Gears of War 2 Review

Jacinto. The last bastion of hope for humanity. The locust have rebounded from the lightmass bomb, and continue to engage the COG army. This time, they have a force to sink entire cities, and what was once safe is now at peril. We join Marcus Fenix, Dominic Santiago, and the rest of Delta squad in their fight. This time the stakes are higher, and the only way to protect what's left is to take the fight to the Locust. Victory or annihilation. The fate of Sera rests in your hands in Gears of War 2.

The Good:

- An epic storyline. Well orchestrated from start to finish. The story was definitely well thought out, well written and well executed. Fans of the first will not be disappointed with the finished product.
- Improved Unreal engine. Tweaks to the Unreal engine have made it possible to render large scale battles never felt before in the Gears of War universe, and is rivalled by few franchises. You no longer feel like the only squad on the surface of Sera or deep in the Hollows. This time, you witness the might of the COG army- as well as the Locust Horde. Believe me when I put down the words "large scale" and "army." You will not have enough bullets, and you will be glad you aren't the only one fighting for your life.
- Improved ally and enemy AI. Enemies will use real time tactics to kill you. They will flank you. They will flush you out with grenades. They will send in tickers to blow you up, or at least out of cover. When you think you are safe, mortar rounds will rain from the sky. If you go down? Random COG soldiers or Delta Squad members will try to rush and pick you up, but be warned- the Locust Horde will do the same for their fallen. You can also call for help when you're down, and try to crawl back to safety to help your teammates help you.
- New enemies. New varieties of boomers, guards, tickers, and mounts stand in your way. Its you or them. Bring guns. Lots of them, and big ones.
- New weapons. Gears 2 introduces a new set of heavy weapons, such as the Mulcher and the Mortar. A completely revamped Locust issue Hammerburst assault rifle that is more powerful and more accurate than the COG Lancer, a Gorgon pistol with a burst shot that might as well be an assault rifle in its own right, ink grenades that allow you to enjoy a painful, poisonous death, as well as a shield you can use to defend yourself with and deploy anywhere, anytime for portable cover. Old favorites such as the lancer, gnasher shotgun, boomshot, torque bow and others are back with new tricks as well. There are also new red ammunition crates that provide the standard ammunition that the COG ammunition crates provide, but the red ones (found mostly in Locust territory) offer ammunition for your boomshot and torque bow as well. With the enemies you'll be facing, you'll need those bullets.
- New Executions. You can still kill everyone from a distance if you'd like. But if you're like me and enjoy getting up close and personal, then these new executions are for you. Use your fists to pound enemies to death, snap their necks, curbstomp, or take your weapon in hand and go shotgun golfing, among many others.
- More cooperative choices. Run in head first, or strategize with a friend (or AI) to complete objectives. In Gears 2 you'll find that in many places (many more than Gears 1), there are multiple points of entry with different tactical advantages- so whether you like to rush in head first or provide cover from above while your buddy charges to his imminent doom, there are plenty of available scenarios for that. There are also more choices where your team must split up. Sometimes you will run completely different paths, sometimes you will provide cover for each other, sometimes you can hear the chainsaw going and not know what's going on- but rest assured you will both have a good run for your money (there will probably be more running than money).
- Multiplayer. Beyond a full co-op campaign story mode, players can go head to head with others with a variety of modes such as warzone, guardian, wingman, submission, execution, king of the hill, and annex. Maps vary with unique tactical advantages and disadvantages, as well as hazards such as razorhail. Should you feel brave, you and up to four buddies can take on 50 waves of increasingly difficult batches of locust known as Horde mode.
- Music. Expect a much more epic score for your larger scale battles done by Steve Jablonsky (Transformers, Command and Conquer 3 Tiberium Wars/Kanes Wrath).
- Superb voice acting. By all participants in the war on Sera. Especially by Dominic Santiago (Carlos Ferro).

The Bad:

- Host advantage up to this point has not been entirely obvious, but there have been complaints about a little lag right when you start from checkpoints in the campaign and one battle where the second player just cannot seem to win chainsaw battles (possibly because of the response from the host to the player spamming B).
- There have also been complaints by many players on how the final battle played out, but I saw it as one of the only feasible ways for it to end (and still enjoyed it). But it is up to you to decide.

Overall:

Cliff Bleszinski promised a Gears that would be bigger, better, and more badass- and that is what Epic Games delivered. But what is more impressive is that Epic Games has managed to do something many studios have not been able to: and that is to create a sequel that is better than the first. They have taken the experience that Gears of War provided, and stepped it up in a scale very few expected but will truly enjoy. Fans of the first, do not hesitate to buy here- you will be playing for a long time.

Especially if you are looking to get Seriously 2.0.

- Jack