A solid, fun and somewhat innovative shooter that lacks originality in story and setting
The setting of Gears is one of a post-apocalyptic, disease ridden, mutant infested so on so forth world, yes, we have seen it before, and yes, Gears does make its own dreary world unique and special enough to set it apart from other post apocalyptic game settings, but the story sorely lacks any feeling that you as an individual are important to saving humanity. This works for and against the game; for the game in that it is more believable (we all know how tired the 'single soldier saves universe' epic is), and against the game in that it does little to involve the player in this dying world.
I only played the Single Player campaign, so I will talk exclusively about that. The gameplay boils down to popping up from cover, taking pot shots at the enemies with the slightly spruced up standard fps weapons, then ducking back down again to let your health regenerate. At first this is really fun and exciting, and the 8-9 hour campaign starts with a bang and really gets you into the game. But after the first few chapters, you realize that this pop up, duck down gameplay is all that there is beneath the shiny brown graphics. The middle 3 – 4 hours of the game lacks impressive and memorable set pieces, and I really struggled to make it through some parts, not because of overwhelming difficulty but because of repetitive, stagnant gameplay. Some chapters just seem to go on forever, and channel you through one bland, concrete block-strewn corridor after another. It's not until the 4th Act that the game picks up again, and the Gears finishes stronger than it starts with some very interesting and very cinematic set piece moments and intense boss fights.
The game's strength comes entirely from the moment to moment gameplay. The enemy AI is pretty impressive; locust (the enemy's name, guess I forgot to mention that earlier) will try and flank you and use cover effectively. Some of the weapons you get to use are pretty great; my personal favourites being the Hammer of Don (or something like that) which allows you to call in massive satellite lasers which will incinerate everything you can point it at. Some of the enemies look pretty damn impressive, and the way Marcus (the large chinned bloke you play as) jumps from cover to cover very fluidly, making the cover system the centerpiece of the combat. The difficulty feels about right on 'hardcore' mode (fancy talk for 'normal'), but some enemies will make short work of you with weapons that seem to lose much of their strength while in your hands. My only complaint with regards to the controls would be that the sprint button and cover button are the same, so if you want to sprint through a cluttered corridor you will find yourself attaching your spine to every object you come within 5 feet of, making frantic dashes rather difficult at times. This is but a minor complaint, and really does little to detract from what is overall a very strong single player campaign.
From a technical standpoint, the visuals are rather impressive, but this can be attributed mostly to the overly-popular Unreal Engine 3 and not to the game developers entirely (although the facial animations and textures are really top notch, even when compared to other UE3 games). The game sounds great, with weapon sounds taking center stage. When your clip is about to become empty, the sound of the gun changes slightly, which is very useful in combat. Marcus will grumble and groan when you miss your target, letting you know he's sharing your frustration; the musical score works very well, adding to the already tense atmosphere provided by the overly greyish-brown visuals. All of this well implemented audio creates a very immersive experience at times.
When it comes down to it, Gears of War is a very solid, fun shooter that simply lacks originality in setting and a feeling of importance within the story. The linearity works well in this game, and should not be seen as a negative point. I'd recommend this game to fans of arcade style shooters who want a quick adrenaline fix.