Gears of War 2 impressions...

So I've been sinking my teeth into the Gears of War 2 campaign recently, and I'd thought I'd give some of my impressions on what a lot of people are calling one of the better games of 2008. This isn't really a review but just a basic outline of my thoughts on the game so far... Maybe after im finished with the game I'll post some more.

The original Gears of War was released in November of 2006 and was hyped up as the first real killer app for the 360. The game relied on a more tactical style of third person game play that forced the player to shoot from cover, and not simple charge in rambo style gameplay that most shooters utilize. This kind of game play was not entirely new. It had been seen in a couple of previous games such as Winback for the N64, and Killswitch for the PS2 and Xbox. However Gears really pulled it off much better than either of these games, and much gritter and interesting art design and graphics. It was the first real game that showcased the 360's power, with awesome insanely detailed gothic looking environments that had been torn apart by war. The game had it's fair share of problems it was short, the story was absolutley shit,the enviroments were often extremely linear. However, the solid core gameply, the excellent graphics, and the fact that it was the first really big exclusive triple A titles for the 360 made it a pretty huge hit. It's easy to say a game like this became a success because it was over hyped, but the game did have merits that set it apart from the Brute Forces and the Fractures of the world.

Fast forward to 2008, and enter Gears of War 2. Let me sum up my impressions by saying that if you enjoyed the first Gears, then Gears 2 is just more refined goodness that was the original Gears. If you didn't like gears then you will probably hate Gears 2.

The game plays more or less the same as the original gears. The only really significant new move is the ability to take a downed locus hostage and use him as a "meat shield." Yes, not a shield, but a meat shield. The game continues its tradition of trying to sound as "super hardcore badass" as it possibly can. The meat shield like dual wielding in Halo 2 is one of those features that is totally hyped up beyond belief as something that will not only change the way you play the game, but also change the way you view reality. In the end, it just provides a nice tactical flexibility for a given situation.

While your repertoire of moves has not changed much you do get some nice new weapons and enemies. My favorite addition are the heavy weapons which include the Gatling gun like "mulcher" and the mortar. The mortar is an indirect fire weapon that takes some getting used to, but once you splatter four or five locust in one shot you'll never want to go back. Just don't use it indoors. I found that out the hard way.

The locust bestiary is much improved as well. I've seen pretty much every enemy from the old games as well as a gamut of new ones. Such as the small skittering "tickers" which explode with you on contact which cause loads of damage. Also the large locust soldiers who carried rocket launchers in the first game now carries a wider variety of armament including flamethrowers, machine guns, and even a mace and shield.

The original games story felt more like a rough outline than an actual story. Which is fine, except that the game's developer Cliffy B seemed to think it was like Lord of the Rings, Star Wars, and Hamlet thrown together into a blender. The sequel's storyline seems quite a bit better this time around which isn't actually saying too much. I'm not done with the campaign so my impression could get better or worse depending on how it plays out. There are still plenty of cheese, and WTF moments peppered throughout the campaign. The locust still aren't really explained at all. I guess this is to increase the mystery aspect of the game, but it would be nice to have a little more backgroudn. A large chunk of the story revolves around Dom trying to search for his wife. This is nice and all, but I was seriously suprised to find out he had a wife at all considering he never mentioned her at all in the first game. It really seemed like something that was ham fistedly inserted into the game to give the game extra drama.

That's all I really have for now... I think I'll try to write a part two after I've finished the storyline.