I am inflated it could be stated, as I anticipated the long awaited review of Gears. It was debated, and thus belated, but if I hated or was elated it will be stated and annotated in this review of Gears! And unrelated, I’d want to play skate it! but I’ll focus on what I have created and I’ll restate it, this is a review of Gears.

I’ll start by making the point that Gears of War 2, in my eyes, is an almost perfect sequel. Now that does not mean, as a point, that is is a perfect game. What I mean, when I say this, is that it takes all of the elements that I loved from the first game and it builds upon them. The unfortunate side to making a sequel in anything, however, is that you have to take both the good and the bad from the original game. Luckily, Gears of War 1 was a pretty fantastic game.

EPIC have made quite a claim, just with their name

Now EPIC themselves have talked about how they have geared their sequel towards being more cinematic, something more deserving of their company title. Playing through Gears 2, you begin to understand exactly what they mean. The story and dialogue have been worked upon, apparently, by some professional writers. Personally, I wouldn’t have noticed, the story itself is pretty bland in its linearity and carries an inevitability to it that holds it back from being a serious work of fiction. It doesn’t help either that Gears of War is full of cheese. Giant space marine type men fighting against hoards of monsters from the depths of Earth is not going to lend itself to anything too sophisticated.

Still, towards the end of the main story arc some nice elements are introduced that could be fantastic if they’re built upon, and in a game like Gears I’m not sure an elaborate tale wouldn’t just get in the way. Case in point, Metal Gear Solid. A fantastic game, but the story (good as it is) does tend to push itself in the way a bit. In this respect, then, Gears is a fantastically balanced game.

Gameplay wise, it’s the Gears formula, and we like it already. Those of whom liked the original will appreciate the closed encounters while experiencing a new, more open level design that comes into play sequentially. It can be a little off putting at first, especially if you’re just hoping for an expansion of the original campaign, but staying with the course is rewarding. The new designs echo the first game and bring a different set of strategies to each fight, and with the occasional niche bit of gameplay (such as tempting out rock monsters to create your own cover, or controlling a crane as both a platform and a weapon) it’s kept interesting and fun.

Gears 2 is longer then the first one too, in sheer story it covers

visually, gears is a treat

boss fights

…but who actually cares about single player nowadays?

Old problems. Dare I say, “HOST ADVANTAGE”

So, score?

9/10

And now it’s rated, I hope you’re sated, it wasn’t slated like I had fated.