Dark, immersive, captivating, plain beautiful and fun to play... what more do you need?
Humanity is in trouble, on a distant planet underground creatures have struck at their lives. Now in a middle of a brutal war, the soldiers are trying to preserve whatever is left of humanity.
The gameplay delivers, whether its co-op or single player. You actually feel like a heavy trooper. The gun works great, the reload option is great. The first time you cut someone with a chainsaw and you see the blood splatter on your screen you will always want more. The cover system brings an interesting angle to the game. The blind fire makes you feel well protected and killing opponents is just plain old fun. Speaking of Locusts, there is a wide variety of stuff to kill, and as you move futher you get to see the varying enemies such as Berserkers. Most use the cover system as well, but sometimes you may clip them at the side and they wont react.
The enemy is very smart as well. As soon as they see an opening they will take it, aiming to add more holes to your body. Everytime you consider whether or not to peek out you always face the fact that you will get shot from at least one angle. The fights come in waves though, so you have time to catch your breath, barely, before the next opponent comes. Even though you fight with the squad, I found them useless for the most part. Basically they act as a distraction and may often get you kiled while you're trying to save them. The co-op makes this a little different, as obviosly the use of two man tactics will be the big bonus, often taking some pressure of either of the players. This can be pllayed split-screen or via xbox live.
Here is where we come to multiplayer. Limiting itself to four on four, which may disappoint some but actually makes the games more interesting. The maps are pretty straight forward, so you will feel quite at ease while playing. The number of options isn't that plentious, but it is still great fan, which is why it still hangs around top 4 games for XboXLive.
Now since you only get 2 weapons to carry on top of your pistol there are some choices to be made, thankfully, there are some great things to choose from. Obviously there is the standard set such as the shotgun, sniper rifle, or a machine gun. Here is where we come to the fun, the Lancer, a machine gun with a chainsaw mounted under the barrel, and yes it is the funnest weapon I ever used in games. The plain satisfaction of catching an enemy with a chainsaw from behind the corner will have you screaming "did you see that?!" even if there is noone in the room with you. You also get the Hammer of Dawn, which is a satellite laser, which you will use to kill some of the larger enemies of the game. Finally there is a bow, which sticks arrows to enemies, it is quite effective, but rare to come buy. The grenades are similar to spike grenades in Halo3. They hang on a chain which gives you the option of swinging them around. The downside of this is that you cannot have any other gun equipped while throwing grenades which can make it difficult sometimes. Hitting someone with the grenade would stick them as well, which is fun.
In terms of visual performance, Gears set the bar for console games which few games reached as of yet. It is visuallay stunning, the first time the camera zoomed out I actually screamed "holy crap!!!" When you cut someone the camera gets down low and gives you the view of all the action, and the blood splattering on the screen gives you a satisfying feeling. The character models looks great, they really feel like soldiers, move like soldiers, and they look battle tested. Enemies look great as well, and you actually feel like you are fighting greatly thought out opponents. Environments are amazing too, every little detail is well thought out and everythign belongs. Sometimes you might find yourself dying just because you were too distracted by something in the background.
The sound is great, with the score being a highlight. The musical score really nails the style that Epic was going for, and adds that grandeur to the game itself. Dialogue really highlights the characters as well, there are no smart remarks, nothing too over the head, its soldier talk with appropriate level of simplicity that belongs them.
Overall, Gears is a true Next Gen experience, and I think it defined the bar for such a title when it first came out. It has an amazing single player, which will keep you at the controller until its all said and done (for all of the 3 difficulty levels if you like achievements, although the hardest unlocks all three). The multi-player is still a major force for XboXLive numbers and statistcs and the game on its own is simply a great game to have in your collection.
Enjoy
Gamertage: Shady9XD
Come Play....