Revolutionary Game

Every once in a while a game comes along that revolutionizes the way games are designed and played. This was seen in the advent of 3D gaming with Mario World on the N64, on the Playstation with Resident Evil, and (arguably)on the XBox with Halo. It has happened again with Gears Of War. This game takes the cover system most notably used in Killswitch, and supercharges it. Cover is not an option, as it is in so many games, it is essential. Teamwork is critical as well.

The graphics in this game are beyond belief. The team of designers should receive an award for game design, as these are some of the most beautiful, atmospheric, and cinematic environments I have ever seen in a game. From the creature design to the buildings (none of which look the same) everything is hyper-detailed.

The enemy a.i. in the game is very well-rounded as well. It is not uncommon to have one enemy laying down a suppressing fire while another (or two) moves to flank you. If you and your teammate return enough fire the flankers move back to take cover. Very well done.

The a.i. for your teammates is not quite so good, but it is adequate for the first half of the game on hardcore difficulty. Towards the end you will be wanting to get a friend to play with you in co-op.

The co-op mode allows you to play with a friend, and normally two computer controlled allies. Your friend will take on the role of "Dom", an old military buddy. You can play through the entire game in co-op mode which is nice. Your friend can come and go as often as they like with no interruption to your game. When they hop out the computer ai takes over seamlessly. If you don't have any friends that have the game you can search for a co-op game to join, or you can open your game up for anyone on XBox Live to jump in to play co-op with you.

The single player game is nothing short of awesome. The graphics and gameplay are unparalleled on any console right now.

The multiplayer is incredibly fun as well. However, it takes some getting used to. All of the game modes in multiplayer are team based. There is no free-for-all/deathmatch mode. Yes, it is restricted to a maximum of 4 on 4, but it makes sense for it to be. The focus of the game in single and multiplayer modes is teamwork. By keeping the team size down to 4, it allows the teams to work out strategies, etc. In the sequel (I'm sure there will be one) I hope they allow for more than two teams of 4, as it would really make things even more intense. The maps in multiplayer or relatively small, but that makes sense as well, since your teammates don't respawn until the end of a round, and it is good to get into the action quickly.

Please note that this game is rated "M" and is definitely not for the kiddies. The gore is intense, and the language can be harsh at times. A while back I wrote a review of the 360 version of "Prey" and dinged it for the gratuitous gore and language. Gears Of War is nice in that you can toggle the "extreme content" on and off. The extreme content is definitely extreme. When you shoot an enemy a copious amount of blood will fly, sometimes splattering on your screen. Your primary weapon is a machine gun with a "chainsaw bayonette." This can be used to saw your enemies in half, saw off their heads if they are wounded, etc. Shotguns will make meat sauce out of an opponents torso or head. Sniper rifle headshots will "pop" your opponents head. If an enemy is down and wounded you can "curb stomp" them (stomp their head into the ground where it will usually splatter into chunks). When the content is toggled off, the characters will still go through the motions of the action (chainsaw, stomp, etc.), but the gore and blood does not appear onscreen. I almost hate to admit that these actions do make finishing off your enemy very gratifying, much the same way the finishing moves in the original Mortal Kombat did, especially if they are loud-mouthed braggarts like th guys I play with (lol).

The language is not as harsh as the gore. A majority of the harsh language is the "s" word. Every once in a while an "f" word is heard from one of your teammates, and I have heard a couple of "gd's".

I really like this game. However, there are a few things that tend to bug me about it...

1. Due to the control scheme sometimes your character will take cover when you don't want them to, or not come out of cover when you want them to.
2. There would be a benefit to having more multiplayer maps.
3. Even though it kind of goes against the game it would be nice to have a Deathmatch option for those times when you just want to go all out, and don't feel lilke being a team player.
4. It would be nice to be able to do more than 2 players in co-op mode.

... When I say they bug me, I mean that they are minor nuisances, but they do not really detract from the game.

This game has given me the same kind of enjoyment I had when I first played through the original Halo. I feel like I am playing something that is truly next-gen, and something that has set a new high water mark for the gaming industry.