DPrime Review: Gears of War 2

The original Gears of War game is one of the most popular intellectual properties that came out on the Xbox, and one of the most popular Xbox Live games out there. Reviews were great, the game won awards, and critics loved it. What does all of this add up to? Well, extremely high expectations for Gears of War 2. Epic hasn’t failed in bringing us the best of the best when it comes to the Gears series.

First, the story for Gears of War 2. The game takes place in the planet of Sera. As a sequel, you could say that the campaign is perfect. Everything is structured in a way that the way the story progresses, everything works perfectly. If you played the original Gears of War, you’ll be happy to know that as a sequel, it takes everything that you learned in the first game and implements it almost perfectly in the sequel. You are still locked for battle against the Locust Horde, and the Gears are preparing for a huge-ass amazing attack at the enemies.

The gameplay hasn’t been changed much since the first game, as it was extremely well-done. In turn, Epic has flushed-out the environments, and making everything in the game go a lot more “smoother” so to speak. The game still feels pretty linear, but all of the environments feel bigger and more open for the user to play in.

Gears of War 2 also put extremely memorable moments at all of the right times. These include the “More like 10 shitloads” comment, a certain person’s death, and even the amazing soundtrack. With the massive amounts of great moments and shit going down in the game, Gears of War 2’s campaign feels like a 24/7 carnival ride.

Not everything is perfect from the start of the game to the end though. First, the AI just plain sucks. I mean, it’s fucking pathetic. Don’t expect your computer allies to save you either, they don’t even know they’re in the middle of a fucking war. Also, the challenge that is in the game this time around is based upon trial-and-error. In my opinion, you spend too many times dying and still no figuring out what the hell you’re suppose to be doing, or what you did wrong. Oh! Wait until you have to control a Centaur over a frozen lake, having holes bombed into the side of it…it just makes you want to beat your under-privileged step-brother.

What now? Well, the multiplayer aspect of  the game of course. If you dug the third-person online action in the first Gears of War, then this part is where the game is worth all of the money you put out for it. With non-stop repay value, tons of game modes, and five-a-side matches. In addition, Epic has added the ability to unlock new multiplayer characters in the campaign to keep things fresh.

There are also chainsaw duels, that make that chainsaw bayonet have an element of risk attached to it. Once the two characters have their chainsaws all loaded up, you’ll enter a button-mashing battle to see who will cut the other into a thousand little bits.

There are also now seven multiplayer modes to play from, but as you probably already anticipated, they all focus on just killing the other people. All of the maps are larger and vary a little bit more, which ruins the damn shotgun dash that killed the online for the first game. Shotguns this time around have a reduce in power, so people will have a little variety in their weapons, but for the most part, it’s going to be the shotgun still.

Epic also added a new co-op mode called Horde, where 5 people are pitted against waves on the increasingly difficult Lucust. It’s kind of like Call of Duty: World at War’s Nazi zombie mode, but not as fun. The mode is an add-on, and that’s really all I think of it as it’s not super fun or mind-blowing.

The problem that still persists though, and never goes away, is the online lobby. It’s been improved slightly from the first game, but you wouldn’t be able to tell without looking for what was wrong with the first game. You are still stuck with the players voting for what game to play, and a set playlist. It can get really irritating to get the game that you want, but if you do wait, you’ll eventually get there.

Graphically, you won’t notice tons of upgrades from the first Gears of War, but with the larger, more vast environments, it definitely helps a little bit. You’ve still got all of your dark, gray stages, but with the addition of a couple of color-filled, more vibrant stages that look just brilliant. I think you will be dumbfounded when you see them.

You’ve also got the great soundtrack, and the amazing voice actors that sound like they have a brick stuck in their through, but what more would you expect from a series such as this? You will also love the sound effects that make every cutting and shooting of a person’s head worth while.

Overall, the game is great, there’s no way of getting around it. The time that Epic took to make the game was well worth it, and this is a must-buy game for those who enjoyed the first, or are interested in third-person kick-assery. There’s no fucking up the game with trying to implement new “innovative” ideas, it just sticks to it’s guns (pun intended), and is one hell of a game to play.

What We Liked:

Larger, More Flushed out Maps: The maps this time are a lot larger and more vast, but still contain that same great shoot-em-up feel.

Horde: While it’s not mind-blowing, it’s still a great addition to the game, and if you beat the game, and ever get bored with the multiplayer mode, you will definitely have fun with this.

Multiplayer: Like always, the multiplayer is to die for. With the third-person fun that can only be achieved by Epic, this is a part of the game that makes the $60 worth it.

Character Development: Most people don’t play shooters to get to know the characters, and usually don’t give a fuck what’s going on in their lives, but in Gears 2, it works extremely well. The game delves into characters and their personal lives, and all I can say is, it works.

What We Didn’t Like:

The Story Could be Better: There are plenty of things to learn in the new Gears of War 2 from the first game, and lots of new advancements, but it all feels like it could have been a little more to the game. You could make your way through the game easily in 8-9 hours, but it’s still fun.