User Review : Gears of War 2

Ups

• Nice variety of fun gameplay mechanics{Good graphics and sound{Decent arsenal of weaponry

Downs

• Nothing original about it{Unintuitive grenade aiming mechanics{Some very bad voice acting hinders emotional scenes

Very fun, but offers nothing new.

I'm not here to use flowery language and try to write a pulitzer prize winning piece of criticism, let me just say that straight out. I'm a gamer, and I'm going to write about this game from the perspective of whether or not it is worth playing.

First and foremost, let's discuss the gameplay. If you've played the first Gears of War game, then you know exactly what to expect here. The core gameplay is identical. You'll run from cover to cover, hide out and wait for your opportunity to poke up and take a shot. It's a more tactical approach to fast action, which requires some patience and discourages run-and-gunning.

You're given an arsenal of four weapons at a time. One slot is always taken up by a handgun, of which there are three varieties. There is your standard pistol, which allows you to carry lots of ammo and fire quick, weak shots. Then there's a magnum type, for which you cannot carry much ammo, it reloads slowly and fires a bit slower than the pistol, but packs a powerful punch. The third type of handgun is a Locust weapon, and it fires short bursts of very powerful rounds, but there is a rather lengthy pause between each shot.

Then there are multiple grenade types which occupy a second slot. There's your standard explosive, smoke grenades, and a Locust grenade which spews out some sort of poisonous ink. Grenades in this game are, for the most part, difficult to aim, requiring a rather lengthy period of alignment, and even considering that it is still difficult to read the arc line to determine where exactly you can expect it to land. Grenades are most effectively used as booby-traps (they can be tacked to walls, etc.) or as a sort of melee weapon where you run up close to your enemy and stick him with it.

The other two slots of your "weapon wheel" can be occupied by any other weapon in the game, including a couple varieties of machine gun (one including the game's trademark chainsaw bayonette), a standard sniper rifle, a flamethrower, an explosive-launching cross bow sort of weapon (called the torque bow), a grenade launcher, and others.

All in all, the game features a nice arsenal of weapons with a few other things making an appearance, such a morter launcher and a cover-mounted machine gun which you can carry with you temporarily without having to drop any of your other weapons. The game introduces a shield which you can carry around and place anywhere for some on-the-go cover, but it's really more of a feature to talk about on paper than it is useful during the actual gameplay. There's so much cover strewn about the game that you'll never find a good reason to pick up the shield. The same could also be said of the new ability to pick up a downed enemy and use him as a meathshield. It's occasionally useful, but not terribly necessary.

The gore is back in full force, with characters and camera alike getting absolutely drenched in blood throughout the experience. If you find testoserone-fueled gore-fests with tough-guy one-liners shouted frequently to be shallow, then you can think of this game as about the shallowest you'll ever find. It tries valiently the create an interesting plot, but it's really just not that fascinating. Some of the acting is good, but it's almost always bad in the scenes that try the hardest to get an emotional response from the player, so if you're looking for a well-told story, you won't find it here. Most of the talking could be skipped completely and you'd still be able to play through to the end without any trouble. You might even have a more enjoyable experience if you do so.

But this game isn't about telling a good story, even though it tries to do a better job of that than its predecessor. The game plays like a greatest hits of sorts, with entire gameplay segments ripped straight out of other games. The cover-shoot-cover mechanics start to wear thin after a while, and the boss battles are utterly underwhelming, but every time you feel like it's getting monotonous, it introduces something to break up that feeling. You'll fly, you'll drive, you'll have to make a quick escape. It's all very nicely done and fun to experience, but I couldn't help but shake the feeling I'd seen it all before.

Between the very close resemblence to the first Gears of War in the majority of the game's moments (firefights feel the same, the razor hale is very close to the kryll of the first, etc.) and the "homage" that it pays to other games (pieces of gameplay feel identical to classic scenarios from recent games like Halo 3, God of War 2, and Metal Gear Solid 4, as well some parts from older games like Crash Bandicoot, and the entire worm segment is, to my surprise, straight out of an old, obscure Ren & Stimpy game called Veediots!) there really isn't much original about Gears of War 2. It takes Gears of War 1 and a bunch of other classic gaming moments and archetypes and throws them all together to make a blast of a game that, quite frankly, doesn't offer anything new that most gamers won't have seen elsewhere before. And the game ends very abruptly, with perhaps the easiest final boss I've ever encountered.

About the graphics and sound: good and good. The art direction is sometimes great and sometimes boring, but everything is clean, crisp, and wonderfully rendered, even if the world is full of ugliness. I'd say it's got some of the best graphics I've ever seen, but it also happens to be one of the least pleasant games to behold, as well. There is a greater variety of location than you'd expect, with forests, snow-covered mountains, cities during the day and night, and underground caverns too. But in each of the specific areas, the rooms run together in a boring sea of sameness. There were some "wow" moments, but there were a lot of other moments where I felt myself getting sick of the scenery and desiring a change. The sound design is good, the enemies all sound alien and horrid, which is a plus. The music is often exhilerating or creepy, always in the right measure, and makes the pacing of the game feel spot-on.

The multiplayer in Gears of War 2 leaves me conflicted. On the one hand, the competitive multiplayer brings new modes to the table, which are welcome. Each mode is fun in its own way, including variations on capture the flag, zones, and death match (the standard variety these days). I enjoy playing multiplayer matches, but at the time of this writing, the matchmaking is slow and fails more frequently than it ought to. A large number of matches yield terrible lag and are basically unplayable. Until they get the network code worked out, I'm avoiding the multiplayer because it just is not worth the waits and poor quality of some of the matches.

Horde mode suffers from the same connection problems, too, but it also suffers a far worse problem: utter lack of fun. There is little to no incentive to invest a lot of time in Horde mode. Being devoid of an experience or leveling up system, with no new equipment to earn by playing, and having no class-based gameplay to make the different players able to support each other more effectively, it really just boils down to a whole lot of waiting and pointless killing. I found myself bored of it within three completed matches.

In conclusion, the multiplayer is a mixed bag, containing the welcome ability to play co-op through the campaign, a fun but flawed competitive component, and a boring secondary co-op mode (Horde), all marred by connection issues at the time of this writing. The campaign is a well-balanced shoot-a-thon with a tactical edge that offers a lot of variety, but nothing unique, and it is quite short. Most gamers will enjoy the spectacle of the brief campaign and play a few rounds of multiplayer or horde, then be ready to move on to other games. Like with any game, there will be those who get addicted to the various multiplayer modes and come back consistently, but the majority will be ready for something else before long.

Verdict: Play It.

* My final verdict is based on a three-tiered scale:

1/3 Forget It
2/3 Play It
3/3 Own It

Score

8.0

Graphics

9.0

Sound

9.0

Gameplay

8.0

Fun Factor

5.0

Online

Overall

6.7

[Mwaan]

Then what does? There's some matchmaking issues, but other than that, your complaints are exaggerated nitpicks. Basically, your review system puts everything into 3 catagories: Garbage, decent, and perfect. Think about that for a minute?

[callahan09]

It's not garbage/decent/perfect it's "forget it/play it/own it"

The difference is that "play it" can range from decent to excellent, and "own it" does not mean perfection. It's simply a moniker of recommendation for your average gamer.

The things I mention in the review are the very reasons why I felt this game was worth playing but not necessarily enough of a value to warrant spending 60 dollars on it. Do I think it's worthy of a purchase for some gamers? Most definitely. Absolutely. I own the game, which is how I was able to experience it and give my opinion about it. (I don't have the luxury of being a professional reviewer who never pays a dime of his own money to play the games he writes about) But I don't necessarily think it's worth buying this game for most gamers. I think that its unoriginality is a serious flaw, despite the fact that what it provides is in fact very enjoyable. It's all too brief and not very addictive beyond the point of completion.

This is my assessment. If you have a differing opinion, I implore you to write up your own review. That's the freedom we have with this user review system, we can all give our own perspective on the matter.

[SONYSLAVE]

this american knows nothing about good game when playing the XBOX 360

muwahhhahahaha

[Elvfam511]

Overall doesn't add up idk I don't review games so yeah it average when added it to a 7.8

[panasonic23]

i can't wait to see your r2 if gears didn't bring nothing new resistance same go for r2.

[Firstkn1ghT]

Nothing new? Did you even play the game?

[callahan09]

I played the game, and I feel that my review illustrates that fact. What should I have included to make it more clear that I did experience this title? Nothing new. Indeed. The game features entire segments practically plagiarized from other games, and the core gameplay is identical to the first Gears of War. What do YOU think it does that is new and original? I'd be curious to know. And again, this is my assessment. Anyone who doesn't agree should take the initiative of writing their own review. We're all allowed to have our input in the user reviews section, you know.

[Firstkn1ghT]

Well don't you think it SHOULD have the same core gameplay??? It would be plain silly to a completely overhaul the gameplay. The right thing to do is to keep the core gameplay and add to it. Like using the enemy as a shield and have better control. How about being able to move while your down? The chainsaw battles? And of course Horde mode or a new refreshing take on CTF with meatflag.

Seriously what would of you wanted? The game to be a turn based RPG?

[callahan09]

They did add some new features, like the ones you mention, some new multiplayer modes, and some new weapons. These things were welcome additions. However, the actual experience, the real visceral experience of playing the game felt too familiar at times. Not just with its own predecessor, but with other games that it was clearly inspired by. But all in all, the originality (though I did mention it in my teaser title) isn't the main issue. I just didn't feel that I had any incentive to go back to it. There was nothing really there that makes me feel compelled to play it again, either through the campaign or the multiplayer modes. That's my opinion on it. I mean, the game is fast slipping down the Xbox Live charts. It is currently losing to Halo 3, and that game is more than a year old (but rightfully so, because in my opinion, it is still the better game for the stuff that brings me back over and over: the competitive multiplayer).

[MasterBlaster]

First of all, your scoring system is not very good. It's bad enough when somebody uses a 5 point scale but you insist on using a 3 point scale. Maybe because you don't want to take the time to put a precise score to your games? Second you talk about originality from a sequel. If they made the game completely original it wouldn't be Gears. Also, in the comments section you talk about it losing to Halo 3. Halo 3 wasn't very original yet it is still the most played game on the 360. Originality isn't everything or even that big of a deal at all. If a game is good then it's good and Gears 2 deserves at least a 9 but you can't really score a game a 9 with your crappy system.

[davidrx7]

the person is just giving his take on the game, GET over IT!

[MasterBlaster]

And I'm just giving my take on his take on the game so? If he can't handle a little criticism then he shouldn't post reviews but I'm sure he can handle it so he does.

[outlawlife]

a 3 point system doesn't make sense honestly

and the final rating of 6.7 doesn't make sense compared to your other numbers

[Hypnotic]

I'm going to have to respectfully disagree with your review.

It's a sequel. Generally their isn't a revolutionary change in sequels. If you played the first GoW then you should know what to expect with GoW2. I don't think it's fair to knock a game because it's similar to the first.

I do however agree with you about the multiplayer. It still has a long way to go before it can be considered good.

[caladbolg777]

I don't take issue with GeoW2's lack of "originality". As said before, it's a sequel (and a middle-child at that) and anything over and above "the same, plus some" might be asking too much. However, I whole-heartedly agree with you regarding Multiplayer. I wouldn't label Gears2 multiplayer as BAD, per say, but it's certainly not GREAT (and definitely not AAA great).

IMO, Gears of War 2 makes a wonderful RENTAL for the Single Player experience alone. If you want a Multiplayer experience worth your hard-earned $60, then look elsewhere. Left4Dead, Team Fortress 2, Halo 3, and CoD:4 are miles ahead of GeoW2 in terms of MP.

KUDOS where they are deserved though, callahan, for managing to fit so man Xbots in one room.

[Da l33t Monkey]

*sniff* *sniff* i smell a PS3 fanboy -_-

This site is litterally crawling with them.. DAMN BUGS