Gears of War 2 (Xbox 360) Review

So you stopped the end of the world once? Wanna go do it again? Cue Gears of War 2. Prepare yourself for a whirlwind, ‘coz there’s a storm a-brewin’ in Sera and Marcus Fenix is there to save the day. Again. For those who live in boxes, it’s the long awaited sequel to 2006′s gaming masterpiece that was ‘Gears of War’. Gears was highly popular and Gears 2 was set to be nothing different…

Read on for the in depth Gears of War 2 review, right here on Brutal Gamer.

So, nearly two years have passed since big Cliffy B was strolling around like he owned the place, and he’s here to do it again. The Epic team are back with Marcus and the gang, showing the Locust whores who’s boss.

Gears 2 involves a new Locust threat that has the ability to sink entire cities, leaving only a smoldering hole in its wake. It’s the job of Marcus and co to destroy the Locust by entering their stronghold and eliminating the ever-increasing threat to mankind.

New additions to the game include Tai, Dizzy and Ben Carmine, characters that add a new dimension to the story, each demanding different emotional attachments from the player. Also, the player is shown a deeper side of Dom, in his search for his lost wife Maria, but you can see that for yourself. You wanna know about guns. Big fuck-off guns. There are 17 weapons in total, a few of which have been furthered from Gears of War, but you should look forward to the inclusion of the Flamethrower, Mulcher and the Mortar Cannon, three devastatingly powerful and wholly fun weapons to obliterate the new enemies with. Of course you can still run around with your Lancer and Gnasher Shotgun like the good ol’ days, but the new weapons are too good to resist. The new enemies range from the annoying, foot high, ticking monstrosities that are Tickers, trust me, they’re annoying on the harder difficulties, to the towering behemoths of the Maulers or the Hydra. Look out for the worms too, though they’re hard to miss, and as funny as heart burn too.

The game starts in Jacinto, the last remaining city of humans in the dire times of the latest onslaught from the Locust. You again play as Marcus Fenix, accompanied by Dominic Santiago, the trusty warrior you should remember from the first installment of the game (of course Baird and the Cole Train are there too) and you are introduced to a new COG called Benjamin Carmine, the younger brother of your fallen comrade, Anthony Carmine from the first Gears of War. A small training session later and you’re in the game, your first objective is to fight off a small Locust swarm and defend the city’s hospital. Once done, you accompany a spiritual fighter by the name of Tai, and someone who can only be described as a Hick called Dizzy, who drives you and the gang to the spot where you drill down and enter the Locust domain to unleash your fury upon the invaders.

I found the campaign to be thoroughly enjoyable to be honest, with parts of it leaving my jaw actually touching the floor. And I wasn’t even lying down. It’s very easy to understand and narrative is driven smoothly, the only problem I have is that it doesn’t really answer for much. Maybe that’s what Gears 3 will be for.

Gameplay has been extensively modified since the first Gears, you get much of the same movement options as before like the roadie run and sliding into cover, but new additions make for a truly unforgettable experience. Having said that, that doesn’t necessarily make it a good experience… I’m sure Gearwhores are just about swinging for their monitor about now, but hear me out. I liked the idea of stopping power when I watched the gameplay teasers featuring Cliffy and others, but it’s a son of a bitch. At least to get used to anyway. But it’s one of those things that you like when you’re benefiting and hate when you’re receiving, so I guess it’s fairly balanced. The only other problem with gameplay I had was how unbelievably powerful the lancer has become against the deterioration of the power of the shotgun which has became slow and sluggish to use. Gone are the days when you could roll up to someone and blast them shitless, but I guess that’s what Epic aimed for. Good job Epic *cough* Wasn’t that the fun of the first Gears’ multiplayer? Getting into an insane shotgun battle with someone on LIVE and just praying for the moment you decorated the walls with the contents if their lower intestines?

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not “Gearbashing”, but I liked the old stuff. Also, when sliding into cover, I noticed that the characters don’t always stick to the wall, I appreciate that taking cover doesn’t always mean sticking to the wall in real life, but if that’s the goal, why didn’t they do more to achieve it? Anyway, enough of my pessimism, Gears now let’s you use your downed enemies as human (or alien) shields, which is amazing! And if you’re not as hung up on that as I am, then you’ve got three, yes three ,ways to execute them now. The X button with do your standard curb stomp, B will give a quick yet merciless blow, or and very messy butchering if you’ve got your lancer out. Whilst Y gives you an option of the complete satisfaction in the kill, the extended execution. This alters according to the weapon that you have equipped, and there’s an achievement for using your imagination 11 times, so get killin’! Also, while the new chainsaw duels were a bit of a bragging point for Epic, they’re few and far between, so don’t hold your breath for too long. The best bit for all you achievement whores (and for anyone whose counting, that’s the third time I’ve written whore in this review) is yet to come… You can get the achievements in whichever mode you want, yes, campaign and public or private matches alike.

The ‘ground breaking’ advances in Unreal Engine 3 really are indeed good, but not much changed since its predecessor. The game is indeed much more detailed, with much better textures and better attention to natural and environmental lighting, which does altogether make for better gaming.

Altogether, the game feels a lot better to look at, it’s now the sexy older sister of your best mate. There are some truly inspiring landscape shots that have obviously taken a fair bit of work, and even the cut scenes seem to have more of a sense of realism about them.

You always know that a game’s sound is good when you hear things that totally scare the shit out of you, even if its the screaming of Scorge or the ticking of those bastard Tickers. The sound on the whole is nothing astonishing, but it serves its purpose. It’s entertainment, what more could you ask for?

Multiplayer… excuse me while I ejaculate…. … … Okay… If it wasn’t for stopping power and the lancer, particularly when they’re combined, I think the new multiplayer gameplay would be nigh on perfect. There’s a new party system so you and your buddies can hook up and fuck up, just like Halo 3, with more blood, lots more blood.

But you’re mistaken if the multiplayer is perfect on the whole, oh no. Firstly, the new matchmaking system takes days to find matches, and the games are slightly unbalanced due to the immense power of the lancer, and crippling smoke grenades. The ability to make proximity mines by tagging a wall with your grenade is in fact very funny, but it’s a bitch the second time. And the rest for that matter.

As with the first Gears, you get Annex, Warzone, Execution and Guardian (formerly known as Assassination) but Gears 2 brings 3 more game types to boot. King of the Hill, is much like Annex, except the capture point doesn’t relocate. Wingman is essentially five teams of 2 in competition, with each team member as the other’s Wingman, get it? And submission, a clever adaptation of Capture the Flag, Gears style. The idea is to down a member of the stranded, and return his sorry ass to your base as your meatshield, this is a very fun game, and I wholly recommend it.

But the new multiplayer system is shadowed by Horde. Dirty, dirty Horde. 50 waves of increasingly stronger aliens approach on your position, your objective? Fuck ‘em up. Horde is easily the best addition to the game, it was the first thing I did upon playing, and I fell in love. Players fight against many of the enemies from the campaign in groups of up to five, this really is a must if you and a few mates get the time, even if it’s just to achieve level 6 on insane!

To summarise, Gears of War 2 is doing to casual gamers what cocaine did to Kate Moss. This game really is addictive, and quite rightly. The amazing multiplayer and enthralling story will mean that this game will be a true interest until I’ve completed everything on insane. Back to the cocaine bit… don’t snort coke. It’s kinda bad for you.