Gears of War 2 Review

Written by: Darren Cartledge Posted: 10th November 2008

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As war approaches in one of the most anticipated games of the year, we get the gears moving with our review.

Gears of War 2 Details:

	Third Person Shooter
	Xbox 360
	Epic Games
	Microsoft

18+

Out Now

1-2

Gears of War 2 is finally here, after months of anticipation and hype gamers can once again step into the very big boots of Marcus Fenix and Delta Squad. As the fight for humanity’s survival reaches epic proportions, will the game live up to the hype?

Short answer, yes! Mainly due to Epic resisting the temptation to do too much tinkering, after all if it’s not broke don’t fix it. Gears of Wars 2 is set six months after the first game and the Locust have grown so powerful they are now able to sink entire cities. Jacinto is the sole surviving city and Marcus and Dom must once again take the battle to the Locust Hordes in a desperate attempt to aid humanity’s survival.

At its core the gameplay in Gears 2 is pretty much the same as that in the original game, except there have been some key refinements. The cover system sees the games characters pushing themselves up closer against objects in order to stay alive and the revival system has also been tweaked. You can now rapidly tap the A button in order to crawl to safety so that your squad mates revive you. This comes in especially useful if you strayed away from the rest of your squad and allows you to escape from a possible curb stomp.

Gears of War 2 also introduces news weapons, first up is the flamethrower which comes in handy against large groups of Locust although it does seem to have a very limited range, the game also introduces two heavy weapons the mulcher and mortar. The mortar allows you to shower enemies with explosive rounds that drop on them from the sky. The Mulcher is like a mini-gun, although with only one barrel allowing you to shred large groups of enemies with lead. Both the heavy weapons are pretty fun to use, however it’s worth noting you can only walk when you have them equipped.

The game also introduces new ways to execute downed enemies; pressing X will perform a curb stomp whilst pressing Y will make Marcus beat any remaining life out of them with a series of blows to the head. Pressing B will deliver a quick and fatal blow putting them out of their misery. Pressing A however allows you to pick up an enemy and use them as a meat shield, driving towards enemies without the worry of getting hit yourself. That is until your meat shield disintegrates!

Grenades have been slightly reworked! There are new grenades available in gas grenades that fill the air with toxic fumes that suffocate nearby enemies. You can also turn grenades into proximity mines by sticking them onto walls and waiting for enemies to walk by them. You can also tag a grenade onto an enemy and watch them frantically try to get it off before it detonates.

The games level design is fairly different from that of the first game, the campaign should take between 10 to 12 hours to clear however the action is now set in much more open spaces then before and sees you travelling through underground caverns, city streets and forests. The game still of course serves up a good deal of action in tight corridors making for some epic gunfights. There are also more vehicle sequences then in the first game, these still implement an awkward control system that isn’t very accurate, although it’s not enough to spoil the overall excellent gameplay on offer in Gears of War 2.

Multiplayer has been made much more part of Gears of War 2 then its predecessor, with the addition of drop in co-op play that allows another player to join or leave a game at anytime. The game also sees the addition of four new multiplayer modes, the king of the hill mode from the PC version of the first Gears as well as all the game types from the original game returning. Support for the number of players has also increased from 8 to 10.

The new multiplayer game types are Horde, Submission, Guardian and Wingman. Wingman sees up to five two player teams battle it out for points, with all of the action mainly taking place at close range or with one shot kills. It must be said that this is the Gears of War take on deathmatch. In Guardian, one player on each team is assigned as the leader, whilst they stay alive any member that dies respawns, however once the leader is disposed of when you die that’s it. Obviously the last team standing wins. Submission is a take on capture the flag, however the flag has been replaced by a bot character that must be escorted to a ring on the map, however things aren’t that easy as “the flag” will try and shoot anyone who comes near him so you will have to take him down and carry him in the meat shield position.

Horde is probably the most notable addition to the multiplayer aspect, this is an arcade style shooter experience that sees you and a team take on an ever increasing horde of enemies that come in waves. Fallen team mates will respawn with each successful victory against any given wave however, enemies will get tougher and more formidable with each wave, making for some very interesting and intense battles.

All this multiplayer action is spread out among 10 brand new maps and as a bonus, an additional five updated maps from the original game can be downloaded with a special code included in the games box.

As the core of the gameplay is still the same, Gears of War 2 still has some of the same flaws of the original, mainly your squad mates AI who will often run in your line of fire or from behind cover when they really shouldn’t. There also seems to be a couple of minor bugs, such as squad mates failing to follow you and then suddenly appearing ahead once a checkpoint is reached. I also encountered a problem that required me to reload a checkpoint when Jack was supposed to cut through a steel door only he did nothing and I couldn’t proceed. All only minor annoyances but worth noting!

Visually the game has the same gritty look as the original, however things appear to be sharper and the level of detail on display is a lot better then in the first game. New and bigger enemies also make an appearance for you to shoot down and things in general have been done on a grander scale.

The games sound design is flawless, voice acting is all performed well with each actor filling their character with the type of attitude you would expect. The soundtrack is also very fitting, although what little music there is during play is often muted by the constant hail of gun fire which of course is exceptional.

Despite offering a playing experience very similar to the original game, Gears of War 2 does refine it enough to make a difference and what you will find is an immersive battle that will have you hooked until the end, the new multiplayer options will mean that the disc stays firmly in your 360 for sometime. If you’re a fan of the first game, Gears of War 2 is definitely unmissable!