Gears of War 2 Review

Okay so we're making some progress on the deluge of games coming out lately!  Last week I did my review of Fallout 3, and today I'm going to talk to you about Gears of War 2.  It goes without saying that Gears 2 is one of the most popular titles that has come out this year, and it's certainly a goliath when it comes to Xbox 360 exclusive titles.  The Gears of War franchise is fast approaching and overtaking the Halo franchise's position as Xbox system-seller, and for good reason in my opinion.

Gears 2 was one of those games that just is.  What I mean by that is it's an immensely popular game that you know you're going to buy if you're a gamer with a 360.  It's like how football fans regard the superbowl.  Sure your team might not be playing but chances are you're going to watch regardless.  In that way I wasn't really excited for Gears 2.  I knew it was coming, I knew I was going to play it because I had it preordered, but I was more interested in titles like Left 4 Dead and Call of Duty : World at War - games that were shaping up to be great but didn't exactly have the "blockbuster" tagline that we've come to associate with Gears of War.  It may be because of my hands-off approach, but I have to say I'm splendidly surprised by Gears.

The biggest critique you may have heard about the original Gears of War was that it was a bit repetitive, and not just from a gameplay aspect.  Not only was a lot of the combat the same throughout the game, but the environments were near identical.  That's right, the good old gray and brown palette that had become associated with so many Unreal Engine 3 games from the early bit of the engine's lifespan also plagued the first Gears of War.  I'm happy to say that Gears of War 2 is completely different in this regard.  Barring the first act of the game which plays out in areas that are similar to the first, the game's environments are of a much larger range representing many different colors from red fire to blue snow, and even a bit of green forest thrown in for good measure.

Epic didn't skimp on varied gameplay, either.  You'll find yourself in a lot of different scenarios, most involving riding in huge vehicles or...well, on mythical beasts.  The point is you won't get tired of the same old 'take cover, shoot locust' gameplay over and over.  The game features some huge setpieces and as implausible as they are they're damn fun levels to play.  I think what surprised me the most about the game was how long it was, and especially the fact that they kept the gameplay varied and interesting enough that it didn't get old.  There are a couple boss battles that put those from Gears 1 to shame, a competent storyline, a few new characters and of course the old standbys.  Epic has also added much more fun-to-play boss fights for the most part.  All told it took me at least 8 hours to complete which is nothing to sneeze at, especially when you're playing through with a co-op partner who has already beaten the game rather than playing alone and having to figure things out as you go.

On to multiplayer.  As I just mentioned 2-player co-op is back, and that's definitely the way to play through the game.  There's nothing better than playing together with a buddy, and just like Gears 1 there are plenty of scenarios baked into the game with cooperative play in mind.  After that you have the more traditional competitive deathmatch-style multiplayer, which I have to be honest I haven't exactly played much of.  I find that if I'm looking for a competitive multiplayer experience I tend to put in Call of Duty : World at War rather than Gears 2.  I have no doubt that the competitive multi is fun unless they've departed greatly from the first game which I played a ton of, but I find World at War to be exceptional.  Last but not least (and this is all-new for Gears 2) you get a 4-player cooperative "horde" mode, in which you and 3 of your friends can fight off up to 50 waves of enemies that are progressively more and more difficult.  It isn't cooperative play in the most traditional sense, that is to say it's not story-related and the horde mode has nothing to do with the Gears 2 campaign, but it's surprisingly fun nonetheless.  I was able to make it through all 50 rounds and that alone took around 5 hours to do.

So what can I say really?  Gears of War 2 is the cheesey action movie game of this holiday season.  The story and dialog are laughable a lot of the time, but the gameplay is fun enough to keep you coming back for more.  Also the game is damn pretty, and that never hurts.  Is it game of the year?  Not mine.  Is it a game you should own if you have an Xbox 360?  Of course.

Now Playing:
Kamelot - The Shadow of Uther
Call of Duty : World at War