Obi Chris Kenobi
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The Real TSM > Video Games > Gears of War 2
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The Real TSM > Video Games > Gears of War 2
: Obi Chris Kenobi April 01, 2009 12:17 pm
Gears of War 2
Formats: PC & Xbox360
Format Reviewed: Xbox360
First thing to say - play this on a BIG telly. I originally played this on a small portable telly, which meant with the way the game is designed with the over the shoulder camera, you had very little 'free screen' to see. On a bigger telly you get the whole picture and joy that is Gears of War 2.
Gone are the constant never ending different shades of grey that littered and made up the game world (a technical limitation from using the Unreal 3 engine). Now you have a game world with a lot more colour - well, a lot more colour compared to GoW1. It’s a game that needed that extra texture, colour and vibrancy, as it’s as close as live action cinema in a computer game you can get without it being a single BUTTon press to continue (Metal Gear Solid 4).
The graphics aren't everything however; the sound in the game is almost perfect, with the ambient swirling of wind, or the clanking of trolleys and other rubbish in your way. It adds to when the action starts, the music kicks in and the gun fire starts to flow. However, don't expect miracles from the game play, it’s pretty repetitive.
The whole game is a duck and cover experience, and with the enemy AI showing very little intelligence or variation to their tactics they're rather easy to pick off without being hit. Playing on a harder difficulty can, obviously, make it harder, but it only makes the enemies tougher; not smarter. Your Partner's (Dom) AI isn't much better, where at times he appears to be stuck on set pointers and won't deviate away from it to provide cover or support.
However, this shouldn't take away from your enjoyment of the game - unless of course you're looking for 'smart' FPS - and if anything it’s what you'd expect from a game where the main characters look like 80's action heroes all full of muscle and a desire to blow everything up around them. The range of weapons should keep any hardcore FPS fan content with pistols to flamethrowers available, with rocket launchers and turrets thrown in for good method.
Gameplay does take a slight nose dive during open space scenes or if any great deal of actual movement is required outside of bouncing between cover. The characters are slow and clumber sum, turning like tanks on a pivot rather than combat soldiers. However, it is rare that quick movements outside of taking cover are required so it’s not a huge issue during Single Player campaign - though it will drive you mad during multiplayer games.
The level design is pretty basic, but the artwork makes up for it, and at times can feel slightly short. The introduction of rail track levels and driving moments is slightly distracting and seems to have been done to just to see if they could. However, it doesn't kill the flow of the game and once they're over, they're over.
The plot and the characters themselves haven't changed much from the first game, and thankfully neither has the direction and story. While at times it’s a bit cliché, it never tries to claim it won't be - it’s an action game, with action movie elements, you know what you're going to get. The voice acting is better than most games and doesn't distract or lower the quality over the already great presentation of the game. The pace of the game is well thought out with the correct balance found between an easy introduction for those who didn't play GoW1 and a welcome warm up for those who did.
The developers have gone to a great deal with their achievements and most of them do feel like achievements rather than just obvious points within the game to give them. Yes they have the generic 'Chapter finished' achievements, but the rest make up for that - ranging from collections to mass killings. All achievements are tracked in game with a percentage bar that appears in the bottom corner when a milestone is achieved towards the target required.
Online. Where to begin with online. Co-op mode is great fun and makes the single player experience even more enjoyable knowing that you don't have to worry about the AI (though this can be replaced with having to worry about your new human friend and their level of intelligence). Co-op is probably the only way to finish the game on the hardest difficulty too.
Horde mode is great, as waves of Locust come at you with increased vengeance. You get better weapons as the waves increase, and there is a great sense of panic as ammo starts to disappear and the locust come bearing down. It will create a level of time work and kinship if you really want to progress past lvl10.
Then there's online multiplayer... Epic have gone to great lengths to balance and tweak the online death match experience, but sadly they fail to tweak and balance one thing that will forever break this game online - cheaters. You're lucky if you can go 5 games without coming by someone who knows how to standby glitch the game when they're Server host to cause lag for everyone but them, leaving them with a clear sweep to cause death to everyone else while they remain unscratched.
The game also still revolves around whoever gets host (as host advantage without the standby glitch is still huge), in which instance they will whore the shotgun and kill you instantly. Or refuse to die as you pour a whole clip of ammo into their face, as the game fails to register some of the hits.
Or whoever gets the level's power weapons first. This is another downfall. For all the balancing Epic has tried to do with this game, the 'power weapons' are too powerful. They are instant deaths - the flamethrower is lethal, as is the mortar and brute shot.
Yet, most of the issues online aren't Epic's fault, it’s the community that Xbox live has attracted since Halo2 was released for online play. College students with lots of attitude and an open mic. People who just want to win, no matter how cheaply or how much they have to bend the rules and abuse the game so it’s no longer enjoyable for others. This is Microsoft's fault more than Epic's, though there's nothing stopping Epic to host their own dedicated servers to eliminate the Lag issue, and effects most games on Xbox.
If you remove all of the above then online death match can be a lot of fun, with various game modes available from death match, capture the flag and a VIP scenario to name a few, there's a lot of replay value too. Epic are, and look to remain, very committed to making GoW2 work online and provide constant support in regards to patches for both the online and single player experience.
Since the game has been released Epic have released 3 map packs, adding around 12 new maps (some of them favourites from GoW1) and a whole bunch of new achievements based on them. Most of those are online achievements, but some do cater for those who play Horde mode.
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Gameplay: 7 - Standard FPS with a lot of duck and cover action, which can get boring. The hit and miss of multiplayer is also fustrating, however, Co-op mode and Horde will have you coming back for more.
Graphics: 9 - A great improvement from GoW1 and some of the best looking moments so far in the 360's life cycle. They're not perfect however, as there skin textures are used over and over again.
Sound: 8 - The soundtrack sets the tone well from the ambience to the battle track.
Achievements: 8 - There's enough there to keep the achivement whores coming back for more. Even those who just want an excuse to play the game again will try out the different achievements.
Overall: 8 - If you enjoyed the original Gears of War, then you'll enjoy Gears of War 2, its more of the same but improved, and continues the story. Single player doesn't hold much reply value, outside of getting achievements and doing it again with a friend via Co-op.
Online mode can range from great to fustrating and almost game breaking depending on who you end facing - but that's Xbox live for you.
: Hawkius Maximus April 01, 2009 02:16 pm
I rented the game and played with friends.
I thought it was fun, but really nothing exceptional or outstanding. The Overly macho "WE'RE REALLY TOUGH MEN *GROWL**SPIT**CURSE*" bullshit in the game turned me off almost immediately.
The concept of "cover" is not a revolutionary movement in games like this if you ask me. The idea of cover in an FPS has existed since FPS's have. It's basic strategy. Games like Gears of War came up with a "system" for it. Whoo. In any FPS, if you are near a wall. An opponent is on the other side. They fire at you. What's your response? Most likely, it's to return to fire and get behind the wall. There's your cover system. I remember seeing the cover system way back for GOW1 touted as "revolutionary" and I've never gotten it.
When you really break it down, Gears of War is just like every other FPS on the market. With a reliance on a cover system and teammates.
I will praise the game for something though. You can play the game online with bots. Most console FPS/shooting games will not let you do that. I, for one, hate playing with most people online. I'd much rather play a game with me, my friends, and AI. AI typically doesn't abuse glitches to kill you. People do. So credit to them for that.
I also liked how most games I'd play felt like trench warfare. Instead of running around going "WEEEEEEEE!" and shooting things that moved, the game would have actual lines in the battle that both sides would be on. And then to ruin the mood, the AI or another player (aka a dipshit friend) would suddenly come out of nowhere, ignoring the trench warfare and chainsaw you to death.
I'd say it's a rental, not a purchase, but my mileage varies compared to others.
: Damaramu April 01, 2009 04:52 pm
I got this game for Christmas and I still have yet to play it. Maybe I should get on that.
: AndrewTS April 01, 2009 07:02 pm
QUOTE
I thought it was fun, but really nothing exceptional or outstanding. The Overly macho "WE'RE REALLY TOUGH MEN *GROWL**SPIT**CURSE*" bullshit in the game turned me off almost immediately.
Oh come on, did you get "turned off" or Predator? Die Hard? Commando? Come at it that way or as a cheesy b-movie flick.
That or counter-balance it with something girly.
QUOTE
The concept of "cover" is not a revolutionary movement in games like this if you ask me. The idea of cover in an FPS has existed since FPS's have. It's basic strategy. Games like Gears of War came up with a "system" for it. Whoo. In any FPS, if you are near a wall. An opponent is on the other side. They fire at you. What's your response? Most likely, it's to return to fire and get behind the wall. There's your cover system. I remember seeing the cover system way back for GOW1 touted as "revolutionary" and I've never gotten it.
When you really break it down, Gears of War is just like every other FPS on the market. With a reliance on a cover system and teammates.
Except Gears of War isn't a First Person Shooter. It's a third-person shooter. I think it makes a big difference when you're ducking for cover and look to the left or the right of a narrow column, and you can gauge just how far you are away from that boomshot or that wretch bounding near you.
Also, who cares about innovation? Gears of War has very few individually innovative aspects, but it adds up to a very polished, fun package.
Then again, Gears is one of the few shooters I really dig, plus the games have some of the best campaigns around in almost any major shooter. It isn't quite as indepth as something like Bioshock or Half-Life, but it's surprisingly well-fleshed out, even if it is a shameless mishmash of stuff like Predator and Riddick.
: Matt Young April 01, 2009 10:52 pm
I like Gears a lot, but due to playing other shit, I haven't played in a couple months. I need to try it out post patch. Plus I only played maybe 1 hour on the first map pack, so I haven't exactly gotten my money's worth.
Also, I must say that the review was very well written, Chris. Strong work.
: Obi Chris Kenobi April 02, 2009 12:19 am
Thanks for reading it, Matt! Once I get used to the way the board allows you to format posts, I'll try and make reviews a little more friendly to read with pictures and so. If not, I'll map it out on a page editor, and post it as a picture.
: Matt Young April 02, 2009 01:21 am
I'm looking forward to it!
We should play Gears soon, and Fight Night, too. I've only had one match of FNR3 online. Any other members up for getting together for some Gears?
: Obi Chris Kenobi April 02, 2009 12:32 pm
Yeah, I'm up for some of that. I've got most of next week off work (Easteeeeeeeeer!) so I'll probably catch sometime during the twilight when we're both awake. Hopefully the cross Atlantic lag doesn't spoil the game for us.
: Matt Young April 02, 2009 01:09 pm
Well, we've played other games such as Call of Duty before and didn't have any problems.
: Hawkius Maximus April 02, 2009 01:38 pm
QUOTE (AndrewTS @ April 01, 2009 07:02 pm)
QUOTE
I thought it was fun, but really nothing exceptional or outstanding. The Overly macho "WE'RE REALLY TOUGH MEN *GROWL**SPIT**CURSE*" bullshit in the game turned me off almost immediately.
Oh come on, did you get "turned off" or Predator? Die Hard? Commando? Come at it that way or as a cheesy b-movie flick.
That or counter-balance it with something girly.
QUOTE
The concept of "cover" is not a revolutionary movement in games like this if you ask me. The idea of cover in an FPS has existed since FPS's have. It's basic strategy. Games like Gears of War came up with a "system" for it. Whoo. In any FPS, if you are near a wall. An opponent is on the other side. They fire at you. What's your response? Most likely, it's to return to fire and get behind the wall. There's your cover system. I remember seeing the cover system way back for GOW1 touted as "revolutionary" and I've never gotten it.
When you really break it down, Gears of War is just like every other FPS on the market. With a reliance on a cover system and teammates.
Except Gears of War isn't a First Person Shooter. It's a third-person shooter. I think it makes a big difference when you're ducking for cover and look to the left or the right of a narrow column, and you can gauge just how far you are away from that boomshot or that wretch bounding near you.
Also, who cares about innovation? Gears of War has very few individually innovative aspects, but it adds up to a very polished, fun package.
Then again, Gears is one of the few shooters I really dig, plus the games have some of the best campaigns around in almost any major shooter. It isn't quite as indepth as something like Bioshock or Half-Life, but it's surprisingly well-fleshed out, even if it is a shameless mishmash of stuff like Predator and Riddick.
1. Yes, actually. I hate action movies. Except Die Hard since that tries to be something a bit more then "RAWGH. I AM MANLY MAN. WOMAN BOW AT MY FEET DUE TO MY PECTORAL SIZE".
2. First Person or Third Person. Doesn't matter. It's still a shooter, that PLAYS like it could as a First Person without any difficulty at all. If anything, I'd say Third Person is the vastly inferior format for these games. If I had to choose, and goddamnit if I don't have to considering this generation, I'd pick First person every time. I don't really want my screen dominated by the character's back personally.
As for how Third Person in Gears works with Cover. I never said it didn't work well. It does. It's just neither a revolutionary concept, nor anything that you cannot do easily in any other FPS game on the market with a half decent aiming system. I've been doing it since 1997 in FPS's. It's not hard.
At Old TSM on Gears, I said I can understand why people like Gears. It's not for me, but I can understand it. It appeals to the same market that those action movies you mentioned do. And the gameplay is just slightly different enough to give the illusion that you're playing something totally different then say your Halo or Unreal Tournaments. I've just been doing this shooting game bullshit for so long that it didn't work at all on me.
