Gears of War

I've played through the game twice, once on Hardcore by myself, and once on Insane with a buddy over Live. Does the game live up to the hype?

I would say so.

Gameplay:

Gameplay-wise, Gears does not throw many curve balls at you. You move from firefight to firefight and advance through a level. Its biggest weakness might be that it is fairly linear. Enemies never seem to be just wandering around a level, they mostly come rushing out, or ambush you, or a Locust hole will open up whenever you enter their area. This takes away from the game a bit, since it feels very scripted. Most areas also "close up" after you advance, so you cannot backtrack much. Not that there is any real need to backtrack, but it feels like the world is just closing in around you and you are being ushered through a set path. So while the game is just a series of battles over and over in a set location until you open up the next area, the battles are a ton of fun, thanks to great enemy A.I., fun weapons, and the game's cover system.

While alternate paths are offered periodically, you need to specify which route to take, again, taking away from the organic feel of the game. It would have been better if the paths were just presented to you and you go in the direction you want, instead of actually choosing a side through an on-screen menu.

The game heavily relies on cover and the controls work very well. It takes getting used to at first, especially since the "A" button does just about everything, but once you get the hang of it, it works great. I have had very few issues with the controls once I got over the initial learning curve. Even having the reload button on the right-bumper becomes second nature, though it feels very awkward at first.

Overall, the game might be restrictive and does very little to move the action/shooter genre forward (aside from the cover system), but since it manages to stay fun throughout, I'll give it a pass.

Sound:

The game's effects are loud and get the job done. Voice work is pretty good, even though the script itself could use some work. The "Brain Dead Tough Guy" hook is layered a little too thick sometimes. The Locusts sound appropriately creepy and scary, and those damn Wretches make a nasty screech that will make the hair on the back of you neck stand at attention. I hate those damn Wretches (they remind me of the Flood only slightly less annoying).

The music is actually what surprised me the most. It is very, very good. I loved the orchestral score and thought is enhanced the mood of the game perfectly. The rap song that plays during the end credits didn't do it for me though. Seemed out of place and annoying. They should have played "Mad World", like they did for the fantastic trailer released before launch.

Story:

This is the area that let me down the most. Not the story itself, because I have been reading and following the Gears story for over a year now and I think it is great . . . but the actual story telling is abysmal. Seriously, I do not think Epic could have done a worse job conveying the story to the player. Do you know why? Because they don't convey the story to the player. No story information is given during the game. Sure, some of the characters hint at a back story during gameplay, and if you read the instruction booklet you a whopping paragraph letting you know the events leading up to the start of the game, but other than that, the player is kept completely in the dark.

That is very unfortunate, because the history Epic has created for this world is pretty intriguing. You can get a pretty good prologue from Wikipedia HERE.

If Epic could have done a better job of informing the player what was going on, then it would have helped immerse the player into this detailed world and provided a much better experience. I am very disappointed in Epic for giving such little regard to the game's story.

Graphics:

Alright, this is what everyone is talking about. Everyone knows the age old motto: Graphics are not important, it is all about gameplay. That may be true, but in GoW's case, the graphics are the sole reason for this game's appeal and success. If this game had average to mediocre graphics, nobody would even know about it. Like I said, the gameplay is not revolutionary enough to stand on its own. This game is all about impressive visuals.

And impressive they are. Best looking game of all time? At the moment, it just might be. Best looking console game at least. The overall graphical package is fantastic. The models, environments, lighting, effects, they come together beautifully. There are some scenes that are so drop-dead gorgeous you need to just sit back and stare in awe at your screen. A HDTV really helps too, although I cannot really comment on how the game looks on a SDTV, I'm sure it is still impressive.

There is one scene in Act III which takes place in a HUGE underground cavern surrounded by a lake of Imulsion (the game's clear, luminescent energy source) which is the most impressive thing I have ever seen as a gamer. Absolutely gorgeous.

Another scene takes place in a greenhouse, overrun with plants and weeds, with light streaming in from the glass roof above, again, simply gorgeous. The level that takes place at night, during a huge downpour and everything glistens, again, very impressive. Like I said, best looking console game ever made.

Now that I got all the praise out of the way, time to really dissect the visuals. Like I said, as a total graphical package, no game out there comes close to topping Gears. However, that does not mean it is a perfect visual experience. The biggest weakness I see by far, are the textures. A lot of the textures simply do not hold up on close inspection. Some even at not-so close inspection. If the entire scene is taken in as a whole, it looks phenomenal. But focus on that ruble in the corner, or that wall you're hiding behind and you see some blurry, lower-res texture rear their ugly heads.

There is this one room in the first act which has a refrigerator up against a wall. The textures of the fridge are . . . well, they are just terrible. Absolutely terrible. And not just from up close, from across the room it looks awful. It literally looks like it was taken out of some Xbox 1 game and put in Gears. It looks very out of place, especially with your fantastic looking character model next to it. There are many instances of rubble and debris also looking less than desirable. Now, many games have this problem and it is only because Gears of War's visuals are so damn amazing that it makes this aspect stand out. Other games would probably be happy to have Gear's textures.

Another issue is that when your character changes elevation, like walking onto a sidewalk from the street, he just pops up and it looks extremely jarring. Sort like he did a quick little teleport to elevate himself a few inches off the ground. Now, many of you are probably saying, "Stop whining about these little details, no game is perfect, you suck Tanis!!!", and I hear what you are saying, but anyone that knows me knows that from this generation, this "next" generation, it is the little things that I am looking for. All those little details are what come together and give games that special next gen feel. Watching my teammate standing on a staircase and seeing him basically floating because his posture is that of someone standing on flat ground as opposed to actually standing on steps is something that bothers be. These staples that have part of gaming for so long, is what I feel developers need to focus on getting rid of once and for all. Stuff like floating weapons or items, which Gears also has. The first time I saw the Hammer of Dawn and it was just floating on the ground waiting for me to pick up, I was pretty disappointed.

The game's physics also need some work. From watching the Unreal Engine III's tech demo, I know this engine is capable of some impressive physics. I love the fact that after a foe is dead you can kick his body around. There is ragdoll in effect and that is always fun. But dead bodies have absolutely ZERO weight to them, so you toss them about as if they were inflatable balloons. Sorry, but after I take down a husky Boomer, being able to kick his body around like a beach ball sorta kills the effect that he's some 9 foot tall, 900lb creature wearing armor. Seriously.

Ok, am I done bashing this game? Yes. Regardless of the last few anal retentive paragraphs I just wrote, Gears delivers in being the most gorgeous game on the 360. It is an absolutely blast to play. Online Co-op is fantastic. I've beaten it twice already and even though I have CoD3 waiting for me, I decided to start yet another campaign, because I want to kill more Locusts. I have yet to get into multiplayer matches, so there is plenty of lengevity left.

So, Gears may not re-invent the shooter genre wheel, or change gaming as we know it, but it is a hell of a lot of fun and will be spinning in my 360's drive for a pretty long while.

Bring on the sequel!!