM up to 32-bit  384 kHz Coaxial SPDIF Out: PCM up to 24-bit 192.0 kHz Headphone Amp: PCM up to 32-bit / 384kHz (Stereo) Native DSD: DSD64, DSD128, DSD256 Output Impedance: 1Ω, Supported Headphone Impedance: 8–600Ω, IEM: 0.5Vrms, Low: 1.5Vrms, Mid: 3Vrms, High: 6Vrms, Maximum output power: 350mW @ 32Ω (High), Maximum output voltage: 6Vrms (High) Front Panel Headphone Amp: PCM up to 32-bit / 192kHz (Stereo) Native DSD: DSD64, DSD128 Output Impedance: 10Ω, Supported Headphone Impedance: 32–300Ω, Maximum output power: 40mW @ 32Ω, Maximum output voltage: 1.9Vrms ASIO: ASIO 2.3 Total Harmonic Distortion: THD+N: 0.0006% Dynamic Range: 114 dB Scout Mode: Yes EMI shielding: No (but it passed all the FCC emission tests) Operating temperature: 0–45°C Input Power: 12V⎓0.5A Warranty: 1 Year (MSRP) Price: $179.99 / £169.99 The Sound Blaster AE-X was announced at the end of May, and it becomes clear that it is mainly for headphone wearers. I should also note that the card does not support DDL/DTS encoding technology, but it is said to support decoding through the coaxial SPDIF port. I was able to test this working with the classic Windows Sound properties, but I could not get a DTS (decode) signal through my Logitech Z906, it defaulted to 3D sound whenever I played DTS content through Plex or Emby. In addition, this card only supports two channels (stereo) over the speakers. The surround support is limited to the Headphone Amp, so before I get underway, what we have here is a card mostly intended for headphone use, especially with its SPDIF In (Toslink) port where you could connect another device like a console. So what about the highlights of this card? The AE-X is powered by the ESS SABRE DAC (ES9039Q2M), which is capable of a 130 dB dynamic range. In addition, it supports 32-bit/384 kHz playback for deeper detail and clarity. The headphone amplifier delivers up to 350 mW @ 32Ω, which admittedly far surpasses standard onboard audio, offering support for studio-grade headphones. DSD256 and ASIO 2.3 are also supported. What doesn't it have? No support for What-U-Hear, Super X-Fi, or the SmartComms Kit No EMI shielding, but it passed all the FCC emission tests (from the FAQ) I also want to make it clear that I am no audiophile. For me, it's purely subjective and it should just "work" out of the box. First impressions As I said in the introduction, I was a bit sad to see that the AE-X only supports stereo output, meaning it would not be on par with my ALC1220 over my speakers, as I mentioned it seems like this card is marketed toward headphone users. Since I am not an avid gamer that would rule me out as a potential customer, but I can still test its capabilities! The card arrived in a nice-looking box, as shown above. It's quite a bit larger than the Audify FX Pro that I reviewed back in April, and at first I thought the covering meant that it was EMI shielded, but it isn't as mentioned above in the highlights section. What's in the box: 1 x Sound Blaster AE-X PCIe card 1 x 3.5 mm CTIA TRRS to Dual TRS Headset Splitter Cable 1 x Quick Start Guide Aside from the Quick Start Guide, which someone at my age (I guess) needs a magnifying glass to read thanks to the tiny fonts, Creative Labs also has the manual online, which first requires you to prove that you're human in order to access it (so I can't direct link it). Anyway, the box is mostly made up of cardboard, and the only plastic in it is the anti-static bag for the card itself. Design Top Bottom The card itself looks pretty cool and actually wouldn't look out of place in an all-white build. There's only one connector, and for some reason it is awkwardly placed on the side (front-facing) that is for the front panel audio connector, which will let you use the headphones through the front PC audio jack. Since the front panel Headphone Amp has fewer capabilities than the rear headphone port, I decided not to use it. Rear of card PCI-e interface The rear of the card is completely open and is normally where you would find the front panel connector. The PCIe interface side is completely covered, which initially made me think it was EMI shielded. I/O panel Side (front-facing) with Front panel connector On the outer rear bracket side we have the TOSLINK SPDIF in, Coaxial SPDIF out, RCA line out (Right), RCA line out (Left), Headphone out, and Mic/Line in ports. On the front facing portion of the card itself is the F-panel connector. Usage Test System Our test system consists of the following: AMD Ryzen 9 9950X3D Gigabyte X870E AORUS MASTER (BIOS F12) Corsair RM1000x (2024) Thermal Grizzly Kyronaut (33x33x0,2mm) 2x 32GB Kingston Fury Beast RGB DDR5 6000MT/s CL36-38-38-80 T-Force Z540 2TB (PCIe Gen5) NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 Founders Edition (NVIDIA) Creative Sound Blaster AE-X Windows 11 25H2 Pro I installed the card into the Gigabyte X870E AORUS MASTER which includes the RealTek ALC1220 onboard audio. For our subjective listening tests, I used the Coaxial SPDIF port to my Logitech Z906 speakers. For headphone tests I used the OneOdio Studio Max 2 Wireless DJ Headphones that I reviewed last month. After installing the audio driver, I installed Creative Nexus, which is a relatively new app designed for the latest Sound Blaster cards. Then I discovered the AE-X needed both a driver update from 1.00.15.0001 to 1.01.09.000 and a firmware update from 1.00.06.0000 to 1.00.06.0002, then I was set to go. It should be noted that the card did not work without the driver (not Plug and Play). As you can see above, you can manage the firmware, driver, and inputs via Advanced Settings on the Device tab. By default Nexus enabled "Direct Mode". Upon clicking on Acoustic Engine, the Equalizer can be enabled and set to four different presets, which are: Gaming Music Movies Footsteps Enhancer There's also a dedicated Scout Mode for gamers. I mainly used Tidal and Spotify in the past week to listen to some of my Liked Songs (which now total over 700) in Shuffle mode; there were no pops or interference that I could hear. I also found a 5.1 Surround Music playlist on Tidal that sounded really great over Studio Max 2 headphones. When I reviewed the Audigy FX Pro, I went out and purchased a Logitech Z906 set second-hand for €100 specifically to use with the card, but in this instance all I could get on the AE-X was the 3D output of surround sound through Coaxial SPDIF and although it still sounded great, it isn't quite as good as DTS Interactive via my onboard Realtek ALC1220. Conclusion So what have I learned? The AE-X lacks multi-channel support for 5.1/7.1 setups and drops support for modern surround technologies like Dolby or DTS, functioning strictly as a stereo output device. So to really benefit, you will need Studio-grade headphones to "hear" the benefits of this card. With that being said, I can imagine it will appeal to gamers who are switching between console and PC. By utilizing the SPDIF in port, you could just plug your headphones into the AE-X (front or rear port) and then switch between PC and Console without having to move the headphones to a different port. As I said in the Sound Blaster Audigy review, the EQ in the Creative Nexus app offers safe presets, which allows a user to further tweak the lows, mids, and highs for a personal listening experience. Of course it all depends on the headphones you hook up to it. Speaking of headphones, I kind of wish I had higher-quality Studio-grade headphones to really test this card with; I'm not usually wearing headphones in my day to day duties. The only time I will wear them is if I want to listen to music very late at night and I don't want to disturb my neighbors, so my rating (verdict) is based on this fact. Someone with a PC/Console setup and wears headphone religiously to game, and consume media will benefit much more than I from the high-quality Headphone Amps that are included in the AE-X. Once again, I do feel like Creative could have gone the extra mile to support the S/PDIF port a bit more. Why include it if you're not supporting the main popular digital formats? It seems like the decision was more of a legacy-based one, offering uncompressed 2-channel PCM audio, for users with high-fidelity audio systems and external DACs. Maybe I will be lucky enough to review a card that truly includes all these features in the future. I am sure readers with far more knowledge on audio systems than me will correct me in the comments below. I'll just say I am happy to learn what I don't know! Where to buy The Sound Blaster AE-X is available to purchase now in preorder for $179.99 on the U.S. Creative website, or for £169.99 on the Creative UK website and will start shipping to customers from June 25.
    • $80 or 90%, anything else would be financial suicide one way or another.
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