Gears of War is a great shooter with gorgeous visuals, intense sound, and some real clever tricks.
The answer is a resounding yes, as Gears of War delivers both excellent action and a neat twist on the first-person shooter genre. It also has a few small but effective tricks that go a long way towards making the game feel more cinematic than any before it, in a way that action games should strive to be. The nigh-seamless integration of this approach is effective at making Gears not only play like a cinematic game, but also like something of a controlled film, something most games fail terribly at .
Gears appears to be a standard shooter at first, though the camera is not centered in the character, like it is in Halo and Unreal Tournament games. Taking a cue from Resident Evil 4, the camera is set above and behind the player character's right shoulder. While this may seem disorienting at first, before long its unnoticeable. As with most unique decisions in Gears, this serves a very specific purpose. Not only does it give the player a very wide view of their surroundings, but it makes the damage received very visual. Gouts of blood, a shade of dark red with a liquid metal sheen, splash onto the player's camera. When the player's avatar is heaving for breath on the ground, the player watches them struggle for each ragged inhalation. It puts the plight of the hero, their pain and struggle, into a perspective the player sees as well as experiences. It also makes the violence received much more visceral. Watching an opponent take a chainsaw to the player isn't just a chainsaw and red goo; it's a body being sawed in half, a torso being rendered into two jagged pieces of raw meat. Gears is not for the faint of heart, and easily earns its "M" rating with these unfiltered displays of gore and violence.
This camera angle also plays into the game's unifying conceit. Perhaps tired of the run'n'gun arcade stylings of the fast-paced shooters Epic is known for, Gears of War places heavy emphasis on cover. Whether "blind firing" over a short wall or running from pillar to pillar, firing a few well-aimed shots at each stop, the player is almost always employing the local scenery as an ally. Players must constantly decide when the right time to pop up from behind safety is, with their gun already aimed in a fairly correct direction, so that fine-tuning a shot only takes a few moments before squeezing the trigger. Taking an enemy down quickly before hiding again, and at times defending that hiding place at close range in frantic melee combat, makes up the core of the Gears of War experience.
There are a few changes of pace throughout the game's campaign, including turret placements and some light driving elements, but the duck & shoot is the heart of the action. It's a rewarding and different method of gameplay, only explored in-depth previously by the underrated PlayStation 2 title Kill.switch. That Gears takes such a rarely-employed tack with their new big franchise is not only welcome in terms of risk-taking, but also in looking forward to what they can accomplish with future efforts. There is not only a willingness to change up what is expected from the first-person shooter, but a need to, a determination that comes across clearly in the flow of the game.
The only downside with this approach is that large firefights can sometimes feel too much like work. When a dozen of the Locust horde are bearing down on the player from multiple directions, all firing at their place of concealment, it can be more punishing than rewarding to attempt to fire back. Playing so defensively may not sit well with players used to taking the bull by the horns in intense conflicts. In small firefights the action is satisfying and thrilling by comparison. Bringing down emerging foes while rolling from one hiding palce to another is immensely entertaining.For the most part, however, Gears consists of small flashpoints of combat followed by movement or a lull of action before flaring up again, so it largely avoids tedium.
When a game's primary conceit is so heavily tied to its environs, the level design better be spot-on, and Gears of War delivers in this regard. There is cover everywhere in the world Epic has created, but it never feels forced or out of place. Whether the player is hiding in a drained fountain or behind a headstone, they are in a natural location, with logically placed cover that shows signs of old architecture, battle, and disuse. Gears also cleverly uses its approach to reinvent corridor shooting, as indoor areas are made much more interesting thanks to the concept of surroundings as protection. Long hallways and stairwells are now likely deathtraps, not boring necessity. Overturned tables and shelves are life savers, not a touch of scenery. One of the biggest drags on the first-person (and now over-the-shoulder) shooter genre is that small confined areas are devoid of creative strategy; in Gears of Way, those same areas are ripe for improvisation and frantic action.
One of the biggest assets to a graphic, visceral action game is always going to be visuals, and Gears goes above and beyond the call of duty. Early shots of the game looked very detailed, but they also appeared generic, the Achilles' heel of western development. Seeing the game in action, the gritty aesthetic isn't just about hideous homonid aliens and linebacker-sized military grunts. The architecture, the very world of the game, is stunningly rendered. The ruinous remains of civilization could have so easily been depressing and drab, but instead they are absolutely glorious. In many modern games, the artistic direction is given attention withotu due cause; in Gears of War, the structures and environs are not only graphically superb, but artistically wondrous. One cannot go on enough about how good the world looks. If some of the aliens seem a bit generic, it's forgiveable, because the world they inhabit (and the weather effects therein) are the best of the best.
The sound is also superb. The voice acting is professional, led by John DiMaggio's work as hardened veteran Marcus Fenix, a far cry from his work as the booze-powered misanthrope Bender on Futurama. The squadmates of Delta Squadron are chatty fellows, so its good that their work is professional and believable, if a bit exaggerated (like Agustus "Coal Train" Cole, whose whoops and hollers would likely draw unwanted attention from enemy soldiers). The score is grand and sweeping, the blast of gunfire satisfyingly loud and realistic. The sound of a revved chainsaw or a target locked Hammer of Dawn in multiplayer matches is enough to make players stop dead in their tracks and ask their teammates if that sound is one of them. That the sound brings about such an urgent reaction is testimony to its effectiveness. Of particular note is the way the score uses subtle audio clues to let the player know when a given area is free of enemies, allowing them to move forward. It's an element that isn't immediately noticeable because it flows with the game itself instead of against it, and it takes actual attention to notice it consciously.
This is not the only small but worthwhile addition to the game that Epic has incuded in Gears of War, and together these elements are truly what makes the game stand out. The camera adjustment when a player sprints is absolutely thrilling to see, but it is also hard to work with. This is intentional, asking the palyers to know where they're running and to understand a full sprint by a 250+ pound man covered in battle gear is not something that can be turned on a dime. The reload function, which involves a golf-style meter that allows for a faster reload and even better bullets, is another small but enjoyable inclusion, as is the explosive-arrow firing torque bow. With the standard assault rifles, the clicking of an empty cartridge starts up before players run out of ammunition, notifying them ahead of time they need to reload. When aimed, grenades have a colored arc that gives the player a fairly accurate idea of where their explosive is going to land, allowing them to use the preciously spare resource as effectively as possible. Epic understands that the big idea is important, but it's the small touches that seperate good games fro, great ones, and they've proven that knowledge with Gears.
The single-player mode isn't terribly long, with an abrupt ending, but the ride is fun while it lasts, and most players will spend 8-12 hours getting through it on their first run, though higher difficulty levels and a partner can affect how long it takes. Playing Casual with a friend makes the game a scant handful of hours in length; playing Insane alone makes it a 20-hour struggle against the Locust horde. The dynamic nature of combat is matched by the smooth game progression from start to finish; the game doesn't stop anywhere for very long, and it's made more exciting due to the strong pacing, outside of a few occurrences where overwhelming odds slow it down a bti much.
Cooperative play is loads of fun, both online and in splitscreen variations but it doesn't really inject as much in the way of tactics and strategy as the player might expect. While it is possible to flank some of the foes, most situations put the player in one place and sends enemies after them, meaning partners are rarely in a position to outmaneuver their foes. Gears also has several sections where Delta Squad is split up, and this usually means the players are too, largely negating the benefit of having another player by one's side. At it's best the coopoerative is a blast, but it usually isn't very different than solo play.
Online multiplayer has historically been the heart of an Epic game, but in this case, that's not entirely true. All three game modes available in Gears' online component are variations of one-life deathmatch modes, and maps are not selectable between rounds, instead being chosen by the host at match setup. Ranked multiplayer also does not let the player choose their co-combatants, which hinders the experience. This is most unfortunate for fans of Microsoft's Achievements system, as many of the points offered by Gears are only available in ranked matches. As someone who avoids playing with random people at all times, this reviewer found the decision to be perplexing. There could be more meat to the online experience overall, but it's fun for what it is. It does not have the legs that a more varied online game, like Halo 2, has, but it's good for afew months of online action.
Gears of War is absolutely overflowing with quality. Epic Games took their time with this one, and it shows. There are occasional instances where the slower pacing can get tedious as players slowly work out of large firefights, and the driving section doesn't feel very consistent with the rest of the game, but Gears of War almost always works. With such a potent combination of intense action, gorgeous visuals, and visceral sound, Epic has not only proven they can make a more realistic kind of game, but that they're among the elite craftsmen of action game developers. Gears of War is an experience no action game fan should forgo, and stands as one of the best games of 2006.