Review

How do you review a game that everyone is already playing the crap out of and every publication out there has so far said this game rocks? I don’t have the answer to that question but I will try my hardest to give a unique perspective on what has to be one of the most remarkable action games I’ve ever had the fortune of playing. There are so many things that make this sequel better than just about any third person shooter out there right now that it’s hard to know where to start. Everyone that has put up a review of this game has so far praised GOW2 for it’s fantastic graphics, it’s larger than life characters, absurd yet engrossing story and it’s wickedly addictive gameplay, all culminating in a product that deserves every accolade it gets. I think it’s quite clear that GOW 2 now sits in the throne that Halo 3 built, making it the biggest exclusive franchise that Microsoft has to offer, if this game doesn’t shift consoles I don’t know what would.

From the first moment you get to actually control Marcus Fenix (the main character - a brutish meathead with a heart of gold who also happens to moonlight as a supremo alien killer) you’ll be instantly familiar with the setup as it pretty much controls like the first one. There are one or two slight control additions that balance things a little and also irons out a few little wrinkles that the first one suffered from but by and large this is the Gears of War you know and love.

Apparently the lightmass bomb that Marcus and the Delta boys (good name for a new boy band?) set off at the end of the last game wasn’t enough to keep a good Locust horde down and they are back badder than ever, only now they have brought a few new friends of the family to trade gunfire with Delta Squad as well, although you won’t hear Marcus sing the blues, somehow I think that guy gets a lot of occupational satisfaction.

From small bug-like suicidal bombers called ‘Tickers’ to a revision of the role that flying ‘Reavers’ play as well as head honchos who have the ability to heal Locust drones – it’s great to see such an improved and diverse cast of bad guys to blow heads off of and it should come as no surprise that there is plenty of that sort of stuff happening here and we wouldn’t have it any other way. The action is as enraged and bloody as the first one but it really amps up the scale making you feel like you are actually taking part in a all out conflict against a repugnant and grisly army of demons straight out of hell. The end result is a game that is high on the macabre and overloaded with pure adrenalin. It gets so chaotic on screen sometimes that you’re almost worried you’re going to miss something as the struggle between GOC and Locust is going on all around you. The spectacle can be overwhelming at first but after you replay certain sections you’ll be able to focus a little bit more to your mission objectives.

The level design in GOW 2 is also improved over the first, although largely devoid of a robust colour palette, the locales and situations are all very different from each, making this sequel an adventure that holds plenty of twists and turns leaving you wondering what could possibly happen next. I won’t go into the specifics because half of the fun is finding out for yourself where you are going to end up next, let me just get it out there though that the guys at EPIC have obviously worked overtime to bring an experience that is imaginative as it is diverse and they have definitely put their money where their mouth is.

There are still issues such as mysteriously sticking to walls and texture, plus the roadie run that featured in the last game is back and still doesn’t provide the finesse of movement needed to navigate closed environments but finds most use in open areas where you can really charge ahead to the frontline of the action to get you some before your squad takes them all down for you (which does happen as the AI can be a little too eager to assist you sometimes). One thing that I was a bit disappointed to see return was that to climb up on a ledge you had to press A for Marcus to take cover and then press up and A for Marcus to climb up or over the object, it just bring another step into the foray instead of just putting the climb function to a button that allowed you to roll over an obstacle rather than having to take cover before you can climb, would’ve just made things a little bit more fluid in my humble opinion but it’s of such minor importance that you probably won’t even notice when you’re in the thick of battle.

The chainsaw bayonet is also back to wreck havoc on the bodies of Locust scum and it’s still as much fun to use as ever. Don’t think you can just charge in though, when you get hit the chainsaw bayonet will lower making it harder to use on your enemy. When it does work though you are presented with the gruesome sight of a Locust being sawn in half and screaming as his blood splatters across the screen – it’s gory, it’s not something you would show your grandmother, and it still freaking rocks. There are a few new additions to this though as you can now perform several different finishing moves, whereas in the first one you were only given the option of the infamous ‘curbstomp’ now you have four different finishers that are mapped to each one of the controller buttons accordingly. Chainsaw duelling now appears and if you and your opponent raise chainsaws at the same time prepare for a button mash to see who can get there first. While in the campaign you usually get the drop on Locust soldiers this mechanic is especially useful in multiplayer games. It makes things a little bit fairer and also gives you a fair chance against someone online instead of just being sawn in half and that’s the end of it.

If a extensive and energetic single player campaign wasn’t enough there is a brilliant multiplayer at the heart of Gears of War 2. Veterans of the first game will feel right at home and will already be accustomed to some of the maps that make a reworked and tweaked reappearance. Instead of four on four matches it has now been upgraded to accommodate five on five multiplayer matches still making each round a viscerally intimate affair. Straight out of the box I noticed that everything seems to be working almost perfectly. There was a little bit of lag from time to time but overall it was kind of refreshing to be able to play a game online straight away without any major problems. Ah – the beauty of sequels.  

If the multiplayer wasn’t enough in providing you with a brimful of pleasure there is a fantastic co-op option for the main campaign as well one of the best modes I’ve ever played in a game – Horde. In Horde you can play with friends online on any map with the objective being to repel wave after wave of locust – each completed wave gives you points and with 50 waves all increasing in difficulty as you progress it soon becomes obvious that you’re going to watch each other’s backs if you’re going to complete it.   This is some of the best fun I’ve ever had in a videogame…I can only hope that this mode becomes common place in other games in the future because I loved it. I liked the mode so much that I probably would’ve laid down cash for a game that featured this mode alone…I really liked it that much.

Overall:

There is so much to like about Gears of War 2. At first you might think that it is more of the same but as you progress you’ll soon realise that this THE best action game on the market. It goes without saying that combined with the recent price drop of Xbox 360s and with this bad boy in the 360 library it doesn’t take a brain surgeon to work out where some of your spare cash should be going right now. I can guarantee that if you’re into action games this is right up your alley. Multiplayer is dope, story expands and has a tighter narrative, characters are more fleshed out, some great writing, some of the best graphics on any console, incredible amount of content, lengthy campaign and so much multiplayer goodness that will ensure its longevity with players over Xbox Live. It might be war but I’m in love.