Gears 3 Title Update 2 adds improvements, exploit fixes, and general fixes

With Call of Duty and Battlefield taking shots at each other over chest-high walls, it's easy to forget that Gears of War 3 released only two months ago – and it was really, really good (we gave it a 9/10). The competitive and cooperative multiplayer, in particular, totally blew us away, and we're happy to report that Epic has been hard at work keeping it running as smoothly as possible. Today, it revealed details surrounding the next Title Update, which is set to go live tonight at 2AM Pacific.

Gears 3's second Title Update sports nearly two-dozen changes that have been split into three categories: Improvements, Exploit Fixes, and General Fixes. While there's nothing too dramatic to be found in the patch notes, it still covers a slew of issues, including a few exploits fixes that should make the battlefields of Sera more fair for everyone. The full list is posted below for those interested in finding out about changes to the mutators and fixes to the game's ribbons.

There's also a neat change to allow the HUD to be disabled during multiplayer games. While it might sound counter-intuitive, it has one important function: making the multiplayer easier to record for video creators and machinima makers. Now, when you watch videos of people sticking grenades on each other while rolling around on the floor, you'll be able to watch it as if it's a movie.

Improvements

• A spectator mode option has been added to private versus matches for broadcasting by gaming leagues.
  • One player on each team will be able to choose spectator mode during match set up.
  • The matches will be 4v4 with two spectators
• The Leader and Vengeful medals are now easier to acquire.
• The mutators Roadie Comet and Regen Enemies are now easier to acquire.
• Added an option to disable the HUD during multiplayer games for machinima and video creators
• Added a visual indicator of the next ring’s location during the last 10 ring points in KOTH.

Exploit Fixes

• The Onyx Field Engineer medal can no longer be prestiged.
• In Capture the Leader, the overhead Beams on DryDock are no longer accessible.
• While affected by the Smoke Grenade stun, players will no longer be able to take hostages, pick up weapons or revive teammates.

General Fixes

• If there is a host migration during Horde, the match will resume at the same wave.
• Also during Horde, the Combat Engineer ribbon can now be achieved once per wave instead of once per game.
• The Ranked Disconnect stat will no longer increase when quitting a standard Horde or Beast game.
• The cringe from the Mortar will no longer cause players to drop their primary weapon.
• The Hail Mary ribbon is now correctly awarded for long distance Boomshot headshots.
• Maps will no longer be immediately repeated when choosing random map selection.
• If the host pauses during a private versus match the game will continue for other players.
  • The game will still pause in the Campaign, Beast and Horde.
• Potential fix for the rare lost progress issue.
• Potential fix for the rare profile freezing issue.
• Beast leaderboard screen no longer refreshes while sending challenges