Gears of War

Gears of War is the first console game from developer Epic Games who normally develop games for the P.C market they are attacking the console market with Gears of War.

Gears of War is set to emerge onto the 360 on 17 November 2006. The games main mode is a lengthy Single player Campaign as you battle through hordes of enemies called the Locust, and at any time a friend can plug in a controller and join in the fight along side you.

Gears is a shooter through and through but with new innovations this game redefines the shooter genre to make a more enjoyable experience but more about that later.

When you start the game you are dropped straight in at the deep end with a post-apocalyptic war taking place. You play as the protagonist Marcus Fenix released from prison to join the war effort against the locust. Once you leave the prison you can see the graphics are amazing and is the first truly next-gen game, then when you are playing the game you can that this is the most impressive 360 game to date. When you are not in a fire fight the environments are simply amazing it is Earth but post apocalyptic with buildings, statues and any kind of remnants of civilisation totally destroyed but in Gears this destruction is key to survive throughout the game.

A slab of concrete is your best ally or you could use a burnout car or even a stone pillar, why are these inanimate objects are your best allies? Because if you are not hiding behind one these you will be dead within seconds from the onslaught of enemy fire, the cover system is the major innovation in gears of war. But it’s not the kind of cover system you would find in a Tom Clancy game but a very simplified version which is good because it has a shorter learning cave and this gets the player straight into the action.

Picture this you have just dived behind the closest piece of cover after a hail of bullets are raining down onto you. You’ve got enemies all in front of you and to the side; you’ve got two choices; hold your position and defend your position or break off and flank the enemy but risk getting shot in the process. This is the kind of fire fights you will find yourself in all the way through the game. This game brings a big sense of urgency while playing be it an intense and somewhat claustrophobic fire fights, or when your running to cover and the camera zooms into your character shortening your peripheral vision, or even when you are walking down a corridor and enemies come from all directions just to kill you, Gears of war does this brilliantly.

The characters in gears of war are very “American” muscle bound the testirone pumped but this doesn’t bring the game down with silly stereotypes, they actually fit in perfectly the characters from a graphical stand point the bulky-battle damaged armour they wear is shown off with the power of the 360 and you can tell from first glance that these men have been through tough times and have the damage to prove it, this also adds to the overall feel of the game.

As you play through the game as Marcus Fenix a former soldier of COG (Coalition of Organized Governments) who is released from prison to aid Delta Squad on a mission that could end the war against the Locust once and for all. The Locust are the enemies of the games which don’t have any details or history about them other than one day (Emergence Day) they rose from underground to do one thing kill the human race.

The locust themselves look as a grizzled as the COG soldiers but are like machines that throughout the game relentlessly attack you until they have a bullet in them. (A lot of bullets most of the time) and the game has a high gore factor to it which goes fits perfectly with the overall tone of the game because you are fighting so many locust that you would expect some bloodshed and every time you blow a locust’s head off or even chainsaw them in half when they are split in two a spray of blood engulfs the screen which enhances the game by making you feel like you are there fighting instead of just playing a game its really immersive. The story is broken down into five acts starting in a prison to a derelict city at the middle of the night. Without ruining the plot Gears Of War the plot Gears Of War is full of twists and had an ending that leaves the Gears of war universe open for a sequel or possibly a series and isn’t a bad thing at all as long as the formula stays the same. This could one day be as popular as the Final Fantasy series. If you own an Xbox 360 then Gears of War is an amazing game and well worth a purchase.