Total Gamer Zone: Gears of War Review

There are few games that have garnered as much interest as Epic Games Gears of War. First shown behind closed doors in 2004, the hype meter has since gone into overload, and Microsoft along with it. This is the game that they are using to promote the Xbox 360 console as the console to own - and as the first second generation game to hit the system, it’s a visual masterpiece. But does the hype live up to the games incredibly high expectations? Thankfully, the answer is easily a resounding yes.

The devastated planet of Sera is teetering on the edge of all out destruction. The powerful Locust faction are destroying humanity as we know it, and Marcus Fenix, you, are about to be busted out of prison by a former war buddy. The Coalition of Ordered Governments (COG), is recruiting every last man for a desperate last stand against their formidable foes, and you are as capable as they come. The gruff, blunt and generally snappy Marcus Fenix is a great poster boy for the games emphasis on blood, gore and action - he looks like he’s pumped full of steroids and has all the demeanor of someone who can’t string together a few sentences. He acts like John McClane and sounds like a foul-mouthed Jack Bauer. That said, he’s an amicable hero, a well liked officer, and a very tough soldier. It is you who will be playing as him through the game’s excellent but too short campaign.

The formidable Locust come in many shapes and forms - and some boss battles are incredibly exciting. They are also rather smart, dodging your fire, using the same rush for cover tactics that you do, obeying orders, flushing you out with grenades, and generally being a great challenge. The AI for the enemy is incredibly slick, which is more than I can say for my AI buddies, who on many occasions would die too easily and too often, leaving it up to me to rush over and revive them.

There is a system in which you can order squad mates to rush the enemy or hold their position, but it is under utilized and never reaches its full potential. This is alleviated by the games incredible depth when it comes to playing with others. Gears of War has been built from the ground up to be played as a co-operative experience, both in the games incredible campaign and online. With the online maps being fairly small, and teams being limited to four vs. four, matches can be pretty strategic, with all members of your squad working together, and backing each other up in pairs. It’s well suited to the action, and lag was a non-issue. The online is something I keep coming back too.

The run and gun mechanics so normally associated with this kind of game has been eschewed for a far smarter pop and stop routine. Essentially, the A button will work as a context sensitive solution to rushing up (roadie run) and slamming into any cover, hurdling yourself forward and doing SWAT turns. With the enemy also using this tactic, fire fights are genuinely exciting affairs, and the excellent weaponry and satisfying feel of each hard earned victory only pushes you further into more and more dangerous territory.