I may be in the minority but I played the original Gears of War strictly for the single player experience (Coop Campaign included).  Whenever I attempted to take my play online I was constantly met with players that were far superior and would be able to 1 hit kill me without me getting a single bit of enjoyment out of the experience.  The single player though was a nonstop thrill ride that was just pure dumb fun to play through that got way too much criticism because of it’s balls to the wall ridiculous story.

Gears of War 2 ups the ante in ways that absolutely had my jaw dropping as I moved through the single player campaign.  In many ways the game feels like you’re playing the original but I soon realized that this was not a bad thing.  I instantly fell back into the stop and pop state of mind needed to play the game.

Bigger Badder More Bad Ass (Actual lead designer quote, thank you Cliff!)

There’s no time wasted when it comes to dropping you into the action in Gears of War 2.  You’re almost immediately put through events that far surpass any of the firefights you experienced within the original Gears of War.  You’ll be poised with fights against creatures that were bosses in the original game yet are mere side enemies whose only purpose is fodder for your turret gun. Brumaks, Corpsers and hundreds of Locusts surround you at all times and this happens within minutes of starting the game.

The game continues to move you through dynamic environments that range from underground caverns to wasted cityscapes.  There’s even a level plays like an old 2D action sidescroller game (ala Contra) that takes place inside a huge creature with all the blood, viscera, and muscles shown with almost nauseating realism.  Your adventure also leads you underground to the Locust’s (main baddies in the game) home turf where you duke it out with literally hundreds of their kind.  Yes there is a lot that is reminiscent of the original but there’s certain sections that are gorgeous to look at which can be a headache when you’re caught off guard by an enemy that’s caught you sightseeing.

I’m sure that I’m not the only gamer out there that felt the original Gears of War’s story was a bit laughable and its sequel sometimes follows in its footsteps. This doesn’t meant that the game is devoid of worthwhile story arches but these sometimes truly dramatic sections are  juxtaposed to expletive laden action sections that are littered with great one liners like, “We’re gonna whup your mamma’s ass. Whoo-!”  If you’re willing to take it at face value you’ll soon see that Gears of War 2 provides you with exactly what you would want in a summer action movie and that’s a simple story line that has just enough realism strewn through  to ground the outrageousness that the rest of the ride gives you.

Multiplayer

While the Gears of War matches are for the most part the same but there’s two modes that I’ve played the most since I purchased the game a few months ago.  Those two were Meatflag and Horde modes.  In Meatflag you play a game that is Epic‘s version of Capture the Flag and basically plops a living person as the flag and each team is attempting to dispatch and carry this “meatflag” to their side of the map, this mode can be fun but eventually can get tiresome.  The real part of multiplayer that has legs is the Horde mode which  puts you gets against waves of enemies that get progressively harder.  These two modes alone are what have made the Gears of War 2 multiplayer far superior to the original game’s by far.

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