Epic's Gears of War is everything you expect it to be and more!
Game play (9.0/10): The game play for Gears of War is nothing short of spectacular in both the multiplayer and the single-player modes. The single-player is a little on the short side and your teammates tend to get downed way to much leaving you in a position where you need to do everything yourself. However the guns feel perfect and the cover mechanic is absolutely revolutionary. The multiplayer game play offers hours upon hours of entertainment to all players with a variety of maps (including a free downloadable map pack) and numerous game types that will appeal to any gamers needs. One of the only draw backs with the multiplayer can be found in the "host advantage" technicality giving the host a larger advantage in shotgun combat with another player. The second drawback in the multiplayer (depending how you look at it) is the amount of glitching found in multiplayer games. Whether it is players getting out of the map or climbing on top of large crates it can weaken your multiplayer experience.
Sound (8.5/10): The sound effects in the game are rather good in Gears of War. The voice acting is pretty decent, but nothing out of this world and the weapon sounds are the typical sounds you would expect from your average shooter. My largest complaint with the sound is from your fellow locust enemies who seem to just grunt the same sounds over and over again. Visuals (10/10): Epic's Unreal Engine has done it again by providing the player with stunning character visuals, amazing textures and unique level models that everyone is sure to enjoy while playing this game. To date it is safe to say that Gears of War provides one of, if not the best visuals on the Xbox 360 console setting the standard for all other games to follow in its footsteps.
All in all, Epic has created a masterpiece in Gears of War. This game should be found in every Xbox 360 owner's collection with its stunning visuals and fantastic game mechanics. Final Score = 9.2/10