Bigger, better and more badass.
Story in Gears of War was really bad: the sci-fi world of planet Sera was interesting, but you never knew pretty much anything about it. You barely got to know the character you were playing as (Marcus Fenix) and then it was just a nonstop shooting from cover to cover until the bitter end. It seemed like the story started in the middle of something and ended in the middle of something.
In this new sequel the story is told much better and in the end you will get a sense of closure while being left wanting for more. Still there are major gaps concerning different characters' personal histories: what has happened in the past that makes them behave the way they do? If you wish to really get into this world of Gears of War I strongly recommend you to read Karen Traviss' novel Gears of War: Aspho Fields. It makes your journey through these games a lot more enjoyable. Unfortunately this is a clear sign that Epic still don't know how to tell a story properly: if I am forced to do some research outside the game itself in order to really enjoy it… then I can also say that Epic is nowhere near in telling a story in Gears of War 2 as BioWare is in Mass Effect for example.
Campaign starts about 6 months after the first game and humans' resources are growing thin. Jacinto has become the last fortress and safe haven for humans. This means that humans can either continue to wage this war and eventually lose it, or to launch a full-scale final assault against the Locust Horde and finish it once and for all. Humans' political leader Chairman Prescott chooses to attack and it is lead by Colonel Victor Hoffman. This means that game's premise is pretty much just a story of a one big assault divided in 5 Acts and played in the perspective of Delta Squad. Besides the familiar characters there are a few new ones: my personal favourite is a rookie soldier Benjamin Carmine, the brother of Anthony Carmine, who got ripped to pieces in Gears of War in the hands of a Berserker.
Story is about 8 to 10 hours long, but it doesn't feel that long: it's a nonstop rollercoaster ride and you'll most likely enjoy every minute of it. This time there are much more numerous cutscenes and radio communication, but adding subtitles as a default setting makes it very easy to follow what's happening. Also the overall scale is much bigger this time around: in the first game you felt like you're waging a war of your own, but this time it's clear that this really is one huge assault played in the perspective of Delta Squad.
2-player co-op is back and you can play it either locally on split-screen, through system link or via Xbox Live. It all works just like it should and at times there are splitted paths to take, which again adds a nice layer of replay value. Unfortunately there's no 4-player co-op, which would have been a nice addition since there are 4 guys in Delta Squad (Marcus Fenix, Dominic Santiago, Damon Baird and Augustus Cole).
Graphics have been improved since the original game: there are a lot more colors and there's just so much more added details in the game. I encountered only a few graphical glitches and the frame rate slowed down 2 or 3 times. Environments can be destroyed, but only a little: don't expect to see a total havoc like in Battlefield: Bad Company for example. You will also notice some texture popping on the surface of characters, but aside from these minor shortcomings Gears of War 2 looks superb.
Audio is also been improved by huge amount. Everything has a certain weight in its sound and voice acting is again top notch quality done by skillful actors. Musical score is done by the same man who made music for Michael Bay's Transformers movie so expect to see a lot of larger than life tunes and melodies, something we quite haven't used to hear in a videogame yet. The most important aspect in a shooter is its guns and the sound of every individual weapon is just nailed: I used the new Locust Hammerburst assault rifle a lot in the campaign mode just because it sounded so heavy and powerful.
All in all Gears of War 2 is THE game to choose, if you wish to invite all your friends over and show them the power of your home theater surround sound system and your new widescreen HD TV.
Gameplay is that same cover-based third person shooter you came to either love or hate in the first game. Controls are pretty much the same, with some new twists to give the game a bit more variety. You are also encouraged to try these new aspects of the game, because they are cool looking and you'll get achievement points by performing them.
There are quite a few new enemies that are all trying to kill you and you'll quickly learn to fight each of them in a different way. Well that or you can just watch the game over screen over and over again. Guns are plentiful and there are 15 different weapons in total. Shotgun is much weaker this time around and it will not satisfy everyone, but I personally love the fact that Lancer is now much more powerful in close combat than the shotgun.
Structure of the game is a linear experience divided into 5 Acts and 28 Chapters. There are a lot of scripted sequences and there's no chance of getting lost. This also means that the aspect of exploration is kept to a minimum consisting only the ability to collect hidden items and there are 41 of them to be found in total. Environments change in just right pace: as soon as you start feeling bored the game throws you in a whole different place and environment so the gameplay stays fresh all the way through.
There are a few vehicle levels just like in the original game, but it's not always the Gears' APC that you are driving with… To me it was a big surprise to notice that there is a little sneaking mission to do in a usually so straight forward shooter like Gears of War 2.
And finally there's the multiplayer either in local split-screen (2 people), system link or Xbox Live. Training Grounds teaches you the basics by making you to play against bots and it's worth playing once for the experience and achievement points. I believe that this feature was designed for new players in mind.
At last there's a real lobby system for you to gather your own party. There can be 5 players in one team or you can choose to make your own game and gather 10 people in it. If you can't find all 10 you can replace missing gamers by adding bots. The best thing in this is that if someone chooses to join your game in the middle of a session the bot is removed and your friend is taken in. This ability to easily create a private game and mold it to your liking makes it very easy to play clan matches in the future.
Modes are Warzone (team deathmatch), Submission (capture the flag), Wingman (5 pairs against each other), Execution, Guardian, Annex, King of the Hill and Horde. My personal favourite so far is Guardian, where each team has a leader and everyone respawns 15 seconds after dying as long as the leader is alive. Horde is a 5-player co-op against waves of locusts and you just need to survive. There really is a feeling of team work and desperate defence battle in later waves.
This time the game tracks your progress in every mode including private games so it's just a matter time for you to gather all those achievement points and you're encouraged to do just that since there are no hidden achievements in Gears of War 2. Tracking is done in your War Journal and it's easy to use. A nice little addition is that if you've played the original game you'll immediately unlock quite a few characters to use in multiplayer so I guess this is Epic's way of thanking the gamers who have played through the first Gears of War.
Epic is still not a good company to tell a story, but they also know what to change in order to make it better and what to keep in order to make it feel like a genuine Gears of War experience. In short Gears of War 2 is everything I expected and hoped it to be like.