An Exciting Action Title that is ultimately hurt by it's own Hype Machine.

User Rating: 8.6 | Gears of War X360
By purplemidgets | Review Date:
I opinion on Gears of War has changed since I bought it last month. At first, I was blown away by it. Everything seemed to blend together so well, and playing it with a friend made my very happy. I initially decided a 9.4 was a score worthy enough. Then I finally beat Gears for the second time, and put a few hours of multiplayer under my belt. The game didn't have that flare it once had, no more did I think of it as an amazing game. The painfully short single player campaign lead to me having very little to choose from in a replay. The simplistic gameplay and lack of real (fun) variety hurt it's reputation. The cover system no longer felt fresh, and I began getting tired of using the A button for anything movement related. I grew tired of the bare bones multiplayer. The co-op was no longer a feasible option because I had played every level several times. Everything as a whole in Gears dulled. It became "just another fun action game" to me, and not the instant classic I once thought. Gears resembled a flash in a pan so to speak.

Now, I'm not saying Gears isn't fun. It is. It just doesn't have that "it" factor for me. Maybe the hype made that happen. The massive hype machine surrounding Gears couldn't have been fulfilled. It was impossible. Again, I'll emphasis that I'm not saying Gears is a bad game. I enjoy playing it. The graphics are stunning, and the shoot outs can be intense. It left a great first impression on me. Onto the category review:

Gameplay:
Gameplay in Gears is straightforward. Get behind cover, shoot enemy. It's a system that works well and is quite fun. The cover system is well structured, though the over reliance on the A button hurts it somewhat. Things like being able to quickly transition between cover, and slip in and out of it is a no brainer and makes it seem silly to not include it in any game using a similar cover system. On the higher difficulties, the game can be brutal, but playing with a friend over co-op offsets it. The firefights are intense, and being able to literally blow an enemies head off makes waiting it out worth it. Graphics:
Simply stunning. This is what I think of when I think of "Next Gen Graphics" The character models are detailed and look fantastic. Even on an SDTV (which I have) it still looks better than anything out there. One thing I have to say is that the graphics look better in the daylight levels. When everything is dark and muted, it can get less impressive. Sound:
This is one thing that disappointed me the most. The sound of the guns, to me, were hollow and weren't big enough. They lacked the "omph" a gunshot should have. Maybe I'm spoiled by the game BLACK, because no games gunfire has sounded good enough since. The other knock is the voice acting. I know it's supposed to be a cheesey action homage, but it's just poor. Still, the sound OVERALL is good. The moody sound effects and the squish of metal on flesh is great

Value:
In my opinion, the multiplayer is garbage. But it's playable when you're playing with people you know. I can put up with it as long as I can joke around with my friends. Co-op is the real star here, it makes the game much better when you are sitting there battling it out with a buddy. For most people, they'll go back and play it over and over and over. For them, the value is high. For me, it's moderate.

I'll reiterate. Gears of War is a very good game. It's a great game infact. But in my opinion, it breaks no ground nor beats most of my favorite games of this generation. If Epic decides to release some single player levels for free, I'll be quite happy. For now I await playing Gears in HD. Good day

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