This beautifully violent shooter is in every way enjoyable and is likely to stay with you for many months.
Story
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Truth-be-told, I've never once played the first Gears of War. Therefore, I do not know whether or not the story picks up where the first left off; I'd imagine it did, however. The story is pretty simple at first: a war is taking place between the Cogs (humans) and the Locust Horde (a Covenant-esque organization of aliens). You begin in Jacinto I believe, in the marketplace sector. An invasion is taking place while you're training Benjamin Carmine, Anthony Carmine's brother. Shortly after, you visit the hospital and meet up with Tai. From there comes a mostly character-driven storyline, as otherwise it can be sort of dull. The plot twist in the next-to-last chapter of the campaign is fairly interesting, however. Story: 8/10
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Graphics
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What do you expect from a modern Xbox 360-exclusive shooter? 8-bit sprites? No, Gears of War 2 sports graphics that may or may not surpass the original. I honestly could not confirm that as of yet. But anyway, the graphics are nice and very, very realistic. The animations are brilliant, and the violence will satisfy the gore-hungry person. The game is beautifully violent with the enemy bodies reacting very realistically to things like being sawed in half by a Lancer, having their head(s) blown off with a sniper or Boltok Pistol, even being blown to bits by a frag grenade. Definitely more gory and realistic than the likes of Halo. All in all, the graphics are great. Graphics: 10/10
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Gameplay
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I'm fairly certain that Gears of War 2 sports the same gameplay as the original if not very similar. I do know that many weapons were thrown into the possible arsenal of your character, such as the Boltok Pistol (my personal favorite weapon). The campaign is, as expected, where all the story is, and it plays fairly well. The difficulty can be set by you, setting up your own challenges and what not. The multiplayer, however, is where your money should go for. The multiplayer is magnificent, with a somewhat large assortment of maps to start with (plus many more to be received via Xbox Live), the ability to choose your character (you can select between Cogs or Locust in this game), and even throw together a one-man party with nine computer bots for those who just don't have any friends to screw around with. There are also many more new modes, apparently, with the exceedingly difficult 50-wave warzone that is known as Horde as well as a few other new modes. In other words, the campaign is cool, but the multiplayer is the best part of the game. Gameplay: 9.7/10
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Sound
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Here is another quality about Gears of War 2: the sound is amazing. Both music-wise and sound effect-wise at that; the music is orchestrated and sounds incredible especially when hooked up to any form of surround-sound speakers. The sound effects could easily fool you into thinking that the sound-effect directors literally blew someone's head off in the studio with a pistol and recorded the sound it makes, then implemented it in the game. I'm not kidding. And the voice acting is great, nothing to complain about here. Cole and Baird---especially when together---are convincing and hilarious at the same time. Sound: 9.5/10
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Length/Replay Value
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The campaign is a satisfying length, but it is also likely that you will not want to trudge through it again after you've beaten it once so you can unlock Skorge for multiplayer (guilty as charged). The multiplayer is mainly what will keep this game inside your Xbox 360 ready to start up for months on end. Length/Replay Value: 7.7/10
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Fun Factor
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The campaign is very entertaining for some time, but the multiplayer is hella fun and will keep you playing for what seems like forever. Fun Factor: 9.5/10
Overall: 9.5, superb. If I was told to choose between Halo 3 and Gears of War 2, I would say "Screw Halo 3, hand over Gears of War 2."
...Okay, that was corny. But you get the picture.
Ultimate Ridley out.