Gears of War 2

Review by IRaptor IKraine

Second to Halo 3, Gears of War 2 is probably the most hyped game for the Xbox 360 console. Epic have gone all out promoting Gears of War 2 building up the hype since the start of this year. Most games unfortunately do not live up to this hype; can Gears of War 2 be any different?

Story

Players of the previous instalment would undoubtedly be aware of the lack of story. The game did set the scene for what Gears of War is about but it seemed only an introduction to later games. That said it is still an impressive game so Epic would need to bring out all the stops to improve the game.

The tagline that has been going since we first heard of Gears of War 2 was "Bigger, Better and more Badass" fortunately all these statements have been achieved. The story was a huge personal highlight as a promised longer lasting; emotion evoking campaign was told of Cliffy B. The game has surpassed what I expected from it.

From the first Act players will tell that this game is not going to be as 'lightweight' as the previous game. This is perfectly demonstrated when seeing hundreds of Locust spewing out of a grub hole surrounded by Brumak (plural) and Corpsers. From this moment I was sucked in the game and I could not believe what I was seeing. The desperate attempts of the Human race against the final Locust attack could definitely be felt.

That is one of the best things about the new Gears story; the emotion can most definitely be felt. In the previous game characters tend to look very mono-emotional and although it didn't affect much it of course didn't feel right. In Gears of War 2 Epic have changed the character models so that facial expressions fit the expression which to achieved. Without giving away too much of the story there is a scene in Act 4 which really shows off this new tech.

The campaign is split into 5 Acts, each with 5 - 6 chapters. When played in Normal and Casual difficulties the game will last the average gamer around 8 - 10, this will undoubtedly shift to 12 - 14 when played on Insane.

After finally completing the campaign I can safely say this is one of the best campaign experiences you will play on the Xbox 360. The story is much improved over the previous and really immerses the player. The game is filled with so many gobsmack moments which will definitely please not only fans of the game but any gamers wanting a fulfilling experience.

Gameplay

There have been some significant changes to the game however the core mechanics will be all too familiar with Gears of War fans. Almost every aspect of Gears of War has been implemented into Gears of War 2 and that's by no means a bad thing as after all it is Gears of War 2 and not a new franchise. There are however an abundance of new features that make Gears of War 2 worthy of being called a sequel.

Introduced throughout the campaign are brand new enemies and all too familiar ones. Before I start I'd like to state a problem I did have with one of the enemies, or lack of. The famed Berserker that made a few appearances in Gears of War is nowhere to be seen in Gears of War 2, deliberate move or simply forgotten? That out of the way there are some new enemies which make up for the loss of a favoured one.

Making an appearance is a brand new set of Boomer variants and each one is unique in design and offer different challenges. Not only do these new additions look superb but they also require players to use different tactics to fall them. This breaks up the usual cover and shoot system with something different, different but most definitely approved. Another main enemy that appears is the Locust priest "Kantus". These enemies are your standard Locust drones but slightly enhanced. Visually the Kantus looks very priest like is distinguished by it being slightly taller and lankier than the average Locust drone. The Kantus has a new set of weapons (Burst Pistol and Poison Grenade) and can revive downed enemies.

Alongside these standard enemies there are a selection of new Bosses after all the game wouldn't be "Bigger, Better and more Badass" without them. Trust me when I say they will make the Corpser in Gears of War look like a little pussy cat. The new villain which takes RAAMs place is Skorge, the predator like nut job with a dual headed chainsaw staff. There are a few encounters with this beautiful new boss however one of those encounters could have been little more improved.

So there are a whole set of new enemies and with those a new set of weapons, and some old enhanced weapons make an appearance. Most of the older weapons have had a facelift, mainly due to the enhancements of the Unreal 3 Engine but some have been remodelled and reworked. The older weapons bare the same styles as Gears of War however main notices are the Hammer of Dawn now having 'ammo' and the Hammerburst is now more single shot rifle. It's definitely nice to see some of the new weapons however the 'power weapons' are definitely the most favoured.

When picked up these weapons will stunt your movement and speed but they do sure make up for it with firepower. The minigun (Mulcher) fires a barrage of bullets which tear through enemies; this can also be used in cover and be set up as a temp machine gun placement. The trickier of the two however is the Mortar. When mastered this weapon can really pack a punch allowing players to eject a number of projectiles across the map and shower enemies to a bloody death.

This however comes one of the negatives of the game. Gears of War was riddled with bugs and fortunately a few of them have been fixed, unfortunately some of them haven't. The cover system has been tweaked to near perfection so all those accidental cover attaches are practically nonexistent. Sometimes players will find that they cannot stick to cover, especially if someone is close by attached to cover. Players can also sometimes find themselves jumping over a secondary cover and ending up a good few feet in the air. Overall the majority of the glitches have been solved however there are a good handful that still play uneasily.

Graphics and Sound

There is no other way to say this; Gears of War 2 looks a thing of beauty. This is undoubtedly one of the best looking titles on the Xbox 360. Gears of War 2 takes everything from Gears of War and expands on it in such fashion that I personally thought was not possible. When first venturing underground I found myself in awe. The true graphical capabilities are fully showcased and I cannot express how beautiful it looks. Gears of War, prior to Gears 2, offered some of the best visuals however until the final Acts the levels seemed very linear and enclosed. The newly updated Unreal Engine allows this game to feel open and full of life. It's hard to explain the graphic genius of the game without seeing it for himself.

Not only has the environment taken a nice change but so have the character models and weapons. Each character has been slightly remodelled to make use of the new expression and emotion and so have the textures. Now characters look crisper and the level of detail on the armour can really be appreciated. Gears of War wouldn't be itself if it wasn't for the level of gore. This can be turned off via the menu, heaven forbid, but when kept enabled you're in for a treat. The gore has definitely been increased whether it's destroying an enemies head allowing a fountain of blood to spill the floor or an insta-gibbed characters torso lying on the floor the game looks damn sick, and I love it.

To make the game look that evermore better the lighting system seems to have been altered. Gears of War 2s lighting is astonishing, this is appreciated in the first Act when moving through a darkened service tunnel followed by a drill. The light from this drill reflects off the armour giving a beautifully god like sheen of the COGs. This also illuminates the area and just simply looks stunning. There will be a few moments in the game where your way is projected by light so treasure them, having said that the lighting engine holds it own when not boosted by a spot lamp.

Again like everything else the sounds have also been revamped. The voice work is stunning and the characters till have their distinctive accents. There are three new characters in the game and each has their own truly fitting voices. Luckily the voices have been put to use throughout the game project some of the best cheesy lines out of the series. - "Look at all that Juice" and "Not that again".

The majority of all the game sounds have also had a makeover. When first using the Lancer players will tell straight away that it sounds to pierce the air and seems to have a really powerful undertone. This is replicated amongst all weapons, the sniper has a muted tone to it and the most distinguishable one is the new detonation sound for grenades.

Multiplayer

The multiplayer definitely played a factor in my purchase of Gears of War 2; Epic offered a huge selection of new game modes, maps and even a brand new co-op mode Horde.

Epic have offered a good handful of gametypes for Gears of War 2. The classic; Warzone, Annex and Execution make an appearance and hardly anything has changed. New gametypes; Submission, King of the Hill, Wingman and Guardian are the new gametypes. Guardian is very similar to Assassination; players have to eliminate the team leaders when this is done the remaining players cannot respawn. Submission is a classic take of Capture the Flag however this time the flag is a human wielding a shotgun, players have to down the meatflag and drag him to the designated area. King of the Hill is similar to Annex however there is only one area on the map to take hold of. Wingman is a brand new gametype in which 5 teams of 2 players go head to head in an execution style gametype.

After playing every gametype I have my personal preferences. Annex and Submission will require a great amount of team work to play and definitely provide the most fun. After playing King of the Hill I'd say it is my least preferred gametype. It feels very rushed and unbalanced; the capture point can sometimes be non-central meaning that whoever is nearest will ultimately get there first and most probably rack up points until the game ends. Wingman is a superb addition offering something very different, players join their teams and will both play under the same character skin so that no complications arise. Overall there are a lot of gametypes to keep both average and hardcore gamers happy and I can imagine seeing this rating high on the Xbox Live most played list for some time.

The most impressive gametype most certainly has to be Horde. Horde is spanned over 50 waves of increasingly difficult enemies. This gametype really test team play and tempers. Horde is broken into 5 sets of 10 waves. Wave 1- 10 will be repeated throughout until 50 however at the end of every block section of 10 waves perks are added to the enemies. Thing such as multipliers for health, accuracy and damage are applied throughout ensuring the last set of waves are no walk in a park.

Epic have decided to improve their online service by offering a new way of connecting to games. Matchmaking has made an appearance however it is having teething problems. The system itself is perfect and much needed after playing Ranked matches with your friends was taken out of the first one. Problems have been rising and the main aim is at the matchmaking system, reported issues read that single players wanting to join games cannot do so, or take a good while to finally get into a game. Personal issues have arisen, mainly the time taking to actually get into a game. With a party of 3 -4 there have been periods of 10 - 15 minutes before a game has been entered and started. It is not all bad however, when getting into the game players are given a bunch of options, a series of votes take place. First off the gametype is selected; this is done by pressing either of the trigger buttons. When players have chosen the gametype (most vote's wins) it is then the selection of the map, similar rules as before, when finalised player can choose their character model and starting weapon. A selection of Lancer and Hammerburst is available, and those with the Limited Edition or those who attended the midnight launches can choose their golden weapons.

Conclusion

Gears of War 2 is unlike any other, giving strong competition to other highly appreciated franchises such as Halo and Bioshock. Graphically the game is absolutely stunning and definitely shows the pure brute power of the Xbox 360. The story really leaves players shocked and often throughout the game you'll be finding yourself saying "wow" and stopping to take it all in. The amount of bugs found in the game would cause many other games to be knocked down in score or even playability but Gears of War makes up for it with everything else.

Gears of War 2 is undoubtedly the best game of this fall offering such an expansive multiplayer system and a highly impressive campaign. Finding an equally impressive story with such emotion, graphical prowess and pure beauty will be a difficult feat. The multiplayer is so robust and although a little buggy will undoubtedly be ironed out. Horde is a superb inclusion and although the campaign lacks co-op features this of course makes up for it, a highly recommended game for fans of the previous games and anyone wanting to play a simply sublime game.