If you have an Xbox 360, you are required to own this game.
The presentation of this game is like it’s aptly name developer, epic. The setting feels huge, but very coherent. Some scenes have gorgeous displays of cathedrals with accurate gothic architecture. A jungle of buildings sprawl out endlessly, an urban center long since placed in a state of disrepair. Whether beneath the surface of the planet Sera in gargantuan caverns, soaring above with gorgeous panoramic views from a helicopter, driving through eerie city blocks at night, or facing the odds on foot, the presentation of a setting has never felt so true, so frightening, or so visceral in any game. City 17? The king is dead, long live the king.
As a first for a major shooter, even on the easier difficulties, your enemies aren’t stupid. They could be smarter, but they certainly aren’t numskulls. They don’t normally stand out in the open and let you pick them apart limb from limb. They take cover and peep around the corner at you, only long enough to get a couple rounds off. You’ll face a slew of gigantic Locust, and they’re not just tough in appearance, like most games seem to have it. These enemies are as tough as they look, and won’t be so easy to take down. Too many games have intimidating bosses and super-power creatures that really aren’t any more difficult to take down than a common grunt. The stakes are high with these fellows, because one or two good hits from them and you’re dead.
If you’re looking for the game to show you what your Xbox 360 is made of, this is, without a doubt, it. This game is absolutely gorgeous. Not only the artistic detail but the beautiful next-generation shader effects, high quality textures, extremely detailed character models, and a silky smooth frame rate the whole way through. The Unreal Engine 3 is truly remarkable, and shows the game in all of the stunning detail it deserves. Every last visual component of this game is top notch, and has fantastic audio to boot. Playing Gears on a high definition display with 5.1 digital audio pumping is something that must be experienced first hand to be understood. The game still looks and sounds great on a standard definition TV, but this is the game that you want to have the very best of everything to experience.
While the game essentially kicks ass at everything else, one thing severely lacking is a story. If you dig in outside of the game and really look for the story, it is actually very good, and I think that if there had been more enthusiasm for it from the developers, it would have been a terrific story and would have made the game absolutely perfect in every respect.
The multiplayer component of the game is fun, however it’s really nothing original. I’m not complaining, but the game modes consist of deathmatch, deathmatch, and deathmatch. After all, Epic did put the term into your vocabulary with their stellar Unreal Tournament series, so it’s not a total discredit to them. With that said, it is extremely fun. At first 8 player team deathmatch doesn’t sound very intense, but the game feels like it was designed to be played just like it is. The online battles are intense, and add greatly to the longevity of the game, especially if you want to get every last one of your achievement points out of the game. Gears of War is an epic, breathtaking game that will truly go down as one of gaming’s finest, and will be one of the definitive games of the next generation of gaming consoles. Despite Xbox having sold a fraction of what Sony’s PlayStation 2 sold, Halo 2 managed to break entertainment sales records. Now Xbox has two gargantuan franchises, and this one is poised to be equally as groundbreaking and famous as the aforementioned Halo franchise. Gears is Microsoft’s desperately needed ace in the hole to help push their next-generation console even further into the homes of gamers. Gears of War is a fantastic title, and if you own an Xbox 360, you’re nearly required to own this game.