This game delivers on all the fronts that it promised and ends up being an amazing final package.

User Rating: 9.5 | Gears of War 2 X360
By mister_armolas | Review Date:
This game was setup by Epic Games sounding like they took the first game and added so many new features that it would never get old, and that's exactly what they did. This game has so many different modes, maps, and different things to do that it is hard to imagine that even when you have completed the campaign on insane, mastered wave 50 on horde and can beat all your friends in multiplayer that you will be finished with this game. Those things alone will take up many hours to complete, not to mention the very welcome addition of bots to the game, which many other games such as Halo 3 have been missing. Cliff Bleszinski seems to know what he's doing when he adds new elements to the gameplay because every new enemy and weapon is a welcome addition and they all fit perfectly into the game and add some new fun, such as the new shield that can be used from downed boomers, as well as the new burst pistol that can be used while taking a locust hostage. That is another welcome addition to the game. Now, when an enemy is downed you have several options. You can press A to pick them up and use them as a meat shield while you use your pistol, you can press X to perform a good old fashioned curb stomp and you can press Y to punch them to death. There are so many tweaks here and there with the already awesome gameplay such as the chainsawing from behind, the chainsaw duels, the stopping power, and as mentioned just now, the variety of killing downed opponents.

Literally every single aspect of the game has been improved upon including the graphics, which are now a bit brighter which is a good thing because, although the environments in Gears 1 were impressive, they were at times dark and uninteresting, whereas now there are extremely visceral environments along with huge scale areas and you are not always cramped.

There is one complaint that I have with the game, and it was a complaint I had with Gears 1 as well, and it is why I have taken of 0.5 from its perfect 10. Most people have more than one friend, so it only makes sense that games are made to support the maximum number of players that the console can handle, in the Xbox 360's case, 4. It is frustrating when we have to take turns playing Gears 2 because it is only 2 players local. Every mode (campaign, versus, and horde) are only 2 players local. Most people do play online now however the multiplayer experience is often at its best when played locally, which is where Gears 2 and 1 fall short.

The bottom line is that this game is a must have if you are a shooter fan, or a good game fan. If you have played Gears of War 1 and enjoyed it at all then this game is a must buy. Although I would recommend buying it new because it includes codes for 5 maps that they carried over from Gears 1 that are not available without the code. This game is awesome and perhaps my favorite game for the console of 2008.

Other Helpful Reviews for Gears of War 2

Load Comments (0)