Gears of War was released on November 7, 2006 and quickly became the Xbox 360’s killer app. After exactly 2 years Epic games has finally released the highly anticipated sequel; Gears of War 2. Lead designer Cliff Bleszinski promised that it would be “bigger, better, and more badass.” After playing through it twice in as many days I have to agree completely. Gears 2 is the best game on the Xbox 360 right now (yes even better than Halo 3) and if you don’t have it yet I would suggest you get it right now. Seriously if you don’t have it stop reading ths review and go get it. You still with me? Okay let’s get into it.
One of the first things that you will notice while playing this game is the scale, there is a large emphasis on big scale battle, large enemies, and sprawling open spaces. For example the Brumak (the big thing in the cut scene after the prison escape in the first Gears) is now in the game itself with several that you have to take down. There is a larger array of weapons on top of the standard issue Lancer. There is a mortar gun that is devastatingly powerful but a little hard to understand how to use. There is the mulcher which is a portable machine gun turret and a flamethrower.
Now onto the gameplay itself, the cover mechanic has not been vastly changed but if it ain’t broke don’t fix it right? There are a few tweaks that make it easier to use the system. The weapons all seem like they have the appropriate amount of power and for the most part they are self explanatory. The Locust AI is great; they will really make it hard for you to achieve your goals. An added element is a system where you can get knocked out but not die and one of your fellow gears can revive you. This mechanic was possible in the first game but only in co-op play. Now if you are knocked out you can crawl to another team member by moving the thumbstick and pressing “A.” Pressing the right trigger will call out to your fellow gears that you need help. But if you stay like this too long or if a Locust comes to finish you off, you will die, so it is in your best interests to get revived quickly. One other thing that should be mentioned is the “overheat” mechanic on the turrets. While you are firing a turret you have unlimited ammo but the weapon will overheat if you shoot it too long. But you can press the right bumper button to vent and cool down the gun.
The story is much more involved than Gears 1 and you get a real feel for the characters. For spoilers’ sake I won’t say too much about the plot but the basic idea is that it is 6 months after the lightmass bomb was detonated, the Locust have come back and have brought with them a force that can sink entire cities. Because humanity is now on the brink of extinction they go on the offensive and take the fight to the underground. There is a sub-plot of Dom’s search for his wife Maria and it is pretty emotional stuff. The story is a great improvement from the first game and it adds to the overall value. There are more questions raised than answered by the plot but it just gives the writers more to work with when they tackle Gears 3.
The graphics are astounding just like the first game, you will be absolutely blown away by some of the environments and it is hard to believe that video games have come this far and are this realistic. The unreal engine drives the game and it works perfectly, I only experienced lag maybe twice on two complete playthroughs and the graphics almost always loaded immediately (unlike a game like Mass Effect where the graphic qualities took a long time to load)
Overall the game is astounding and I am still shocked by how much I enjoyed this game. The story is strong and riveting, the characters are well developed, the action is big and fun, the scope is much larger, and the graphics are out of this world. This is the kind of game that they made the Xbox 360 for and it is an absolutely essential game to add to your Xbox collection.
Gameplay: 10
Story: 10
Replay Value: 10
Graphics: 10
Overall: 10
One of the first things that you will notice while playing this game is the scale, there is a large emphasis on big scale battle, large enemies, and sprawling open spaces. For example the Brumak (the big thing in the cut scene after the prison escape in the first Gears) is now in the game itself with several that you have to take down. There is a larger array of weapons on top of the standard issue Lancer. There is a mortar gun that is devastatingly powerful but a little hard to understand how to use. There is the mulcher which is a portable machine gun turret and a flamethrower.
Now onto the gameplay itself, the cover mechanic has not been vastly changed but if it ain’t broke don’t fix it right? There are a few tweaks that make it easier to use the system. The weapons all seem like they have the appropriate amount of power and for the most part they are self explanatory. The Locust AI is great; they will really make it hard for you to achieve your goals. An added element is a system where you can get knocked out but not die and one of your fellow gears can revive you. This mechanic was possible in the first game but only in co-op play. Now if you are knocked out you can crawl to another team member by moving the thumbstick and pressing “A.” Pressing the right trigger will call out to your fellow gears that you need help. But if you stay like this too long or if a Locust comes to finish you off, you will die, so it is in your best interests to get revived quickly. One other thing that should be mentioned is the “overheat” mechanic on the turrets. While you are firing a turret you have unlimited ammo but the weapon will overheat if you shoot it too long. But you can press the right bumper button to vent and cool down the gun.
The story is much more involved than Gears 1 and you get a real feel for the characters. For spoilers’ sake I won’t say too much about the plot but the basic idea is that it is 6 months after the lightmass bomb was detonated, the Locust have come back and have brought with them a force that can sink entire cities. Because humanity is now on the brink of extinction they go on the offensive and take the fight to the underground. There is a sub-plot of Dom’s search for his wife Maria and it is pretty emotional stuff. The story is a great improvement from the first game and it adds to the overall value. There are more questions raised than answered by the plot but it just gives the writers more to work with when they tackle Gears 3.
The graphics are astounding just like the first game, you will be absolutely blown away by some of the environments and it is hard to believe that video games have come this far and are this realistic. The unreal engine drives the game and it works perfectly, I only experienced lag maybe twice on two complete playthroughs and the graphics almost always loaded immediately (unlike a game like Mass Effect where the graphic qualities took a long time to load)
Overall the game is astounding and I am still shocked by how much I enjoyed this game. The story is strong and riveting, the characters are well developed, the action is big and fun, the scope is much larger, and the graphics are out of this world. This is the kind of game that they made the Xbox 360 for and it is an absolutely essential game to add to your Xbox collection.
Gameplay: 10
Story: 10
Replay Value: 10
Graphics: 10
Overall: 10
3 comments:
dude, thats pretty sweet, i may have to go get it now, i need to play the first one first though
You still haven't played through the first one?
not yet, i dont have it, noone here does either, ill probably just wait till i go back home over the summer
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