Quite a fun game actually, but it has the same problems, bugs, and glitches of many bad games.
So realizing that online was still as laggy as ever I made the transition to Campaign mode. SAME RESULT. The characters were still unlikeable as ever, and the only new main character was Tai. No I'm not counting Carmine as a new character because he is EXACTLY THE SAME. The guns were still fun to use though even though the were a little less fun to use, especially the Lancer (aka chainsaw gun).The reason why the chainsaw was worse is because in the first game chainsaw kills were rare moments where you could cherish the fun of having a god damn chainsaw. In Gears 2 the chainsaw revs up in about a quarter of a second and kills in only 1. The story also took a turn for the worst. I was surprised when the game actually tried to make me CARE about Dom, one of the main characters. His quest to find is wife is honestly, pathetic. What would have actually made this "Wife Quest" good would be if Marcus Fenix was the character in search of his wife. My reasoning for this is that the only emotion Marcus really has is anger. I would have liked to see Marcus having a more sad or depressed side to him. And i hope this doesn't make me sound like a bad person, but if Marcus cried at some point that would have made me really care about his conflict (the one that I just made up).
By the way, I know that many patches have come out for the game's online, and I am thankful for that, but it also proves that Epic Games only starts to give a crap when people start complaining. Also, even though Gears of War 1 had some pretty bad lag as well, it sometimes helped to make the online experience more frantic, fast paced, and fun. And if your wondering why I haven't mentioned Horde mode it's because I've been being sort of negative up until now, so my thoughts on Horde mode wouldn't fit in. In other words, I loved Horde mode it was different than anything else I've ever played, and working together was a blast.
In conclusion, if you never got to experience the amazing experience that is the original Gears of War, Gears 2 will be amazing, but if you've played Gears of War 1 for hours and hours and hours, Gears 2 will be nothing special.