Finally
arriving on shelves after years of frenzied anticipation, Gears of War is
an intense shooter developed by Epic Games and designer Cliff "CliffyB"
Bleszinski. Taking place on a war-torn, raved planet, you are cast as a
soldier looking to destroy evil Locust forces and restore your good name.
There's plenty of action, with a number of cool weapons, intense battles
and a unique cover system that gives the gameplay a unique feel. The level
of visual detail is quite impressive, with massive levels, realistic maps
and breathtaking environments. This is one of the most elaborate and
biggest games of the year. Gears of War has been in development for
several years, and is easily the Xbox 360's biggest release to date, with
high expectations. Look inside as we saw our way through a bunch of
lizards and discover if Gears of War lives up to its advanced billing.
Gears of War is an intense first-person
shooter that transports players into a ravaged, war-torn world under
assault from an alien force known as the Locust who have over-run a
formerly peaceful planet. The remnants of humanity struggled on and
decided to destroy the areas of their planet the Locust infested. What
remains is rubble and the surviving forces are in a desperate struggle for
survival. As Marcus Fenix, you are a former prisoner set free when the
Horde attacked your penitentiary. You rejoin your comrades, who are both
suspicious of your motivations and awed by your bravery. The storyline
unfolds in a series of elaborate cut-scenes which are incredible from a
visual standpoint and help to further immerse you into the game. Gears of
War begins in the bowels of the prison, and as you fight your way out, you
find the Locust have not been kind to your fellow inmates. You're faced
with an enemy that's incredibly smart, ruthless and unpredictable. The
gameplay is fairly epic in terms of storyline and presentation, taking you
through some impressive, though incredibly ravaged environments rich in
both detail and realism. Gears of War's scope and presentation are quite
impressive and the game succeeds in creating a believable world under
siege. This attention to detail extends to every element of the game,
making this one of the most impressive next-generation titles to date.
The gameplay structure is quite
impressive, with some interesting mechanics that offer some interesting
twists on the FPS genre. The key strategy in Gears of War is your
character's ability to take cover behind walls and use the environments as
a shield. Pressing the A button allows you to crouch next to a wall in a
defensive posture. When in this mode, you can stick your character out and
attack foes, then quickly hide once again. Its easier to find and use
cover than in other shooters, because the remarkably elegant system allows
you to run, dive and move quite easily using the analog stick. This
approach allows you a great deal of flexibility and brings a unique feel
to the action. Any cover you find can be used to evade fire by holding
down the button while running, which makes the character sprint and crouch
to the next destination. This comes in handy when you are trying to go
around the sides of an area and flank an enemy unexpectedly, and is
especially effective when you want to take out a fixed machine gun nest.
Using the cover system effectively, and patiently waiting for the other
soldiers in your squad to clear out areas helps to ensure a greater degree
of success. This approach to combat gives Gears of War's battles a high
degree of realism. There's a lot thrown at you during the course of each
mission, but the frequent checkpoint saves make progression quicker with
little backtracking. To make things easier, Gears of War also follows in
the path of several recent high-profile shooters have implemented a
regenerative health system. Instead of looking for health-packs, you
simply need to get out of the fray and wait for your health to be
restored. It's not as realistic as it could have been, and it does reduce
the challenge a little. However, those thinking this is a cakewalk are in
for a surprise, since there are areas where you're exposed with enemies
attacking from all directions. Finding cover doesn't always mean you're
completely safe, either. Firing at enemies will alert them to your
location, and they'll move in to your position quickly, so you can't stay
in one spot for too long. The battles have a way of switching completely
as well as the enemies respawn on the other side of the area, so you have
to stay alert constantly.
Each
level feels like an episode of a war, and this makes it one of the most
visceral shooters on any console to date. One of the key objectives is to
close up the Locusts' Emergence holes, which usually only takes a few
grenades. The key is to do this quickly before reinforcements arrive. The
game's pacing is almost perfect, with moments of anticipation followed by
intense battles. Since the Locust can spawn almost anywhere on a map, it
makes things less predictable and dangerous since you never feel
completely safe at any point. You can go forward in a room thinking it's
secure, when a sudden wave of enemies attacks you from the other side.
This franchise is a bit different however, since it's more brutal than
those two games. A key difference here is the sheer brutality of the
missions, which are relentless and give you very little room for error.
Gears of War unfolds in a fairly linear fashion in single player mode bur
there are several levels that offer multiple paths, keeping it from
becoming overly predictable. The majority of the action centers on intense
combat, but there are other objectives such as rescuing other soldiers,
finding objects and many boss encounters which help to move the story
forward while not allowing you to get into a rut. While the single-player
modes are quite intense, Gears of War offers a number of solid multiplayer
modes as well. You can choose to play either split-screen, system link or
online. There are multiple modes of play including the standard one-on-one
modes, death-matches and co-op modes included. The gameplay is just as
intense online as you'd expect, and setting up matches is a fairly
painless task. Gears of War's unique cover system makes fragging and
shooting much more strategic online than other games, and makes for a
different experience than you'd expect.
Gears of War's weaponry is one of the
key aspects that make the game stand out. Your arsenal is more believable
than some other shooters as well, with the game's signature armament a
rifle with a chainsaw attacked. Not only is this weapon one of the coolest
ever devised, it brings the action closer, as you engage the enemies at
close range and can slice them to bits, giving Gears a much more hands on
approach. Most of the other weapons, such as the grenades and sniper
rifles offer what you'd expect, and they feel very powerful in your hands.
At certain points, you can also use what is called the Hammer of Dawn.
This is a remote controlled weapon that you can use outdoors to target
some of the larger Locust boss creatures, which creates a powerful beam of
light that annihilates them in a flash of light. It's a very limited use
weapon, which means you have to be extremely careful not to waste shots.
The weapons might seem slightly dull in isolation, but taken together,
they form a cohesive feel that ties together with the game's bleak back
story to add to the sense of realism. It's obvious that a lot of though
has gone into the weapon design, and the controls reflect that as well.
Using the weapons is fairly simple, with intuitive aiming reticules, and
context-sensitive movement and cover mechanics that make playing the game
a surprisingly simple task. Gears of War allows you plenty of freedom of
movement and makes you define your own pathway through each level, so you
can attack foes from different directions. Since the majority of Gears
takes place from a behind perspective, aiming and shooting isn't quite as
difficult as it might have been. This makes playing much more accessible
than expected - veteran shooters should have no problem with the game's
interface and novices should be able to learn the ropes quickly.
From
an aesthetic standpoint, Gears of War shows off the Xbox 360's hardware
quite brilliantly. The game's epic scale is immediately apparent and
remains quite impressive throughout. You and your fellow soldiers battle
through massive, destroyed urban environments rich in detail. Every object
in the game, from the holes in the walls, burned out vehicles, and books
on shelves is rendered with an incredible level of realism. The game's
environments feel incredible with elaborate designs, believable
architecture and level layouts that bring the world of Gears to life. The
action looks razor-sharp on an HD monitor and moves along at a crisp,
consistently fast frame rate without sacrificing detail or image quality.
Each character in the game features a full suit of armor that is quite
impressive with impressive builds of their physical appearance making them
move and react realistically. The animation is also quite intense, with
elaborate cinematic feel that brings the scope and scale to life vividly.
Each of the Locust enemies are also brilliantly designed and feel as
menacing and alien as they can, despite retaining their human form. The
attack ruthlessly and quickly, and come in various types ranging from
standard soldiers and more. An impressive array of special effects,
elaborate weapon animation and environmental effects such as water, light,
dust and more gives the game an almost photo-realistic feel that creates a
believable, coherent world that sucks you right in. Gears of War's slick
production values and near-perfect presentation are absolutely incredible,
and make this one of the best-looking shooters on the Xbox 360 to date.
While the graphics are the immediately
impressive aspect of Gears of War, the solid gameplay underneath is what
really keeps your interest level high. The game's cover system is unique,
expertly implemented and easy to use. It gives the battles a more
realistic feel where you spend almost as much time defending your position
as you do assaulting the enemy. The aggressive foes you face are
unpredictable but you have an impressive array of cool futuristic weapons
at your disposal. Unlike many other shooters, where the action seems a
little disconnected, the close-in melee combat, highlighted by the
chainsaw machine guns, really helps to bring you into the action. The
game's pacing is superb as well, with an excellent plot unfolding in small
doses between and during battles. The gameplay itself is intense and
challenging, which makes the single player experience rewarding and
challenging. An excellent multiplayer online mode shows off the Xbox 360's
Live component effectively, making for a deep and satisfying gaming
experience. Gears of War has received plenty of advance hype but the end
result is a title that delivers on its promise. Gears of War's nearly
flawless implementation, brilliantly rendered design and innovative play
mechanics are incredible, making it one of the best shooting titles
released to date on any next generation platform.
Grade: A
