Gears of War
© Microsoft

Mania Grade: A
Maniac Grade: A-
Platform: X-Box 360
ESRB: M
Genre: Shooter
Players: 1-8
Online: Yes
Developer: Epic
Publisher: Microsoft
Suggested Retail: $59.99
Graphics: A
Sound: A-
Gameplay: A
Replay: A+
Fun Factor: A

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"Gears Of War"

The game of Gears of War was a media event this year, winning awards left and right. It was the top selling game for the X-Box 360 for its price points (Darn you Burger King games), and was one of the must have games not only for the holidays, but the entire year. Does the game live up to its hype? Yes. Is it the best game to have ever been made on any system, and will it be the best game of all time? Well my personal opinion is leaning towards a no. It is a great game mind you, though there are some issues that we will get to in a moment. 

Like many of the first person shooters the storyline is a little on the simple side. A few years ago there was an E-Day where mutated beings came up from the earth’s crust and laid ravage to the land. Much stronger than your average mole man, or even human, they seemed to be an unstoppable force. The were not alone in form though, as along with their human like counterparts, there are plenty of giant creatures on leashes that can either walk across the ground firing cannons, or fly through the sky. The human’s solution to the problem could be taken from the movie Final Fantasy: Spirits Within, where they decided to laser the bastards.  

Just like in the movie they used a laser in the sky to destroy their own infested cities in hopes to bring them to their knees. It seemed that it was in vain though, and humanity continues to be pushed to their knees. Enter Marcus, a convicted prisoner whom disobeyed military orders and ended up in the slammer. He had only left to try and rescue his father, even if his end result was in vain. Upon this attack though, as reserves started to dwindle, all surviving prisoners were pardoned in hopes that they would help in the fight. Such was the case with Marcus and his long time friend Dominique, the person that was sent to recruit him. 

The story mode has three different difficulties, though only the hardest is available after you beat the game. The main differences between the difficulties are how much damage you can absorb before you die. You have the option of either going through the game with another real person, or having the computer simulate your team, though you may end up dying a lot either way. Dying is not necessarily the end of your adventure in multiplayer though since there are two stages of death. Stage one is generally when too many bullets hit you and you fall it your knees. Stage two involves being hit close range by a shotgun blast, grenade, or even getting chain sawed. If stage two occurs you will need to wait till the match restarts, or jump back to the last checkpoint. Luckily your friends/teammates can bring you back to life from stage one by approaching your body. 

The storyline is fairly short, though if you repeat it on different difficulties, or even with a friend, you can extend the experience while getting a few achievement points along the way. The game gives you achievement points for playing it through on different difficulties, but also if you play through co-operatively as Dominique. This stretches out its replay-ability, but not as much as the online matches do. 

As a first person shooter of course you will have guns to enjoy, though not as many as you might expect. Your main weapon is the chainsaw bayonet that not only fires bullets like a machinegun, but also in close combat it can be your best friend. You can rev it up and chop an enemy in two, letting blood splatter across the map and even onto your screen. Of course you have a standard issue pistol, which is also good for melee attacks. Perhaps the best weapon for multiplayer, though it comes up a little lacking in the story mode, is the shotgun. Of course there is the standard sniper rifle for those that like to sit behind sandbags not moving for minutes. Other weapons include a machine gun that fires in bursts of five, a pistol that fires large bullets, a grenade launcher, an explosives bow, and the hammer of dawn. Each of these also has an active reload system, where when you attempt to reload it you can save time by hitting the button in session, and possibly get an extra boost to damage. If you mess up, you gun jams and it takes a few extra moments to reload. 

The second to last weapon is the hammer of dawn allows you to control the laser in the sky, and by painting a target with the weapon you can bring death from above. The hammer is the most powerful weapon in the game, though it is a little slow to use. In the storyline it is also the only way to kill some of the boss like creatures, though it can occasionally be used in multiplayer as well, allowing you to try and defeat the opposing team. Finally we have the grenades, which can be used in either multiplayer or the campaign. In the multiplayer you have the option of using smoke bombs as well. The interesting thing about these weapons though is that with a melee attack you may also attach either of them to your opponents. 

The main thing that this game brings to the table is using objects for cover. In previous other games you could generally use walls to protect yourself from wandering bullets, and that is the case with this game as well. The difference though is that you will hug objects for cover leaving your body less exposed than before. You can easily jump between blocks for cover, or even jump over them after you hug them. This is the only way for you to jump over things though. You can dive forward in general combat to try and escape bullets, which also has you hug up against objects near you. You can take aim from your cover to try and kill enemies, or you can blind fire, which shoots roughly in the area your camera is pointed at. Out of this cover you can run away from battle, though you are unable to shoot. You duck down to avoid shots while you run, and you will often cling up against walls when you approach them. 

Graphically the game is the best looking game on the X-Box 360. There is plenty of detail on the screen between characters, though more importantly it involves the environments. Different from most other games, the gaming environment is fresh each level and a lot of time has been put into creating them so that they look drastically different. This was quite nice to see since each level gave you another taste. The graphics were not perfect though, as you could see floating objects like guns, but also rubble. I also found a wall that would flicker from white to the rendered section it was supposed to be in the first level, though problems like this are very few and far between. Overall they have done a fantastic job with the graphics, even if it was not perfect. 

Online matches are played in four on four (or less), where you need to kill your opponents to win. There is no capture the flag, or capture the location. They have either a war zone / execution match, which is a straight up death match. The main difference between the two is that in war zone, if you reach stage one of death, you will need to have a person revive you, though with the execution match you can stand back up if you press A several times. The last match involves assassination, where you must try and assassinate the other team’s leader to win. You can still kill their other teammates as well even though it will not give you an auto-win, but if you kill enough of them you will become the leader for the next match.  

In the end, I would have liked to see different styles added so that people can re-spawn a bit quicker. Generally you need to wait till the end of the match, which can get quite boring if you have all ready died, though it can be hell if there are two snipers trying to kill one another. While the story had decent length for a first person shooter, I would have liked to see a bit more added, though I am positive the sequel will do just that. Overall it is a great game, but you may have a few problems in close combat if you jump around. If you are trying to jump out of the way, and then run, you may accidentally stick to the wall instead. All and all, Captain Gordon gives the game an A. 

Questions? Comments? Suggestions? CaptainGordonEdward@Gmail.com