Gears of War 2

The followup to the hit Gears of War is here. How does it stack up?

Review by MattyC

Gears 2 returns us to the familiar universe of Coalition of Ordered Governments vs the subterranean Locust. This time around the Locust are attempting to sink the human stronghold of Sera with a giant worm and well... you have to stop them. The cast is back including Marcus and Dom for co-op.

The single player portion of the game is very similar. Some graphical tweaks, but it also looks largely the same. The co-op is still here and is excellent, same as before. Gears 2 isn't just a rehash though. On the co-op front Epic has added a new mode called Horde. In Horde up to 5 players must defend themselves through 50 waves of Locusts on various maps. While it may not be a new concept, it is a perfect fit for Gears and you can probably get your moneys worth just playing this one game mode.

Other new features include "chainsaw duels" and the ability to use fallen enemies as shields. The chainsaw duels basically occur when you both decide to gib one another with the trusty Lancer extension. It basically just comes down to mashing a button to decide who gets to saw who in two, but while it may not be a deep feature it can be great fun. Picking up enemies as shields affords you a greater deal of protection at the cost of your main weapons (you are limited to the pistol when doing so) and can be very effective in the domination style mode. Plus it is awesome.

For more traditional multiplayer Gears 2 brings back Execution, Warzone, Annex and King of the Hill while adding in a few new ones. Wingman is a new mode where everyone is split into two person teams. The teams are identified by sharing a model. Also included are a new CTF variant and an updated assassination.

Matchmaking is much improved. It is now similar to the newer Call of Duty or Halo group/lobby systems. Also improved is the death cam. You now have many more options to view the battle and the ability to take screenshots that can be uploaded to the web. Weapon balance has also been tweaked. The game pushes more for cover and allows for more ranged duels than the shotgun running/nade tagging original.

All in all Gears 2 isn't revolutionary, but then neither was the original. Basically what you get is a game that may lack depth, but more than makes up for it in enjoyment.