Gears of War PC: Guide to COG tag locations
For the fallen.
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The excellent new PC version of Gears of War introduces five new Chapters to help bulk out Act 5, Desperation. As one of Microsoft's "Games for Windows - LIVE" titles, it also offers unlockable Achievements which go towards a Gamerscore - you know, that thing your Xbox 360 chums have been claiming they're not bothered about despite having played a suspicious amount of "Open Season".
One of the ones that tied us in knots on Xbox 360 was collecting the COG tags - dog tags shaped like cogs that glow rather helpfully (perhaps this is why their owners are long dead), scattered throughout the game and key to unlocking a not undesirable 60 gamerpoints. Well, they're back for the PC version, and what with the new content at the end there are now 33 to locate, lying somewhere close to a Crimson Omen sign subtly sprayed to try and catch your eye. With that in mind, we've dusted off our guide to the locations of the original 30 and crawled around the new bits of Sera to uncover the last three. FIGHT THROUGH THE PAIN.
Oh, and beware: spoilers ahead. Obviously.
Act 01: Ashes
- After choosing whether to escape via the guards' quarters or the cellblocks, run forward into the courtyard and look for the Crimson Omen sign. You'll find the first tag lying on the floor below.
- Regardless of which route you take, you'll arrive in a cellblock with a staircase on the left. Search beneath the staircase to find the second tag.
- Once you the reach the prison yard, don't head directly to the helicopter. Instead, climb the steps on the left and turn left at the top. There's a tag on the floor.
- A helpful comrade will draw your attention to this one. It's in the centre of the first courtyard you arrive in. There's only one tag in this section of Embry Square.
- Having closed the second grub hole, run straight ahead and search the undergrowth to find a tag.
- As you trudge further into Embry Square, you'll arrive in a room with a fountain and four grub holes. Facing the fountain, search the far left-hand corner of the yard to find the tag.
- Outside the House of Sovereigns, look for a white van bearing the Crimson Omen mark. The tag is to the left of the van, next to a ruined wall on some steps.
- When you reach the door that Jack has to cut through, head left and you'll find the tag on the floor next to a large stone slab.
- In the room beyond the sanctuary, at the bottom of the stairs, have a quick look behind the pillar on the right. Another tag for the collection.
- At you enter the Tomb of the Unknowns, search the small passage on the left where a recently-deceased soldier lies. Take his tag.
- The Berserker in the tomb will go mad, smashing down doors. To the left of the third and final door to be smashed is a tag.
- Once you've exited the tomb and emerged in the courtyard, look over to the left and grab the tag before introducing the Beserker to the Hammer of Dawn.
Act 02: Nightfall
- When you reach a room with two sets of stairs, go down and you'll find a scrappy old sofa. Shoot the sofa to reveal a tag hidden beneath.
- After crossing the catwalk, go down the steps to the street and search the rubble-strewn alley on your right.
- At the far end of the street, have a quick look behind the post box at the top of the steps. Another tag.
- After a lengthy section with no tags, you'll pass a metal shed with a suspicious looking gas tank nearby. Blast the tank to access the shed where you'll find a tag.
- Once Dom has flicked the switch, shine your spotlight over to the left (look for the shell of a car if you're not sure exactly where). There's a tag in otherwise dark corner.
- This tag is also hidden by dark - shoot the gas tank in the back of the car to reveal it, then run to the right and grab it. You need to be quick.
Act 03: Belly of the Beast
- Don't enter the Imulsion Facility straight away. To the right of the entrance is a wooden dock, and at the end of which is another tag.
- Once inside the facility, keep to the far right in the room with the rotten floorboards. The tag is at the far end of the room.
- As you move deeper into the facility, you'll arrive in an area with some mine carts. Look to the left of the stairs you've just come down to find a tag.
- When you arrive in the Imulsion Mines, take the small path which branches off to the right. It leads to a tag that's hard to miss.
- See that building on the right, at the top of the stairs? Before you go inside, look in the area to the right of the stairs.
- When the two paths join up, search the area that runs alongside the pool. Here you’ll find a narrow ledge which leads to a tag.
Act 04: The Long Road Home
- From the beginning, head into the campus courtyard and look behind the second staircase on the right.
- The street to the right looks like a dead end, but see that crappy car? Look behind it to bag another tag.
- Having entered your father's estate, you'll arrive in a room with four pillars and a desk in the centre. Blast the desk to reveal a well-hidden tag.
Act 05: Desperation
- (New!) Sorry, we've always wanted to flag something up like that. Anyway, when you've done the slummy under-the-road bit where the Brumak's stomping around upstairs, you exit into a garden with a half-open gate opposite where you came in. Behind this are some grenades, a big box of ammo, and a delicious COG tag.
- (New!) Still loving it. As you exit the surprisingly dark underground car park just after you've mashed a Seeder in the theatre, there's a staircase going up to the right illuminated by flames from below. If you don't spot the COG tag lying beneath it, there is no hope for you.
- (New!) When you finally fight the Brumak (the tease), there is a COG tag hidden at the far end of the arena near a broken cooker flanked by four of those thin concrete cover points you've come to adore.
- When you get to the train bit, wait for your robo friend Jack to open up the fifth train door. Go inside and it's on the floor to your left.
- As your progress through the train, you must climb up a ladder onto the roof. Before you do so, take a second to grab a tag from the floor on the right.
- Near the front of the train, you'll pass a store room on the left. Go inside, backtrack slightly and take the final tag. Providing you've found them all, you can now take 30 Achievement Points for your troubles.
Not enough for you? Then why not read the first bit of our original Gears of War Xbox 360 guide for tips on how best to slaughter your adversaries?