Brilliant gameplay and awesome graphics....
By playing this game with the 8800gtx video card I was able to experience the full graphical force of the game, accompanied by sound pumping through the X-FI extreme gamer sound card. Graphically, the PC version of this game outperforms its console predecessor, but the sound is on par with that of the 360. Although the sound is about the same as the 360 version, it still has the same impact that it did when released for the console. The voice acting is superb, and it is accompanied by a musical score that really does the upmost to create tension during darker sections of the game, and a sense of high intensity during the long (and in some cases arduous) gun fights. Playing this sound through a surround sound or home entertainment system increases this audio experience to a new level. The dialogue itself really does shed some light on exactly what is going on, and this enables the player to become really immersed in the game.
The game play for Gears of War differs on the PC to that of the console equivalent. The majority of PC gamers will opt for the keyboard and mouse combination, rather that the gamepad option. Although the wireless controller for the 360 is available for use with the PC, the majority of users will still prefer to use the keyboard and mouse. This choice of control changes the way that the game is played, especially during online play as the level of play among PC gamers is generally higher due to the accuracy of a mouse over the joysticks of a gamepad. This means the level of play online is at a higher standard and users who wish to use the XBOX gamepad on the PC will have to work harder to compensate for the accuracy deficit.
As for the story mode of the game, it remains much the same as the original 360 game, but there are some notable changes. The PC version does indeed have some extra levels within some chapters in areas that jumped in the original, and these chapters aim to make sense of how they arrived in a new location. Overall, these levels do their job but they are very different to the original levels of the game. The levels designed exclusively for the PC version of the game are much larger and more open ended and this really does make use of the greater capabilities of the PC hardware of the console hardware.
The game play within the story mode has some really nice ideas coming together in single play or two forms of co-op (live and co-op [in the case of the 360, same console] played over a LAN). No matter which way you play the game you will still appreciate the effort that has clearly been put into developing certain areas of the game play. One notable area which is clearly outstanding is the cover mechanics. When fighting the AI, or other uses in multiplayer matches, it is key for the player to find cover and use it to their own benefit. Gears of War makes this as easy as possible, using a single button to get into cover. When behind cover players can stay behind their and reload or gain health, they can blind fire (and blind throw grenades) or they can stick their head out and actually aim at the enemy. All of these options are useful at some point when in a gun fight, and it is really made to feel natural. Another area that has clearly had effort poured into it is the way players can kill enemies after they have been "downed". Both the curb stomp and the chainsaw bayonet are excellently animated and really make you feel like you've just brutally killed a guy. The chainsaw bayonet is especially nice as the blood splashes all over the players screen (and on the PC version with some nice hardware this is particularly nice!).
The storyline itself seems to be slightly drawn out, but this is only a minor set back when you consider some of the amazing work that has been put into the game. Some of the acts have very extended gun fighting scenes to get through specific areas and levels, and some of these really could do with being slightly shorter.
Online play from Gears of War doesn't really seem to attract as many players as it did for the 360, but you can always find a game to join. The variety of game modes that are available allow all players to find something that they enjoy; from the basic team death match (Warzone) to king of the hill, point capture modes (Anex) and Assassination. Assassination is an interesting mode when you consider the nature of the game. In this mode a team wins by killing the leader of the opposing team, and other players can re-spawn as many times as they wish until they game has been finished. This is unusual because in all other game modes, once a player has been killed, they cannot re-spawn. This gives an interesting new look at the multiplayer portion of this game, and it gives it a fresh new feel.
With the impressive graphics and sound, the decent single player game play and the nice online game play, Gears of War has some technical issues which have been partly ironed out with recent patches, but some areas still remain to lag and drop in frame rate which can get really annoying (especially during large gun fights). Apart from this, the game is superb and has some brilliant features that have been developed well.