Dedicated fans and newcomers alike will be drooling over this orgasmic game.
The campaign of Gears of War 2 can be described with many words. The most prominant word would be "Epic". Epic battles with hordes of footsoldiers, epic boss-fights with humongous beasts, and an epic storyline that goes deep into emotion. Gears 2's campaign plunges deep into unseen territories from the previous game and creates quite a bit more of a challenge. Although it may be considered short, it still packs a big punch in terms of amazingness.
When people think of Gears, they think of the tactical style multiplayer skirmishes. Gears 1 had captivated millions with tactical, yet simple, online battles. All of the simplicity of the combat and ease of use makes the amazing multiplayer battles all the more better in Gears 2. With new weapons along with updated and balanced-out old weapons, the combat just gets more creative while retaining the simplicity. The new multiplayer modes add an interesting twist of diversity and a breaking of the repetition from standard gametypes. Although, unarguably, the best addition to multiplayer is the matchmaking system. Instead of creating a match and waiting for people to join (whom aren't your friends), you can get instant joy with the party system. No longer will you set up a match, go make a sandwhich, come back, and have only a few players join. Also, a great thing about the matchmaking system is that there is no a longer a "Host Advantage", allowing every player an equal opportunity in the battle.
While I have only named several features so far, there are plenty more. One of those such features would be the comepletley new Horde Mode. Horde Mode allows you to do just the basic premise of shooter games: shoot stuff for fun and not ask questions. Whether you want to mow things down in an evil and sadistic manner, or fight supremely challenging adversaries, Horde Mode allows for fun of all kinds. The rules of Horde are simple: fight increasingly difficult waves of enemies for the fun of it. This relatively simple gametype takes you back to the old days of gaming where surviving waves of enemies was all there was to worrie about. Invite friends for a total of 5 players battling it out with endless enemies, or go it alone and test your wit.
Summary:
Gears of War 2 offers all that Gears of War 1 was and explodes it into a more epic game. Updated gameplay, fixed problems, and a heck of a lot more features makes Gears 2 superior to it's successor and superior to other games. Believe the hype, there's an obvious reason for it.