There are few games that define a genre and even fewer games that can define a generation. Fanboy or not, you have to respect the Gears of War series as the latter. Gears of War, when released, wowed gamers to what was now possible with graphics engines and now Gears 2 has set the bar just a little higher. Nevertheless, we expected the game to look great, the question lies in the game play. Is Gears 2 a standalone killer app or just really Gears 1.5?

Gears of War 2 picks up slightly after the conclusion of its predecessor. The Locust have not only survived the ending of Gears 1, but have come back in greater numbers and just a little bit pissed off. A major criticism of Gears 1 was the storyline and campaign. Many found them convoluted and short, myself included. No one really knew the back-story of the war itself, the Locust, Marcus, anything. After a short campaign, even more questions arose. Gears of War 2 set out to remedy this and absolutely succeeded. The campaign is meatier, in more ways than one, and we now have an idea of what the hell is going on and get a true look at the characters we are pegged to play with. I’m keeping this review 100% spoiler free, so all you need to know is that things get real. Fo’ real fo’ real.

The game looks amazing and even better than Gears 1, which is hard to imagine. The color is more vivid, the levels sharper, and the details on the character models and even the weapons are stunning. Seeing the barrel of a Lancer heat up to red-hot when over used is a subtle touch you just have to appreciate as a gamer. They thought of everything. The levels are varied in both color and shading and look more realistic than any of us ever thought. There are some framerate slowdowns when the on-screen enemies amass in great numbers. This is not debilitating, but when we were told a major focus of the game was to increase the on-screen warfare and it still slows down, we are left with an “oh well” feeling instead of an “oh my God”. Small facets that make the game just short of perfect, but short nonetheless.

Nothing has changed as far as the control structure, but the roadie run and cover system have been worked out. No longer are you trying to hide behind a wall when you accidentally roll to the left and face a barrage of bullets you had no intention of facing. This is a crucial update especially on the hardest difficulties where run and gun is no longer an option.  The weapon cache has been expanded substantially, which was also a criticism of Gears 1. The Lancer remains the same but there are now heavy weapons added as well as some short range options that can make the adventure not as repetitive.

There are some bugs, however, that make the game frustrating. In a game that is so detail-oriented, it’s hard pressed to find how some of these exist and most lie within the online co-op. There will be times where one of you can’t move. At all. It’s up to the other player to reach a checkpoint or cutscene to unfreeze their teammate. There are others where you get separated and are blocked by invisible walls which again, require the same remedy. The lack of 4 person co-op blows. I understand not every mission has 4 players on it, but most of them do. Halo 3 made it work, why couldn’t Gears 2 do the same? I don’t think Gears of War 2 fans would have minded some small tweaks in the story to allow 4 player co-op. If the game became too easy, just play a harder level. It’s that simple.

Multiplayer received an overhaul which was most appreciated. The number of players have increased to 10, making 5v5 matches the norm. There are varying game modes such as Execution which requires downed opponents to be, well, executed to kill them. There are VIP modes, normal deathmatch, teams of 2 (Wingman), and the usual fare. The biggest addition is the Horde mode where wave after wave of Locust come at you in an onslaught fashion. Defeating all 50 levels is a feat like no other. The biggest issue of the game is the matchmaking. It’s borked. Big time. It takes a long time to find a game. Too long. You can wait for 10 minutes just to find a team. There are 5 million people playing, what is the problem? Epic has promised that a fix is imminent, but this is almost unforgivable. They can’t say that they did not expect the sheer number of players to be on their servers. This game has been teased and advertised for months. Until they figure this out, gamers like me will continue to be frustrated.

There are items to be picked up, 41 to be exact, that go into your War Journal. They serve as small tokens of your journey along the campaign and replace the COG tags that were in Gears 1. They serve only for achievements, but expand the back story as much as you want if you are willing to hunt for them. There are 4 levels of difficulty now, with the new addition being an Easy mode for fans new to the series.

Now, the $64,000 question. Is this a true sequel or fancy expansion pack? Gears of War 2 is an experience every gamer should have, including all you PS3 heads out there. This game, this series, this story will be seen as the same level as Halo. Will this game move consoles? Yes. If that is any indication of just how special this series is, you need to buy it. The game though, not perfect, is outstanding. The campaign could be longer, the multiplayer a little better, and some bugs here and there, but let’s be objective for a moment. Could any of us have pulled this off? No f’n way. Gears 2 is what we all waited for. After playing through it, I already started my Gears of War 3 countdown.

Overall: 9.5 out of 10

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