Gaming Generations :: Gears of War

NickD · Posted: Sun Aug 17, 2008 5:47 pm Post subject:

Gears of War

Publisher: Microsoft Game Studios
Developer: Epic Games
Official Website: http://www.gearsofwar.com
Release Date: 11/7/2006
Genre: Sci-Fi Third-Person Shooter
Number of Players: 1-2
ESRB Rating: Mature
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REVIEW

A somewhat futuristic third-person shooter with a fun co-op story mode and great visuals.

I had avoided this game because of the insane amount of hype it received and because the pricetag still hasn't dropped too far down. When a game receives large amounts of hype, I often find the hype behind the game to be cause people to overrate it rather than looking at the game's exceptional points as well as considering the flaws.

But, since the sequel is coming out this year I decided it was time to at least try this game out. I finished the story mode on Casual and Hardcore and played both solo and co-op. I also spent a decent amount of time playing online.

PLOT
You play as Marcus Fenix (and potentially Dom Santiago), a member of the elite fighting force known as Gears. An invading force known as the Locust have invaded Sera and have been trying to eliminate humanity. Rather than giving up their towns and cities to the Locust, the humans destroyed the towns, leaving the Locust to survive in their underground tunnels. At the beginning of the game Fenix is rescued from prison by Dom and you set off to help fight.

The story to this game is pretty generic and not all too well explained. Fenix doesn't get much of a background story and you pretty much only figure out that he's a grizzled bad*** who just wants to kill. At one point the story turns to bring Fenix back to his former house by explaining that something essential is there. However, they don't really give any reason for it to be there, it just is. The same background is given to the main antagonist in the story, General Raam.

Also, if anyone can give me a clear explanation of what Immulsion is and where exactly the Locust came from, I'd be glad to find out.

SETTING
The game is mostly in the ruins of Sera and some of it takes place in the Locust tunnels deep underground.

GAMEPLAY
Whereas the story is a little weak and poorly presented, the gameplay is mostly well done. This game does have some slight tactical elements with the use of cover being a very important part of the surviving. There are a lot of interesting situations presented. For example, in one part of the game being out of the light too often will mean death, brutal brutal death.

The lack of variety of weapons is somewhat disheartening, but the different types of weapons are pretty cool. Obviously, everybody knows and has seen the Lancer aka chainsaw gun, but it could be easy to miss the Torque Bow or the Hammer of Dawn. Neither of these are incredibly innovative, but they are definitely fun to use in the story mode. Chainsawing someone is definitely a must-do for shooter fans.

Another great feature in this game that I loved was the ability to do a perfect active reload, which not only makes your reload time decrease, but also gives the reloaded ammo a damage boost.

This game is fun to play, moreso in co-op, but it does have its weaknesses. First off, the A button does far too many things. I found myself accidentally diving over cover positions rather than getting behind them and meeting my untimely demise. A great example of how this can be remedied is to look at the cover system for Rainbow Six Vegas.

Second, the online mode is poorly done. Don't get me wrong, the gametypes are great and would definitely be fun, but the complete lack of matchmaking makes playing the game online for the first time ridiculously hard. Obviously, I'm admitting here that I pretty much suck at playing online, but I'd like to play in games where I'm matched with other players who are as Gears-tarded as I am. Also, I just don't understand why there is an option to play in ranked matches or unranked matches when there is no actual ranking system. You don't become a higher level officer for playing in ranked matches, so I don't get why there is a difference.

GRAPHICS
The graphics are for this game are fantastic, despite the fact that the game has been out for nearly two years. The lighting looks great and the characters you see and meet in the game look pretty realistic even compared to recent games. Sure, they're on the same system, but developers usually find a way to push hardware in more efficient ways after a few years. This is a testament to the people at Epic. The only problem is see is the lack of color diversity in the game, as can be seen in the screenshots below.

SOUND
The sound is definitely adequate and the music and background noise definitely help create moments of suspense. I'm not much of an audiophile, but I do know that the sound never seems out of place.

SUMMARY
This game is definitely fun and definitely worth a playthrough, especially if you have someone else who wants to try it with you. The story is pretty basic and somewhat cliched, but it's still fun to play as a killing machine who executes enemies with extreme prejudice. The tactical nature of the cover system makes teamplay essential and rewarding. Still, there are some things that can be fixed that would definitely make late-comers feel more welcome with the game.

Overall Score: 8.5/10

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Pictures courtesy of GameSpot.com
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Finished Reviews:
Professor Layton and the Curious Village (DS)
Ninja Gaiden: Dragon Sword (DS)
Ninja Gaiden II
Battlefield: Bad Company (360)
Gears of War
Too Human
Dead Space (360)
Legendary (360)
EndWar (360)
Fallout 3

Writer, Actor in Flingshot Productions