Gears Of War (Xbox 360) Review

Chainsaw + Gun = Yes Please!

It’s finally here. The killer app that the Xbox 360 so desperately needed to secure the holiday sales. Gears of War brings the player into a world that can best be described as “destroyed beauty”. With its enthralling visuals and outstanding gameplay mechanics, Gears of War shows off what the Xbox 360 is finally capable of, even if it is almost a year after the launch of the console. But is this game all it’s hyped up to be? Will we be celebrating Emergence Day every November 12 or was it a one time deal? Let’s take a closer analysis of this great game by Epic.

Graphics
This game is beautiful. Honestly, it is the best looking game on any system I have ever played. Details are amazing, right down to the tiny raindrops that fall through one of the levels. The water effects, in general, are amazing. The aforementioned rain level is outstanding, as water drips down rusty pipes and runs down wet muddy hills. The facial features of the characters is way above par. Marcus Fenix is a badass, and you can see it in every scar across his face. The armor of the COG’s is extremely detailed down to the last scratch. Explosions and blood effects are some of the best in any video game. Ever. The lighting in Gears of War is definitely perfect. Shadows run across walls as you walk past fire or explosions. One level in particular focuses mainly on light, be sure to notice the effects when playing that level. Amazing to say the least. The blood splatters pretty realistic and pools under the corpses of the Locust (and yourself, more often than not).


Yeah, that's what it looks like while you play.

Gameplay
Third person shooters have a distinct style to them. Gears of War is no exception. You are always viewing Marcus from behind the shoulder, much like Lara Croft in Tomb Raider. However, this game is not exactly a third person shooter. It should be classified as a “third person shoots, find cover, shoot more, run to the next area of cover, continue shooting” game. If you run and gun in this game, you will die. You will die a lot. The game was meant for the player to take cover behind whatever they can find and strategically outsmart and outgun the enemy. The A button will take some getting used to since it is context sensitive. That is to say that A will either have you take cover, roll out of the way, slam against a wall, or change walls of cover. You also hold A to run, which is a very cool animation since the camera jogs along side you, as if you’re watching war coverage on CNN. It’s a little difficult to get used to at first, but thankfully there are helpful tips that show you what action you’ll be taking if you press A at that time. These tips can be turned off as well, for those who don’t like anything but the action on the screen. Reloading in Gears of War is tricky, but fun. Pressing the RB will start the reload process, pressing it again at the right time will ensure a perfect reload, making your reload time faster and your bullets stronger for a time. However, pressing RB again at the wrong time will cause your gun to jam, taking considerably more time to reload, thus, leaving you vulnerable for the oh-so-awesome chainsaw. The chainsaw gun in Gears of War is probably the most exciting part about playing multiplayer. Hearing that rev of the chainsaw behind you is pretty terrifying especially since you know you’re about to be sliced in two. Literally, the chainsaw does cut you in half in one of the coolest and goriest animations ever. You can’t help but be smiling, though, it’s just so cool to get killed in this game! My only problem with the gameplay is the lack of story. What's Marcus' back story? What’s with the Locust? Perhaps these questions will be answered in the inevitable sequel.


The Locust are big, bad, and ugly.

Sound
The sound in Gears of War is as wonderful as its visuals. Bullets ricochet off walls with a “PING” and the rev of the chainsaw are dead on (no pun intended). Playing this with a full surround sound system is outstanding. The footsteps and breathing of each character are fantastic. Epic really took their time capturing and creating the perfect mood for this game. The soundtrack is intense when it needs to be (which is very often) and mellow at the more awe-inspiring times. Voice acting is pretty good as well. The only problem I have with the voices is Marcus. He’s got too few lines, and the ones he does have, make him sound a bit lame. He’s got the voice of a hard ass, but is limited to one-liners, much like The Terminator. I would have liked to hear a bit more from Marcus instead of “Come get some!”


Post Apocalyptic Band Of Brothers.

Lasting Appeal
Here’s where I’m a bit torn with this game. The single player and multiplayer are completely separate on this issue so I’ll review both. As for the campaign mode, it’s a bit short. There are 5 acts to play through and they can be beaten relatively quickly. I played through the game on Casual, the easiest setting, in about 4 or 5 hours. I felt a bit cheated on it, so I went back and played it on Insane, the hardest mode. I enjoyed it much more on the harder difficulty, as it was actually a challenge. I still wish the game itself were longer. I suggest that you play on Hardcore, or medium, to really get a taste of how this game is for you. Also, once you complete the game on your own, Epic has included an online or offline Co-op play through. This really adds to the lasting appeal since you’re able to go back and play the whole story mode with a friend over Xbox Live. Each level also has a certain number of COG tags to collect, gaining achievements as you find them. If you’re really into going through each level carefully, you shouldn’t have too much of a problem finding them. Moving onto the multiplayer aspect of Gears of War is a completely different story. If this game did not have multiplayer, it would not be so hot. You have the choice of playing either player matches or ranked matches over Xbox Live. There are a ton of levels to choose from and each is gorgeous. The max. amount of players in each match is 8, resulting in a 4 on 4 COG vs. Locust battle. One of the cool things about multiplayer is choosing what race you’ll be, then choosing who you’ll be. There’s a few human characters to choose from and very different kinds of Locust.


The Kryll will annoy you to no end, but in a good way.

Fun Factor
Two words sum up how much fun this game is; Chainsaw Gun. Slicing your buddies up on Xbox Live is so enthralling that you’ll want to rev that Saw Gun as often as possible. Xbox live is a blast, even if there’s only a few game types. The single player campaign mode has a lot of moments that will have your jaw dropping because it’s so damn cool.


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