Most of you have played Gears of War 2 and loved it. Gears of Wars 2 is the highly anticipated sequel to Gears of War. It was certainly anticipated by many here at GameGirl.com. This Xbox exclusive game came out on November 7 and has since sold 3 million copies. With all that being said, read on to hear Raychul and Nikole's opinion of the game that many are saying is the best game of the year.
Gears of War 2, what can I say about this game that hasn't already been said? I loved it, I absolutely loved it. At times I felt like the levels were lacking some of the creativity from the first one, but as soon as thought would cross my mind, they would hit me with something like the "inside the worm" level or I would be riding a Brumak. Like the first one, the controls were like second nature to me and the amount of detail that went into even the smallest of things was amazing. I loved how the walls would chip away with each bullet hit, or how bloody would sprinkle the walls if you or a teammate was shot. I also really like the way a lot of the cutscenes were "filmed", it felt like I was watching Firefly or Serenity with the quick handicam like movements and zooms.
The story line was entertaining and I felt more involved with what was going on than I did in the first one. I loved the Maria heart-breaker, and I loved the sexual tension between Anya and Marcus. Gears of War 2's graphics were nothing to forget either, even buildings crashing threw the Earth was a beautiful sight. With everything I loved about this game, nothing satisfied me as much as sniping a Locust in the head...the amount of blood spray and gore made me giggle with pleasure every time.
Gears of War 2's multiplayer is fun, but the Horde Mode was what I have spent hours and hours playing. The different multiplayer modes are like your standard FPS run and kill everyone you see kind of gameplay; but Horde incorporates more teamwork and strategy. Even when I played through all 50 levels, I just bumped up the difficulty and started all over again. It's just that fun. I love seeing how each of my friends play it different too; some run right out there in the middle of the gun fight and just goes balls to the wall. Others hang back and guard our "base", all huddled together and ready to help each other fight. Then there are players like me who lend their support by finding that great sniping spot and just pick off Locusts one by one that way. Anyway you play, Horde is the most perfect mulitplayer mode I have ever played.
Overall, I say Gears of War 2 is a definite buy, no question about it. Gears of War 2 is absolutely on my "top 3 games of 2008" list. If you do not have Gears 2, then what are you waiting for?! Go buy it now!
Story Mode: Gears 2 has 5 Acts like the first game, but the story moves much faster. The first game had a very basic of story, and the goal of the story was to establish the characters, and it did it's job. Now that we have the sequel the story is free to move past the characters and work on the bigger picture. Plot wise, the story was a huge improvement. But I will note that I had no problem with Gears 1's story, but the sequel couldn't be as simplistic. Each Act offered something entirely new story wise and landscape wise. I did feel however that coming from where this game did in Gears1, we got a lot of story fast. I was often over whelmed with story, the Maria arch, the Anya issue, the squires, the Queen being hott?, there were so many unanswered questions that I felt like I was playing a J.J. Abrams game at times. I can see why something weren't answered, a third game is inevitable despite how coy Epic wants to be. In the end Campaign mode was exciting, quick paced, and has enough replay value to last the next 2 years.
O and driving in this game still sucks, but god bless them for getting rid of the Kryll.
Horde Mode: Horde Mode is the best idea since sliced bread, there, I said it. It's out there, I can't take it back. You and 4 of your friends, if you have none then bots, team up in various maps to take on 50 waves of enemies. Each wave has an assortment of enemies: wretches, tickers, Grinders, and Mulchers included. Sounds intense does it? Ya, well it is. Like story mode you can play this on easy to insane. Word of the wise, in waves ending 8-0 BloodMounts appear. BloodMount's are llamas from hell, deal with it. The best thing to do during these levels is get a shield and make a blockade where your team is holding up. Shield's can be acquired from Mulchers. Even after I got the achievement for beating this, I still play it. The teamwork and headshots in this mode make it something you will play over and over again.
Multiplayer: The Multiplayer is like Gears 1. The matchmaking service is upgraded, and yet I still suck at it. Now 10 users can play together in a match. There are three new types of match too, Guardian, Wingman, and Submission. Guardian is my favorite, although I do pity my team on those occasions that I'm the leader. When you die there is this new function called ghost cam. Once your dead you can follow a player or free roam the map as a camera and still communicate with your team, letting them where to know what's up with the other team. This feature is awesome if it's your team using it, seems kinda cheap if the other guys are. Either way, fun new edition.
Graphics and Gameplay: The graphics were beautiful. This is a much brighter game than the first, there are even flowers now, yes, flowers. With so much more color, the backgrounds came to life more. The European architecture was obvious and the crumbled ruins seamlessly acted as cover making the trademark roadie run work better than ever. Gameplay works like Gears1, it's still a third person shooter, and there are still chainsaws on your gun. Many people have complained about the shotgun, personally I was never good at using it, but the Hammerburst is a way better alternative gun than whatever the old default gun of the locust used to be.
Overall: I loved this game, even with all the new games I've gotten over the past month, I still play this with my friends. Granted if I didn't have a huge group of friends playing this every night I might not play it is much, Multiplayer and Horde Mode are what bring me back to it. If you liked Gears of War then you will love Gears of War 2, easily. If third person shooters with excessive yet humorous amounts gore aren't your thing then maybe this is a rent. I say rent because it's such a jolly good time you should at least give it a try, especially if you spend a decent amount of time on XBL.
Related links:
Gears of War 2 Info
Gears of War 2 Screen Shots
Gears of War 2 Videos
