Gears of War 2 Review

Gears of War 2 is the sequel to the groundbreaking Gears of War.The main story places you in the boots of Delta Squad leader Marcus Fenix as you continue to fight the locust horde on the planet of Sera.The lightmass bomb you set off in the first game didn't stop the locust and they are attacking stronger than ever.The game's campaign takes you through a series of environments including locust tunnels, above ground battlefields, and even inside a giant worm.This is a welcome departure from the environments of the first game whichprimarily consisted of tunnels.The gameplay that made the first Gears so groundbreaking and fun is back and better than ever.Gears of War 2 is the definition of how to do a cover shooter well.The game will have you switching cover and flanking enemies with ease.The shooting is handled very well with most of the guns from the first game returning as well as a slew of new ones that are as creative and awesome to use as those from the first.The graphics are amazing, pretty much pushing the Xbox 360 to the limit.The advances that are made through use of the Unreal 3 engine (which Epic made) make Gears of War 2 the new standard for console gaming.The game also has a co-op mode that lets you play through the story (split screen or online) and is one of the best uses of co-op in a game to date.The second player suits up as Dom, who is basically Marcus's right hand man.The online play is as amazing as the single player and is on par with Call of Duty or Halo.Matches are easy to find and amazingly fun.But the most enjoyable thing in Gears 2 has to be Horde mode.This mode pits you and some friends on Xbox Live against increasingly large waves of locust enemies to see how long you can last.And just for the parents out there, Gears of War 2 definitely earns its mature rating.Headshots, gallons of blood, and chainsaw decapitations are common and not for the kiddies.Gears of War 2 is truly the definition of next gen gaming and i cannot recommend it enough.5/5