First Glance:
There’s a chainsaw bayonet!!! Say it with me… CHAINSAW BAYONET!!!!
The Short Story:
You play a tough mofo named Marcus Fenix who was sentenced to a maximum
security stockade for a crime he didn’t commit. He promptly escaped to the Los
Angeles underground… Wait, that’s not right. Okay, he does start off in prison, he
does get sprung, and then proceeds to wreck the enemy with your help. Carnage
and hilarity ensues.
The Score:
Gears of War has high replay value, a solid multiplayer offering, and the controls are
easy to learn and remember. Combine these traits with an interesting story and
good voice acting and you have the makings for a Busy Gamer 5.
Body of review:
There’s a lot to like about this game considering it was one of the first titles for the
Xbox 360. It’s unusual to find a gem in the crap we’re barraged with when a system
first launches, but Gears of War has a lot to like and delivers it with outstanding
sound and graphics. The storyline avoids being cliché by putting a new twist on what
has become, in recent years, an old tale… Aliens invade the planet.
The twist? Humanity is the alien race who invades by settling on a colony planet.
And the enemy doesn’t come from space, they come from underground. Sera, the
planet the game takes place on, is home to a material known as Imulsion. Oddly, it’s
never explained within the game as to why this material is so valuable. There are
several story holes like this one as the game progresses, one of my few complaints
with the game itself. A quick glance at the manual that came with the game clears up
a few questions but oddly, for me, it raised more questions than answers.
Suffice it to say that when the Locust launched an attack from their underground
home, it caught the surface dwellers completely off guard. As the situation grew
more desperate, the Coalition of Ordered Governments (COG) launched a “scorched
earth” attack using orbital satellites to destroy everything the human race had built on
the surface of the planet. Considering the Locust live underground and don’t appear
to be interested in human structures or holdings, it sounds to me like COG did the
Locust’s job for them. I could be wrong.
Marcus Fenix is the story’s hero and as the game begins, we find Marcus locked in a
military prison. He’s sprung by an old friend and has to fight his way out of the
overrun prison to a waiting evacuation. Reunited with old friends and his favorite
weapons, Marcus is asked to help the Delta Squad rescue another unit. Once this
portion of the story begins, so does the real action.
Game play is based on strategic use of cover to overwhelm your foes as well as a
clever reload system. You have the option of attempting an “active reload” when
reloading, which not only greatly reduces the time required to reload but can offer a
slight boost to damage when done perfectly. However, if you mess up, your weapon
jams and you’re stuck trying to get it working again. This leaves you vulnerable to
attack since you can’t switch weapons while dealing with the reload or even use it to
melee an enemy who gets too close.
The cover system is worth noting because it offers a new aspect to the gameplay.
Standing in the open blindly blasting away at your foes will get you quickly, and
painfully, killed. Once behind cover, the player can choose to “blind” fire their weapon
over the top or from the side of their hiding spot or lean out to take more careful aim.
The weapons themselves look and sound like real weapons, from the guttural growl
of the full auto weapons to the sharp bark of a sniper rifle. Firefights are frantic and
make the player feel like they really are fighting for their life. Ammo is a very realistic
concern as you play through the levels as you’ll find yourself firing often and
repeatedly to try and keep you and your squad alive.
The Squad AI is one weak point in this game as you’ll see your team mates charge
from cover into oncoming fire but you can revive them if you get close enough to do
so. You may even watch as the other three members of your squad try and chase
down one weakened enemy leaving you to deal with multiple healthy foes on your
own.
Other than minor complaints in regards to AI and some missing story elements, this
is easily one of the more solid offerings the Xbox 360 has to date. It’s not hard to pick
up where you left off even after extended leaves of absence and with a control
scheme that felt very instinctive to me, this title certainly has a lot to offer the Busy
Gamer.
Grits – End of Line
There’s a chainsaw bayonet!!! Say it with me… CHAINSAW BAYONET!!!!
The Short Story:
You play a tough mofo named Marcus Fenix who was sentenced to a maximum
security stockade for a crime he didn’t commit. He promptly escaped to the Los
Angeles underground… Wait, that’s not right. Okay, he does start off in prison, he
does get sprung, and then proceeds to wreck the enemy with your help. Carnage
and hilarity ensues.
The Score:
Gears of War has high replay value, a solid multiplayer offering, and the controls are
easy to learn and remember. Combine these traits with an interesting story and
good voice acting and you have the makings for a Busy Gamer 5.
Body of review:
There’s a lot to like about this game considering it was one of the first titles for the
Xbox 360. It’s unusual to find a gem in the crap we’re barraged with when a system
first launches, but Gears of War has a lot to like and delivers it with outstanding
sound and graphics. The storyline avoids being cliché by putting a new twist on what
has become, in recent years, an old tale… Aliens invade the planet.
The twist? Humanity is the alien race who invades by settling on a colony planet.
And the enemy doesn’t come from space, they come from underground. Sera, the
planet the game takes place on, is home to a material known as Imulsion. Oddly, it’s
never explained within the game as to why this material is so valuable. There are
several story holes like this one as the game progresses, one of my few complaints
with the game itself. A quick glance at the manual that came with the game clears up
a few questions but oddly, for me, it raised more questions than answers.
Suffice it to say that when the Locust launched an attack from their underground
home, it caught the surface dwellers completely off guard. As the situation grew
more desperate, the Coalition of Ordered Governments (COG) launched a “scorched
earth” attack using orbital satellites to destroy everything the human race had built on
the surface of the planet. Considering the Locust live underground and don’t appear
to be interested in human structures or holdings, it sounds to me like COG did the
Locust’s job for them. I could be wrong.
Marcus Fenix is the story’s hero and as the game begins, we find Marcus locked in a
military prison. He’s sprung by an old friend and has to fight his way out of the
overrun prison to a waiting evacuation. Reunited with old friends and his favorite
weapons, Marcus is asked to help the Delta Squad rescue another unit. Once this
portion of the story begins, so does the real action.
Game play is based on strategic use of cover to overwhelm your foes as well as a
clever reload system. You have the option of attempting an “active reload” when
reloading, which not only greatly reduces the time required to reload but can offer a
slight boost to damage when done perfectly. However, if you mess up, your weapon
jams and you’re stuck trying to get it working again. This leaves you vulnerable to
attack since you can’t switch weapons while dealing with the reload or even use it to
melee an enemy who gets too close.
The cover system is worth noting because it offers a new aspect to the gameplay.
Standing in the open blindly blasting away at your foes will get you quickly, and
painfully, killed. Once behind cover, the player can choose to “blind” fire their weapon
over the top or from the side of their hiding spot or lean out to take more careful aim.
The weapons themselves look and sound like real weapons, from the guttural growl
of the full auto weapons to the sharp bark of a sniper rifle. Firefights are frantic and
make the player feel like they really are fighting for their life. Ammo is a very realistic
concern as you play through the levels as you’ll find yourself firing often and
repeatedly to try and keep you and your squad alive.
The Squad AI is one weak point in this game as you’ll see your team mates charge
from cover into oncoming fire but you can revive them if you get close enough to do
so. You may even watch as the other three members of your squad try and chase
down one weakened enemy leaving you to deal with multiple healthy foes on your
own.
Other than minor complaints in regards to AI and some missing story elements, this
is easily one of the more solid offerings the Xbox 360 has to date. It’s not hard to pick
up where you left off even after extended leaves of absence and with a control
scheme that felt very instinctive to me, this title certainly has a lot to offer the Busy
Gamer.
Grits – End of Line
BusyGamer Rating
GEARS OF WAR
PLATFORM : XBOX 360, PC
COMPANY: EPIC GAMES
REVIEWER: Grits Review Main
