Gears of War (for Xbox 360)
Two Tuesdays ago was a pretty big day for games on the 360. Call of Duty III (CoD III), a game I was highly anticipating due to its amazing prequel, and Gears of War (GoW) came out. I happened to pick up both that week and promptly played CoD III until I got to busy to play, and then when the work let up, played Gears of War. Here is how that game stacks up.
I didn’t really know what to expect from GoW. It looked cool, with a Halo-esq feel to it. However, I grossly underestimated this game. Not only does it look kick ass graphics wise, but the game play is pretty awesome. It takes place in the future, where you are fighting in a post-apocalyptic world against “The Locusts.” It’s a team based game where you have to look after your squad or you won’t win. The controls are pretty sophisticated, and because of that the game has a pretty high learning curve but the basics are intuitive. It’s in third person, which allows you to hide against walls and behind almost anything. From there you can move to another hiding spot or rush out, jump over walls, etc. When behind these formations you can blind shoot, a feature I like a lot. You can shoot enemies while still hiding, which isn’t very accurate, but effective against a lot of locusts.
The weapon set is also really sweet. The default weapon is an AK/chainsaw, and when you are up close and personal with an enemy, that chainsaw comes in handy. And using it looks awesome. There is also a weapon called “The Hammer of Dawn,” which harnesses the power of the sun to obliterate the target.
As for multiplayer, you can do co-op, versus and Live. Co-Op is fun- your friend becomes part of your squad, and you guys have to communicate and work together to beat the levels. VS pits you 1-on-1 or 2-on-2 and you guys just find each other and go to town. Once you die, you’re dead until the end of the round. Live is the same way, just with more people. It’s cool with bigger teams, but again, if you guys don’t work together, you will probably lose.
Over all, the game is amazing. One of the best. The graphics and detail, the game play, the online experience. I was excited about Call of Duty III, but Gears of War is clearly the better game here. Later.