Gears of War Review

--Info--
Published by: Microsoft
Developed by: Epic Games
Platform: Xbox 360 exclusive
Release dates:
-US: November 7, 2006
-Japan: January 18, 2007
-Europe: November 17, 2006
-Australia: November 23, 2006

--Story--
Gears of War focuses heavily on the storyline and it is one of its highlighting factors. The events that take place in the game are all on the planet world of Sera, which is pretty much Earth under a different name. The humans of Sera have united under the C.O.G. (Coalition of Ordered Governments) to combat an invasion of humanoid aliens called the Locust and batlike monsters called Kryll. These Locust and Kryll have all but taken over Sera, save for a couple major cities, the most prominent of which is Jacinto. You are Marcus Fenix a badass veteran who feels the need to accentuate his manliness by always yelling and using a voice like hes got something stuck in his throat. Marcus has been put into jail for abandoning his position to try and save his father from an unknown demise. At the start of the game Dom, you're faithful friend and companion busts you out of prison under orders from General Hoffman. It seems the war is not leaning in the human's favour. You land in Delta Squad, and you're objective is to destroy the Locust once and for all and end the 15-year war. The game takes you through a variety of different environments, at all times of the day. All of it leading to a final showdown with the presumed leader of the locust and Kryll horde: General RAAM. You learn that the humans have essentially been divided into two classes, the Gears, soldiers of the C.O.G., and the Stranded, regular joe humans who have had no formal military training and who live in makeshift shanty towns. Stranded aren't too friendly towards Gears and blame them for everything that has happened to them. The Stranded have no intention of helping to C.O.G. in it's fight against the Locust, they are content in just defending their position, never making any offensive maneuvers.

--Gameplay--
Gears is a third person shooter, and the controls are easy to learn and the cover system is revolutionary. The developers have devoted one button entirely to the cover system. 'A' allows you to roll, slide into cover, clib over blockades, roadie run, swat turn and more. This combined with the blind-fire ability really brings the game to life. As well as the introduction of the "active reload" which allows you, with good timing, to reload faster in addition to a damage boost. If you miss, it takes far longer to reload than if you hadn't tried. Later on in the game you are able to give commands to your squad such as "Open fire!" "Cease fire!""Regroup!" although it is not neccesary to complete the game. Marcus encounters a variety of enemies throughout his missions. There is the regular "grub" which is the regular infantryman of the Locust military, essentially just a locust with a Hammerburst rifle (the standard Locust weapon.) Eventually you meet the grenadier, the grenadier is not much different from the regular grub except that it carries a shotgun and two frag grenades. As well as a sniper, a regular grub as well who is equipped with a sniper and has very low health. You meet seeders as well, massive creatures that jam radio's and spew Nemacyst which are pretty much anti-air suicide bombers. Seeders are only vulnerable to the Hammer of Dawn, which is a laser guided particle beam from a satellite. The Hammer of Dawn takes a while to charge up and is only available outdoors and when the satellite is overhead. You will also encounter Theron Guards which are pretty much elite grubs. They are faster, stronger, smarter and better equipped than the regular gurb. They carry either a Torque bow, which is extremely deadly (it's a bow and arrow, but the arrow has an explosive on the tip) or a Lancer, which is the standard gun for C.O.G. soldiers. The Lancer has a chainsaw bayonet on the tip allowing for a gruesome death if they get too close, but hey, same goes for them. You will meet Beserkers who, like Seeders are only vulnerable to the Hammer of Dawn. Beserkers are blind and so hunt by sound and smell (don't try and stand still, they still know where you are.) They are extremely fast and one hit from them kills you so you will have to time you're Hammer of Dawn shots. You will also encounter wretches which are simply an annoyance, they are small creatures that run up to you and try and claw you to death. They are easily taken care of, but beware of their cousins the lambent wretches who explode upon dying. There is also the Boomer which carries a rocket launcher of sorts, they are tough to take down, but it is very possible. Last but not least, you will fight Reavers, large, flying creatures which are ridden by Locust. There is no worry of ever being bored of the same enemy, because as you can see there is a large variety of enemies to fight. Enemies come from emergence holes in the ground that can pop up at any time. I won't go into detail, but there are many types of weapons that you can pick up along the way as well, i have only mentioned a few, but there are more exciting weapons to add to the list. I won't spoil it for you.

--Difficulty--
The game took a large jump between difficulty levels Hardcore and Insane. Personally though, i find that insane was still slightly too easy, it is still possible to beat the whole thing without dying. The game is made easier by the excessive power of the Shotgun and the Torque bow and the ability to blind-fire. But don't be decieved, follow the first rule of the C.O.G. "Take cover or die." This is not a game where you can just run in guns blazing and expect to kill everything. More often than not the enemies are stronger than you and will kill you if you are in the open.

--Multiplayer--
The multiplayer is quite good, once again i can't say too much due to the fact that i still do not have Xbox live. However, i have played against some friends using the system link. There are a variety of maps to play on and the game is, once again, made much more intense through the use of the cover system. There are also a bunch of different types of games you can play including capture the flag, death match etc. i won't go into detail since i'm kind of hazy on the specifics.

--Graphics--
All of the cutscenes as well as the actual gameplay have amazing graphics, real eye candy. It really immerses you into the game and paints a portrait of Sera no words could describe. The experience is even better (obviously) using the H.D. cables, but you're not missing anything major without them. You get stunning visuals of city's and landscape, not one detail is spared.

--Sound/dialogue/voice acting/music--
The sound effects are extremely well done, there is a unique sound for every gun, for every different enemy etc. Dialogue is great, informative and funny. The voice acting is well done as well, except that i find that Marcus' voice was really overdone. That takes away from the game i find, anything kind or positive he has to say is totally lost in the gruffness of his voice. You'd think he's expression and attitude would change from time to time. That as well as Cole being extremely stereotypical.

--Verdict--
All in all, this game is Beyond exceptional. There is not much wrong with it. It introduced a revolutionary cover system, amazing storyline good graphics and good gameplay. What more could you ask for? It is a must have for the Xbox 360.

Anything goes.