Great All Around Game That is Very Fun!
The graphics are awesome. They look like a very polished version of Gears 1. I love the art style used in the game. The characters look great, the guns look great, the environments look great, the snow, water, ice, buildings, enemies, explosions, multiplayer maps, all look awesome. 10/10
The sound is great. The guns sound sweet, explosions rumble the house, the environment sounds really cool, and the voice acting is great (although cheesy at times). 10/10
The game play is really good. I had a bit of problems with the A button which does about everything, but then I changed my button layout so that X and A do everything and I love it. I never have problems sticking to walls when I don't want to or diving when I don't want to etc. The cover system is great. The movement is smooth. The only complaint is with the D-pad which is a piece of crap, but that is Microsoft's fault not Epics. Switching weapons can be cumbersome. The new executions are simply fabulous and make it a lot of fun to kill locusts. Headshots are always a pleasure and the new meat shield really helps in multiplayer. The addition of crawling really makes the game better. It really plays well. 9.5/10
From here I want to talk about the campaign. It is a lot of fun. Locations vary, it is all beautiful to look at and very fun to play through. They are always mixing it up keeping it fresh and fun. The story is engaging and keeps you wanting to push through. Fans of Gears will like it as will newcomers. There are a lot of questions left unanswered at the end, but hopefully we will get a third Gears. It is a fun campaign solo or with a buddy.
Multiplayer - Here is where most people complain. I would say that I have laggy matches 20 - 30% of the time. Some nights are really good, some nights aren't so good. Overall, I enjoy playing online and for the most part I have good matches. Matchmaking is pretty quick and usually balances the teams well. The game modes are really great. I really like them all, but Guardian is probably my favorite. Most of the maps are really fun to play in all modes. And the addition of Bots makes it great when Xbox live isn't running very well. Horde mode is simply a blast. If it weren't for the occasional lag during online matches I would give it a perfect 10 for multiplayer. 9/10
Overall I give it a 9.5. I play video games to have fun and Gears of War 2 delivers. Don't listen to all the cry babies about the "broken multiplayer," go pick it up and enjoy destroying some Locust! My favorite execution is the Torque Bow Curb Stomp.