Round 2 of the Gears series is here...
The graphics this time around are awesome. Gears had great graphics, but mainly consisted of muted colors including grays and browns. Now you have a full color spectrum, and it instantly shows. Fire now looks like fire now, and there is much of it to see. There are several new additions, while small, that gives this title a nice graphical polish. Like the barrel of your gun being red for a few seconds before turning back to its original color after firing a few rounds. Now you can penetrate cover, like wood, glass, and plastic, making the action seem more believable.
The gameplay, taking the "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" approach, is largely unchanged from the first. The buttons are exactly the same, save for some upgrades. When you shoot an enemy, the have a chance of crawling away, this is when something new opens up. Instead of blasting them with bullets, or curb stomping them, you have two other choices: bash their face in or pick them up and use them as a shield. While not revolutionary, it works perfectly in the Gears setting. Also, your grenades can now be tagged onto enemies and surfaces. When attached to a surface, it acts a claymore. Sweet! There are even more guns and grenades to play with along with many, many more enemies to shoot.
The multiplayer has been upgraded, and feels more refined. However, the time it takes to find teammates and opponents are a tad bit on the long side. I clocked one loading at 5 min 32 sec. Epic doesn't let their fans down, so I expect a patch very soon. The game modes are more varied now, and the new Horde mode is a BIG challenge (50 total waves) that completionists and die-hard fans will dig into.
The sound in the game is awesome, and is more varied now. Gears had dialogue, but was on the "huh?" side, but was acceptable. Now the dialogue is better and is more prevalent. However with that, comes even more swearing. Considering that the Gears are military, and the situations they are put in, it fits, but some may find it overdone. However, is game does have an "M" rating for a reason. All the weapons sound more power-packed, and actually have the stopping power to back it up. And the new enemies sound equally as menacing. Gulp!
Now, since this is a 360 exclusive, special care has be given to the achievements, and this means that they will take a while. One is called "Seriously 2.0" that has you killing 100,000 enemies in any game mode! Another is "Party like its 1999" which has you playing 1999 rounds of any game type. Those two alone with take the average gamer a very long time to get. Then there is the standard beat x level on x difficulty. Overall, the list is expansive but fun.
Gears 2 is everything that fans have been waiting for. Great graphics, improved story, action packed gameplay that we have come to love, improved multiplayer, and more, make this a worthy sequel and sets up a third installment without even trying. Even if you haven't played the first, and you have a 360, you owe it to yourself to play this. Delta Squad out!