Beautiful, intense, and destructive. This is the must buy 360 game everyone's been waiting for.
Graphics
Gears of War is a 3rd person shooter from Epic games, the makers of Unreal, and as such it uses the Unreal 3 engine to produce stunning graphics. This is the best looking game on the market as of now, and it will probably remain one of the most graphically impressive games for a while. The lighting effects are very well done and they are most noticable in the Kryll level when you are firing at propane tanks to produce light so you can stay alive. The visual effects in this game are also incredible and are what makes it so much fun. Watching the head of a Drone pop after you pound it with a sniper rifle shell is very rewarding. The explosions are fantastic, leaving chunks of meat and flesh with a nice hearty coating of blood behind. This game was the first Xbox 360 game that I put in, played the first few minutes and actually said "WOW."
Gameplay
The game produces some of the best shooter action around. Its a bit action, a bit tactical, and whole lot of fun. The basic premise behind the gameplay is to take cover, if you don't chances are your enemies will be tearing into you face with an assault rifle or trying to blow it off with a grenade launcher. The boss battles are ridiculously intense, my heart was pounding and my hands sweating while facing the very first Beserker. Gears provides 3 different difficulty levels, and if you are familiar with shooters the first 1 (casual) should be a breaze. Hardcore is better for video game veterans and will lengthen the game a bit, don't feel bad if you die on the first level. And then there is Insane, an unlockable difficulty level that pushes your skills and patience to their limits. Keep in mind that the game is a fair deal easier if you play co-op. That brings me to my next point, the co-op in this game is fantastic, better than the single player, which makes perfect sense being that this game was designed to be played co-op. The game will split you up at certain parts where one player gives cover for another in various ways.
The online versus is much better than I thought it would be and it's very addicting. It's you typical deathmatch with a few twists. For example, in execution once and enemy is down doesnt necessarily mean he is dead. You have to approach his bleeding body and destroy it with either your chainsaw, a grenade, a swift shot to the head, or if all else fails, your foot. Thats right, you can crush an enemies skull with your boots.
The weapons are all very cool, and the weapon set as a whole is nicely balanced. There is the now famous Lancer Assualt rifle which comes standard with a chainsaw bayonet. This will be you're be your main gun, if you drop it you will find yourself in a very bad situation most of the time. Thats not to say however that the other guns are useless, because they certainly are not. You have your sniper rifle, shotgun, and grenade launcher as your standard shooter weapons. There are a few unique weapons too, like the Hammer of Dawn and the Torque bow. My only gripe about the gameplay was there wasn't enough of it. The game is fairly short, but it does make it good to repeat. It would be perfect if it had about 2-3 more hours of gameplay.
Sound
Epic games has created a, well, epic soundtrack for this game. All of the music is prefectly suited to the mood of the game and does nothing but make the overall experience better. Mostly orchestrated scores that come in powerfully at the peak of a battle, or lie under the soundeffects while walking though an abandoned building. The soundeffects are also very good, the guns all sound real and the chainsaw sound while its cutting through flesh is good enough to make you cringe. The screams of the enemies, especially the wretches, will make you frightened to move into the next room. The voiceovers are terrific, and the things that say in battle are hilarious. Whether is Augustus Cole taunting the locusts or Dom yelling for help when he's on the ground bleeding, you will enjoy just about every part of the script.
This is game of the year material for sure, and if it isn't then the games that beat it are the most fantastic pieces of art ever concieved. Do yourself a favor and get an Xbox 360 and Gears of War.