Gears of Awesome!

For me Gears of War, the first game, was special. It was the second "great game", so to speak, I bought for my 360 (after Oblivion) and to this day stays as one of my favourites. No so much because of the multiplayer which is what kept everyone hooked to the game after beating the somewhat short singleplayer campaign. Yes, the multiplayer was really fun (I'll never forget the time when I single-handedly chainsawed 3 guys of the other team, only to be shotgun-blasted to bits by the only survivor), but what I really liked was the story and the setting of the game. There was something about that world, so close and yet so different of our own, that really connected to me, and to this day I get the shivers everytime I listen to the main menu's theme.



So, I think it's not necessary to say I was completely psyched about Gears of War 2. Would it be as good as the first? Even better? Or just a lame way to rip off the fans hard-earned cash? Today I'm proud to say it's better. There are two games that came to my mind as I was playing this one, Metal Gear Solid 4 and God of War 2. The similarities may not seem obvious at first, but they're there. With MGS4 it shares it's overall greatness. This is a polished product, made with care and everything seems just so right. This is a hard feeling to convey through words, but I hope you'll see what I'm talking about. It also reminded me of GoW 2 not only because they both can be spelled "GoW 2" but because they're sequels who managed to surpass the already great original titles by offering a bigger experience. A longer singleplayer mode, larger maps, a greater sense of scale, huge enemies... I think you get my point. Both games are more epic than their predecessors, which was no easy task.


But what exactly makes the singleplayer campaign of GoW 2 so much better than the one in the first game? We can sum it all down to 3 main aspects in my opinion: it's longer, more story-driven and more varied. While the first game was criticized for having a short campaing, GoW 2 will entertain you longer and, even more important, without getting dull or boring. In fact after finishing it I was sad, because I wanted to play even more. That's how good it is. Then comes the story. The first game had an awesome setting, the world and the mythology created for it was really interesting and engaging. Unfortunately the story was too superficial for what that awesome setting had to offer, but that's also fixed here. You'll learn more about Marcus' father, Dom's wife (there's a pretty powerful scene regarding this, but of course I won't spoil it for you) and the Locust themselves. Your image of them can actually change, as you discover that there's more to them than just a mindless horde, and the ending...wow, what a cliffhanger, can't wait for GoW3!


And then comes the variety. One moment you're covering terrain on foot, the other you're confined to a moving vehicle you have to defend. Then you'll enter a tunnel and have to advance in full darkness, or you enter a cave and have to use indigenous life as moving cover. You can shoot mounted machineguns or pick up a mortar and release death from above. But the most awesome parts are saved for the end and they're so epic you wont believe your eyes. Remember in MGS4 (HUGE SPOILER!!!111oneoneone) when you take control of REX? (end of HUGE SPOILER). Well, it's that awesome!

Then there's also the mupltiplayer but I haven't tried that yet. Only played a little bit of a new mode called Horde where you fight, alone or with buddies, against wave after wave of Locust. Looks interesting for those times when you just want to chainsaw a grub in half.

So, to end this sort of review, this game is awesome. Really. I would buy a 360 to play it if I didn't have one already. Of course, if for some reason you didn't like the first one, you probably wont' like this one too, but for fans of the original this just couldn't have been a better sequel (although I wanted a certain someone to survive till the end...). One of the best 360 games. Ever. Thank you, Epic, thank you for this game.