Gears of War achieves what a video game masterpiece is, and should definitely not be passed up by any gamer...period!!!
Gameplay- Gears is a third person shooter/action game and is centralized by one major mechanic...using cover! And it has never been so much fun and tactical to utilize it. If you do not use cover in this game, you will fail to progress! This is evidently true, you really cannot survive the enemies playing Rambo style! You can use just about any kind of surface in Gears of War. This provides different ways to approach different situations, especially when you encounter intense battles in the game. Well, the majority of the single player campaign is intesne, and as far as multiplayer goes, you'll jump a few times out of excitement, suspense and getting chainsawed from behind, lol. Speaking of chainsaws, another great gameplay of Gears is the weapons. There isn't a large abundance of weapons, but the amount present fit the idea of survival in the game. You don't get to choose or outfit your weaponry at the beginning of each level, you just pick them up as go. You can only carry two heavy weapons at a time, along with a pistol and up to four frag or smoke grenades! There are other weapons such as shotguns, and unique weapons like the Torque Bow and "Hammer of Dawn." The weapons provide even more value to the fun factor of the game. Ammo is reloaded by the X button and there is also the very cool "active reload." It works a little like the pitching meters in baseball games, except more simplistic which benefits a lot. In a nutshell, Gears of War's gameplay is outlined in a fast paced way, since the game consists of plentiful action and yet it allows you to be some-what tactical with a quickness! 9/10
Graphics- The theme of "Destroyed Beauty" in Gear's graphical prowess is superb! These graphics are next-gen, showing what the 360 is capable of! The textures on everything are perfect. There's huge detail on basically everything you see, from the main character's (Marcus Fenix) head-wrap to the skin on the Locust enemies! The animations are top notch, the graphics will just leave you in awe! 10/10
Sound- The game sounds great too! The sound effects sound very realistic. Guns firing and ripping through your enemies skin. Their body parts breaking and flying from the explosion of grenades...you get the picture. The musical score is awesome too. It adds a cinematic tone to the game. Gears of War sounds damn near perfect as well. 10/10
Value- Plenty of replay value here. You can be a brave soul and try to complete the game on "Insane" difficulty, but the high point is the multiplayer! Four on Four action, intense all the way through. The multiplayer is the one factor that'll keep you coming back, especially if you like getting achievements. 9/10
Gears of War excels on many...no basically all levels. Superb in every category it's a damn near perfect game! If you have any love for video games, find some way play this game. If you own a Xbox 360, there's no reason why you don't own this game by now. Microsoft and Xbox has yet another killer app. Gears of War=Masterpiece!