Gears of War 2 (View comments)

Posted by: Nikolas Mason

It was only two years ago that Epic released Gears of War for the Xbox 360, and in that time it has become one of the highest rated shooter games out there, also managing to become one of my all time favourites. It featured a very interesting story, great cover-based game play mechanics, and a cast that was both emotionally realistic and at times quite humorous. Naturally, when I heard there was going to be a second, I got quite excited.

At first I wasn’t sure what to expect: more of the same? I wasn’t sure where they would go with the story, but I did know it would be hard for them to top the game play of the first one. The first game followed Marcus Fenix and his military friend Dominic Santiago as they try to hit the Locusts where they live. In the end, they think they’ve won and destroyed most of the Locusts caves, but an ending monologue by the Locust queen makes it very clear that the Locusts are not gone.

Naturally you’d think the next game would have the Locusts coming back for all out revenge, but that isn’t the case. Instead the second game once again has the main protagonists heading underground to take the fight to where the Locust live. While not much is revealed about the main character Fenix, a lot of the story is instead based around Santiago’s search for his missing wife. The story feels much more emotionally attached this time around, making you feel more concerned about the characters.  Besides the deeper character development, the story revolving around the actual war itself also expands, revealing that it is a much larger effort than the first game leads us to believe.

Over all, Gears of War 2 seems to add more confusion to the story than it reveals. A lot of the questions I had from the first one weren’t answered, and this game adds more to my curiosity. While it did leave me with a lot of unanswered questions, don’t get me wrong; this game did have an awesome story. It helped tell the story of Sera’s epic fight for their planet, and the Santiago side story was quite touching. Story wise, though, I did like the first one much better. It felt like the player was more important in the first, where as in the second you feel like a much smaller part of a much larger war.

While the story is good, it sometimes takes it a bit far. Some parts of the game are way too far-fetched, such as having to navigate through a giant worm to locate and kill it’s hearts. While the first game was still unrealistic, it was at least done in a more believable way. Too many parts of the second seemed too unbelievable, even in the Gears world.

Game play in the second game isn’t changed much from the first. The game retains the third person “over-the-shoulder’” shooter-style of game play. A few new elements are introduced, such as now being able to carry two normal weapons along with a larger weapon such as a rocket launcher, whereas in the first game you’d have to abandoned one of your older weapons if you wanted a big one.

Graphics and performance wise, it’s quite obvious that Epic games used the full potential of the Xbox 360’s processor. The game’s locations feel much larger, much more realistic, and much more action packed. While the first game took place mainly in tight, close quarters locations, the second game features many areas where you can see for miles, and it fills those locations with dozens of Locusts at once.

Even though it puts you against more enemies, gives them tougher weapons, and puts you face to face with some of the much larger Locust monsters, Gears of War 2 actually seemed easier than the first. It seemed to take much more to lower your health, making the game seem rather easy and cover not quite as important. Much like the first one, however, Gears of War 2 has extremely good graphics, cinematic, voice acting, and music. The game feels much more like a big budget Hollywood movie than just a video game.  It also keeps many of the same multiplayer aspects as the first, which is a good thing.

In the end, Gears of War 2 is a fantastic game. It has its faults, and personally I like the first one better still. If you’re a fan of the first game, this game is definitely worth a purchase, and if nothing else, at least a rent to give the story a good play through, which should take you roughly 11 to 12 hours.

Verdict: