Lives up to, but doesnt exceed lofty expectations. A must own for 3rd person fans and 360 owners.
It has been 2 years since the original Gears of War chainsawed its way onto the Xbox 360 and defined that system as a force to behold. With its gritty art style, over-the-top cartoon action and distinct 3rd person cover to cover shooting mechanic, the first installment of Gears had sudden impact. It was a shooter unlike anything seen on consoles before – much the first Halo was for the original Microsoft machine years earlier. Gears of War surpassed all expectations, arrived with little fanfare and subsequently became a critical and player favorite for the holiday season of '06 and beyond. All of that has changed with the sequel.
Few games have been given the hype, expectations, resources and budget as the inevitable follow-up. Gears of War 2 has been arguably the most anticipated sequel of the year. Just look at the oversized boots of its characters and you'll see that it has some very big shoes to fill. The challenge of any sequel is to take what worked well in the first, improve on problematic areas, and offer gamers a new experience. The 2nd chapter in what will be a trilogy needs to be similar enough to be cohesive, yet different enough to show players things they've never seen before. The fine balance of new and old was clearly a main focus for the development team at Epic. The result is nothing short of another masterpiece.
Gameplay: Its obvious that Gears 2 would pick up right were #1 left off – both in terms of storyline and in control. Epic wisely followed the age-old advice: if it ain't broke don't fix it. For the most part GOW2 behaves just like you would expect. If you've played the first game, and i'm guessing you have, then moving around and firing weapons will be familiar. The typical analogue combination of move-left look-right is in tact. What makes Gears standout is just how heavy and powerful everything feels as you execute your moves. Characters thunder up to hug walls and makeshift cover like industrial sized magnets. Sticking and moving along a jaded row of rubble and occasionally popping up to fire a few rounds from your machine gun takes a little getting used to, but soon becomes a mainstay function through your GOW2 tenure. Diving and rolling, switching weapons, opening doors, arching grenades and reloading are virtually unchanged. The active reload has been slightly improved, whereas some weapons like the new flamethrower are given added range when perfectly executed. There are plenty of other new weapons to compliment the already phenomenal arsenal establish in the first game. The incredibly powerful, yet cumbersome chaingun is a lot of fun. As is the mortar which propels a rain of fire down over the enemy. Both weapons greatly inhibit your dexterity and speed, but make up for it with their sheer caliber. The chainsaw-bayoneted machine gun lancer is once again the main weapon in the game and has been given an added function. Chainsaw duels are not uncommon with likeminded saw-happy foes. Tapping "B" faster than your opponent will win you the duel and consequently turn your sorry enemy into spare parts. New and gruesome executions amplify the controversial gore even more in Gears 2. The custom curb stomp has been supplemented with a couple of new partners like the neck break and the shield smash. Handling a down-but-not-out enemy as a meat shield while wielding a magnum powered handgun is just plain cool. If there is anything to be said about the shooting in GOW2 is that it feels a bit more responsive and powerful this time around. Bullets trails are much easier to see which makes aiming a little easier than before.
Ducking and moving in and out of cover does become an issue at times. In furious firefights it can be hard to execute the specific maneuver you want when in close proximity to cover elements like walls and boulders. Instead of rolling away from enemy fire, or exiting cover to make a mad dash roadie run your character sometimes intuitively sticks to his surroundings as if he's covered in glue. It can also be difficult to aim weapons from certain angles under cover. Having to pop out of cover to reposition and pop back in so your gun will shoot in the direction you want happens from time to time. These are very small blemishes on an otherwise tight and rewarding 3rd person shooter.
One area from Gears 1 that needed improvement was its online multiplayer, which had a thin offering of game modes. The sequel has been pumped up considerably. It's now possible to have 5 on 5 team deathmatches in a variety of ways: Meatflag (capture the meatshield and return him to your base), Wingman (up to 5 strategic teams of 2), and Guardian (respawning ability hinges on keeping your team's guardian alive) accompany the staple Warzone matchtype. The highlight of online multiplayer is clearly the new Horde mode, in which you and 4 other players will face wave after wave of increasingly difficult AI enemies. Not enough praise can be said about how enjoyable, intense and addictive this survival mode becomes. With a greater variety of enemy types – each with very discernable tactics and silhouettes, Gears 2 online (and offline) will push players to handle dynamic situations in creative ways.
The campaign has also been injected with more steroids than Marcus Fenix's bulging lats. From a gameplay perspective it follows the same basic routine as the original campaign, where you and your squad mates will advance through stages of the enemy's stronghold – popping in and out of cover and working together. Gamers might be disappointed that the early idea of 4 player online campaign didn't make it to the final product, but 2 player co-op campaign is back. Most of the adventure will be fought on foot. This is where the game performs and feels best. However Gears 2 stumbles a bit in sequences in which your team must use a variety of vehicles. There are 2 or 3 sequences that offer loose and frustrating vehicular gameplay, where pattern memorization and repetitive uninspired drive and shoot mechanics will make you wish you were back on foot. The good news is that these portions of the game don't last too long. There is a greater emphasis on story and character development in this chapter. This helps draw players into the gravity of the situation more than it did in the first game, but some of the emotional content does feel somewhat out of place for a game filled with chainsaw wielding muscle heads.
Ultimately the gameplay in Gears of War 2 in an upscale in the variety of modes, weapons and executable moves. It doesn't really depart that much from the feel and strategy in #1. The shooting is a bit better and most of the gameplay advancements improve the experience. With a few small "sticky" cover issues and frustrating vehicle missions GOW2 is not as tight and polished a shooter as a game like Call of Duty 4, but still a very enjoyable one.
Gameplay = 9/10.
Graphics: As the current generation of consoles reaches it maturity, it's nice to see that developers are now taking full advantage of the available processing power. In a word Gears of War 2 looks incredible. It doesn't depart from the fundamental aesthetic of the original, but it does take liberties with very inspired level design. Sprawling forested vistas, burning decayed cities and claustrophobic caves are just a few of the epically scaled battlefields you'll call home. The fantastic sci-fi, cartoonish art style paints each and every environment in the game with intricate detail, resulting in some jaw dropping moments. One of which is the gruesome belly of a giant worm that drips with ooze and pulses with blood-filled veins. This is a truly remarkable and original feat of inspired design and execution. It doesn't hurt that it pays homage to the grandfather of all shooters: Contra.
What makes Gears of War standout is the impeccable detail and care given to every inch of its massive world. Little things like ground mist in a humid room, rolling waves on a violent lake and raindrops cascading down pains of glass are the polish that pushes this game into the echelon it resides. The designers have done an admiral job making each environment look and feel different enough from one another to keep the game fresh as the plot develops. The character models are improved with greater facial expressions, clothing textures and armor design. To see how far the sequel has advanced all you need to do is load up the multiplayer levels ported from the first game into the 2nd.
There are a few issues with load times of textures. You'll notice the details in the facing of walls popping in as you move around. Other times your character will not behave appropriately with his surroundings. Leaping over a pile of sandbags for example will sometimes result in your character sitting up in mid air. Thankfully this is does not happen often. The level design is also a lot better in the campaign than it is in the multiplayer levels. Perhaps its because there is more going on in the campaign. Some of the multiplayer maps feel a little stagnant in comparison.
GOW2 is a great looking game that beefs up the detail and broadens the scale with more grand landscapes. It keeps close ties with the first game while giving gamers some new technical achievements expected in a sequel of this magnitude.
Graphics = 9.5/10.
Sound: The sound plays an important part as a supporting cast member in Gears 2. For as good as the visuals are, the sound is that intangible element that keeps players immersed in he experience. Audibly, GOW2 echoes the sounds heard in the original. The sound effects are full-blow high-impact adrenaline rushes that will rock you in your seat. Explosions and gunfire vibrate and rumble with pounding realism. The sound of razor hail pounding the ground is deafening. Grinding metal on metal during a chainsaw face-off shrieks with the best of horror films. The sound design is just as overtop as the art. Voice acting is superb. The dialogue between characters during cut scenes is wonderfully over the top and badass. The gruff testosterone-ridden lines and curses fit the bill perfectly.
The soundtrack is a fine extension from the previous installment. Cues range from creepy to catastrophic and never let down the appropriate intensity of a sequence. The haunting signature theme is present and accounted for right from the menu bringing you quickly back into the GOW universe. There aren't many leaps forward that take Gears of War 2's sound to the next level, but it perfectly compliments the stick-with-what-works mentality that resonates through the rest of the game. Sound = 9/10.
Presentation: Menus have been nicely revamped. Navigating the options is a lot easier than it was before. A new button called "What's Up" will quickly reveal what your friends are doing and allow you to join or create online matches with ease. The new "vote" map selection feature is a great way to allow your party to decide where they want to play. Checking out your achievements and unlockables is also very simple. A new free-roaming camera feature in multiplayer games is an excellent way for fallen teammates to see all the action from any angle, and offer strategic support for the remainder of a match. Being able to take pictures of the action to upload online is excellent and easy.
There is no random map selection/rotation in Horde mode. Players lineup in the same map repeatedly - wave after wave, and this can get stale. Of course you have the option to exit back to the lobby and choose another map, but having an automatic rotation like in other online modes would have been a nice addition. Incorporating some sort of upgrading system into multiplayer might have also been a good idea. Such a feature as it exists in other franchises really gives online some long legs – not that Gears of War 2's are short by any means.
Presentation = 9/10.
Overall: Epic Games has risen to the occasion and produced a game that lives up to the high expectations established in the first Gears. Two years of anticipation and lofty dreams is not an easy order to fill. While Gears of War 2 is not the best technical nor the wealthiest featured online shooter out there, it is perhaps one of the most enjoyable all around packages. It looks incredible. It does just enough to elevate the drama and action to the next level as well accomplish what any 2nd part of a trilogy should – the promise of more excellent action to come.
Final rating = 9.3/10.