Gears of War -Xbox 360-

Gears of War -Xbox 360-

Review by Steve

With the impending release of Gears of War 3 i thought i should review the first 2. so my beloved readers here is my first installment.

surfin steve presents…

the review!!!!!

ammo ramming active reload’s, endless hoards of hideous monsters, 4 desperate soldiers quickly running out of ammo… and the are the last best hope for a rapidly declining human race. this game although short on story, is an action packed thriller filled with gore, violence and devastation… so it’s not all bad. this game used a ground breaking cover system, with an active reload system, game graphics that are cinematic quality. and a cooperative game play system, that is often imitated but never beat. epic games set out to give us all a taste of some thing great, and they did it well.

all right I’ll admit i played this game was because of the mad world gears of war commercial. (song by Gary Jules) the sad music plus the cool looking graphics sold me on this game.

OK for me story is a huge requirement. for gears of war the story was a little weak, but goes something like this…

Emergence Day

“Gears of War takes place over the course of 36 hours on the planet Sera, what was once a civilized human planet of cheerful sidewalk cafes and flower-filled parks. No more. The population did not know that underneath every major city, the Locust Horde was digging. Underground monsters, of superhuman size and strength, with filthy complexions that could rival the ugliest of teens, the Locust are fearsome creatures. And on a sunny Sera afternoon, the Locust emerged. The loss of life was catastrophic, or so it appeared in the opening sequence. The soldiers of the Coalition of Ordered Governments, or COG, fought valiantly, but failed. As the battle slipped away, COG soldier Marcus Fenix defied orders to try and rescue his father. He was caught and imprisoned. Fourteen years passed, and the Locust have closed in. As alien creatures take over Marcus’s prison, an old friend opens the cell door, gives Marcus a gun, and asks him rejoin the fight.”

that being said. if this game was going to win me over it needed near magically awesome game play… well done Epic Games.

the game play was one of the best I’ve played in a long while. the characters felt heavy and realistic, the cover system is like nothing I’ve ever played before. The controls were simple but effective. the game play graphics were seamlessly fused with movie quality cinematic sequences in such a way that it was hard to tell where the game ended and the “cut scene” began. not to mention you could curb stomp a downed opponent. “eat my boot heal you locust Jerk!!!!!” this game pushed the cover system to a whole new level. the standard “run and gun” tactic that works in most shooter games is a one way ticket to failure in this game. imagine slamming hard into a fallen column your armor crunches, and the dust flies into the air you hold your gun over your head and blind fire a voile at the enemy just to hold them back long-enough to get your thoughts together. that is what the cover system in this game can do for you. in order to survive in this game you need to utilize the cover system to the fullest, you need to work with your teammates cooperatively, and you need to use your limited ammo wisely. yeah you heard me you actually need to strategize in this game. the game AI is actually intelligent!!! yes my friends the game AI is smart enough to know when to duck, when to run, and as a double bonus…

they CAN hit the broad side of a barn. what a concept. a game that has NPC’s that know what to do, and can follow your lead. down side… the other side works on the same AI. so the bad guy’s know how to shoot too. so “DUCK AND COVER PEOPLE!!!!!

” active reload’s were a break through in gamer fun. oh the sweet bliss of hitting that perfect active reload and getting a damage bonus for a short time… Boo Ya. the timing for a perfect active reload can be difficult, there is little to no forgiveness. But when you do get the timing down… it is oh so satisfying. Coop play is where this game is strongest. actually playing the campaign with a live player. OK so now a days that is a standard thing but it was Gears of War that started it and did it so well. the multi-player modes were also fun (provided that you didn’t get some 14 year old lame player that thought it was funny to yell out swear words repeatedly till he was booted) even giving us free bonus maps. the

on-line multi- player game modes were fun and each one felt unique.

this game makes sweet sweet love to your HD TV you can see the sweat on their brows… it’s visually amazing. the art style of the game just brought you into the world, and made you feel as if toy were really there.

it also leaves you craving more when it’s done. the game is a wee bit short…. it’s like maybe 4 hours of game play in the campaign, but that is a fun 4 hours. and there are countless hours of fun in multi- player and achievement hunting that can lengthen play time for hundreds of hours (possibly).

over all this was a great game. epic did exactly what they set out to do, and it was done well

i give this game 5/5

nuf said.

Review by Steve April 30, 2010