|
Epic Games’ sequel ups the ante across the board. Gears of War 2 doesn't revolutionize the Gears series but it does offer more, as well as bigger and better things.
The single-player campaign is epic with tons more characters onscreen, the addition of drop-in drop-out co-op makes a big difference, and the pumped up multiplayer mode increases the game’s replay value substantially. All in all, it makes for a very compelling package.
Gears of War 2 begins shortly after the first game ended. As you may remember, the Locust Queen promised that the Locust would keep fighting after Gears’ credits rolled. She wasn’t lying – the Locust are incredibly powerful in Gears 2, capable of sinking entire cities. They’ve set their sights on Jacinto, humanity’s last remaining city, and it’s up to Marcus Felix and Dominic “Dom” Santiago to lead the charge against them. Compared to Gears, the sequel places more emphasis on story, uncovering some of the relationships and motivations that make the soldiers fight.
In terms of gameplay, Gears 2 is quite similar to the first game. The game places a heavy emphasis on cover so you’re still running around, taking cover, shooting at enemies blindly, getting out of cover just enough to pull off a few shots, before running to the next point. The cover system has been refined, minimizing accidental sticking to cover. The biggest changes to the gameplay come from the addition of new weapons including a sure-to-be fan favorite in the flamethrower, as well as the ability to stick grenades to surfaces, allowing them to pull double duty as proximity mines. There are some vehicle segments, too, which offer some variety while not distracting the game from its focus.
There are also some other improvements. For example, if you’ve been killed you can tap the A button, allowing you to more quickly reach your teammate to possibly revive you. Likewise, if you defeat an enemy you now have four ways of fully executing them. You can take them as a human shield, punch them repeatedly in the face, kick them in the back of the head, or smash their head into the curb. Oh, and there are chainsaw duels.
The single-player campaign can also be played via split-screen or online with drop-in drop-out co-op support. The online implementation works great and even allows players to have separate difficulty settings.
Of course, the game still has a large competitive multiplayer mode. The game includes ten new maps as well as five maps from the first Gears. Game modes from the first Gears such as Warzone, Annex, Assassination, Execution and King of Hill all make a return here. Further, the game introduces four new modes. Submission is the game’s version of Capture the Flag instead of having a flag though the game uses an armed civilian that you have to move around using the hostage technique. In Wingman, you’ll be split off into teams of two and forced to cooperate (and revive) one another. In Guardian, everyone is tasked with protecting a leader. As long as the leader is alive the other players can respawn infinitely but once the leader is dead the other players lose this privilege. In Horde, a team of five players will take on increasingly tougher waves of Locust enemies. As long as one team member survives the round, the rest will respawn at the beginning of the next wave. It’s an incredibly addicting and entertaining mode. All of the multiplayers (except Horde) support bots, and there are also five training missions for newcomers.
The Unreal Engine 3 has powered dozens of great looking games but it’s clear that no other developer has mastered the engine as well as its creators at Epic Games. Gears of War 2 is an incredible looking game, with almost ungodly detailed character models, razor-sharp textures, and stunning water and lighting effects. Somehow the game manages to throw even more enemies onscreen than before while maintaining a smooth framerate. The levels themselves are even wider and more open than the previous game and aside from simply seeing more enemies onscreen you’ll also a larger variety of (and simply larger in size) enemies.
The great production values carry on to the sound design. The voice acting is great, with sharp dialogue delivered in a realistic fashion. The soundtrack sounds like it could power a Hollywood summer blockbuster and fits the game well. The sound effects, especially the enhanced weapon effects, are all great, too.
Gears of War 2 is a stellar shooting game and easily one of the best games of the year. The single-player campaign, drop-in drop-out online co-op (and split screen), and incredibly varied multiplayer, coupled with fantastic production values make this game hard to top. -- Jose Liz, PGNx Media
---- Nov 27, 2008
|
