The highly anticipated XBOX 360 title from Epic Games, Gears of War, is an epic (pun intended) ride of pure adrenaline and cinematic genius. This third person shooter follows a single day in the life of a solider named Marcus Fenix and his comrade Dom. Their goal is to destroy the Locusts, a mysterious and vicious colony of creatures that plague their once peaceful planet. Able to emerge at any moment from a labyrinth of underground tunnels, the Locusts are quickly able to devastate many of the human forces. In a last ditch effort to destroy the Locust Horde, Dom springs Marcus from jail and they begin the longest day of their lives.

Gears of War’s single player campaign opens to Dom breaking Marcus out of jail. Dom gives you a chance to learn how to play the game or to go directly into battle. Whichever path you choose you will quickly learn that Gears of War is not your typical shooter. The first half an hour of the game will quickly put an end to all your preconceptions about shooters by drilling you full of bullets whenever you make a mistake. Gears of War is all about tactical play and using cover, and if you choose not to the consequence is death. Typical run and gun games of the past may have allowed you to run into rooms, guns blazing, and be able to survive, but this time you are going to have to use your brain and a bit of patients.

The cover system is all mapped around the A which makes it extremely simple. To snap into cover you press A, to move from one point of cover to another you just point your joystick where you want to go and press A, and to scale the cover to advance on your enemy you point your joystick forward and press A. This system is extremely simple and makes the game feel incredibly natural to play; after you get used to the controls you will find that you wont ever be fighting the controller.

Just like using cover, the other mechanics in Gears of War are extremely easy to use. At a single time you can hold two main weapons, a sidearm, and up to four grenades. Selecting these weapons is easy, as all four are mapped to the D-Pad. Using the weapons is just as easy as selecting them. The left trigger gives you a crosshair so you can aim and fire with the right trigger. Without holding down the left trigger you can blind fire around cover, this can be very useful when you get in sticky situations. While reloading any of the weapons a player is able to push the right bumper at a certain time to do an active reload. This makes your gun reload faster, and if done perfectly, you will be rewarded with a damage bonus. Overall this mini-game is an exciting addition and hopefully will be seen in future titles as it adds another element of skill to the game.

Graphically, Gears of War, is a milestone for next generation games. Every single character model, including the Locusts, is flawless. The character’s armor is full of details, as well as their faces and weapons. Each weapon is viewable on the body of the player holder it, whether or not they have it drawn. The environments in the game look equally stunning. Ranging from dilapidated buildings to underground tunnels, Gears of War is extremely successful in building a post-apocalyptic world. It is evident that a lot of time was spent perfecting not only the character design, but also the simple, and often overlooked, odds and ends that really bring a game together.

Epic took an interesting approach to the HUD (heads up display) that is used in Gears of War. There is very little on the screen besides what is actually going on in the game. By eliminating the typical life bars and representative numbers that plague the screen in most games, Gears of War gains a true cinematic feel. The information you need to see is placed in the game in a subtle manner. The gun you are currently using and the ammo you have only show up on the screen when you are using it. You will find that it is always there when you need it to be and never obstructs the game in any way, allowing you to enjoy the visual surroundings to their fullest. Similarly, switching between weapons shows you the information you need and only when you need it. The representation of health or life is also not like your typical shooter. Instead of a life bar that just depletes as you take damage, Gears of War uses an automatic healing mechanism similar to that of Halo 2. As you take damage the Gears of War symbol, a red skull with a gear around it, shows up in the middle of the screen. At first glance it may seem obstructive, but it is designed to tell you to stop doing what you are doing and to get into cover quickly. Overtime this symbol will become a warning and you will be diving out of harms way as soon as you see it.

The sound is Gears is also brilliantly done. Using mostly atmospheric sounds rather than music tracks, Gears of War is able to contribute greatly the post-apocalyptic atmosphere Epic was going for. All of the voiceovers in the game are spectacular and believable. Very few, if any, of the lines in the game felt forced and with the addition of The Office Linebacker as the voice of Cole, the game builds a lot of personality for each character. Similarly, the sounds of all the weapons, explosions and general moans and groans of both your allies and the Locusts are believable.

Aside from the single player campaign, there is also a multiplayer section of the game. This is where you and three friends can take on players from around the globe or you can play the game with a friend cooperatively over XBOX Live. The competitive multiplayer looks and sounds just as great as the single player campaign. With a few small exceptions, all of the weapons and the maps are balanced for online play. Co-op is the same game as single player, except you get to take the game on from Dom’s point of view. This adds a unique edge to the game as there are many times where you and Marcus will split up, allowing you to cover each other from different vantage points.

Gears of War offers a wide range of achievements in both single and multiplayer. Completing sections of the game on each difficulty will give you an achievement, as well as getting a certain number of perfect active reloads in a row and killing certain enemies throughout the game. The multiplayer achievements consist of getting a certain number of kills with each weapon, winning a number of games and playing the game through on co-op.

With three different difficulty levels, tons of online play, the best graphics on a next generation game to date and some of the most fun game play ever, Gears of War is a must have for any gamer. Everyone out there is raving about Gears of War. It has become the most played XBOX Live title, beating out Halo 2, sold over a million copies worldwide, and confirmed multiple sequels. Gears of War is one you don’t want to miss and is a great investment of your hard earned cash.

My game time - 25+ hours

Gameplay - 9
Graphics - 10
Sound - 10
Value - 9
Personal Preference - 10

Average Score - 9.6