Gears of War 2 Review: More like ten shitloads
Gears of War 2 was promised to be bigger, better and more badass than its predecessor, which is quite a claim considering how successful and revered the first Gears of War was. Epic needed to keep what the fans of the series loved while also trying to meet its incredibly ambitious promise to make the game better on so many levels, and incredibly they largely achieved this. Gears of War 2 is an incredible game that still stands up as one of the Xbox 360's best 3 years after its release.
Story is an area that the first Gears of War really let itself down on, but it did manage to establish a strong background for the setting of the Gears universe. Gears of War 2 takes this setting and fleshes it out a bit, mentioning things like the pendulum wars and alluding to the recent history of the planet Sera. The game now has a proper cinematic intro that gives some context to the conflict. Jacinto, the capital of the remnants of humanity is in danger of being the target of a new Locust attack involving sinking entire cities into the ground. If this wasn't motive enough to fight the Locust Epic have really improved upon characterisation in this game. While the story last time loosely focused of Marcus Fenix, the story this time is strongly anchored on Dominic Santiago and his search for his missing wife. While it is a bit cheesy, it works rather well and really does help to humanise the members of the macho delta squad and helps them avoid the trap of becoming nothing for than muscular space marine stereotypes which they really are in the first game. New characters are introduced into the story and overall the cast is much more likeable than last time. The game also feels like the middle chapter of a trilogy because a lot of fresh questions about the nature of the Locust and the background of the conflict are raised, so hopefully these new story threads will be answered in Gears of War 3. The ending leaves the game completely open for a sequel but in a relatively satisfying way, and overall the story here is a massive step up from the first game.
At first glance Gears of War 2 is not a massive leap forward from its predecessor visually but this is hardly bad considering how good the first game looked. Gears of War 2 does make significant visual improvements in small areas that if you put the 2 side by side become much more obvious. For a start lighting is greatly improved and used to a more strategic degree which is great as a lot of the game takes place in underground areas so this feature really helps those levels to look good. Textures do not suffer the pop-in that plagued the first game to the same extent, though it is still present. The design of the environments are again amazing, from the detailed and impressive Locust architecture to the streams of immulsion and explosions of debris. Its a vibrant and more colourful game this time as well, with the same vast level of detail given to the character models, from their armour and clothing to their weapons.
The music is more pumping and rousing than the first game, with more intense battle themes that really do build up to strong scenes. One of the first major cutscenes has the leader of the human government give a speech to the assembled soldiers and the music that goes with this scene is just so powerful and memorable that it really enhances the game. Voice acting is again gruff and vulgar, suitable for the game though not exactly aspirational. The sounds of the weapons are all satisfying and really make the guns feel like they are powerful. When enemies are blown apart and lumps of pulp and flesh fly everywhere you will really appreciate the strength of the sound design in the game. The Locust sound great again, adding to their alien menace.
The great and tactical cover based shooting of the original returns here in its entirety, and the formula really does result in pure fun. There are a lot of new weapons in this game, with the addition of heavy weapons, such as the Mulcher and Mortar. Wielding one of these weapons will slow your character down considerably, but make up for this disadvantage with sheer power. There is some rebalancing with the weapons but its a great selection of arms that again each have their role and niche situation to use them in that makes them all viable choices. You can now tag grenades to the walls and this is one new feature that I do not like about the game. What I love about the gameplay of Gears is that players can succeed by smart use of cover and weapon selection and through their tactics, which is all rendered null and void if you are cheaply blown up by a grenade attached to a wall. Its a personal gripe that others probably do not share, but it annoyed me in this game. Despite this the combat is fantastic in the game and it retains all the intensity of the first Gears.
The multiplayer has had a lot of work done to it by Epic, making it the meat of the title. Player cap has been increased, and all the modes of the last game are back again, but the addition of Horde mode is the real gem. Horde mode allows up to 5 players team up and face off against wave after wave of Locust enemies. Its intense and thrilling to play with friends and has been replicated by many other games since, including Fear, Halo and Cod. The multiplayer would be near perfect but for its crippling matchmaking problems that persist to this day. It takes anywhere from 10-40 minutes to get into a ranked game, depending on what mood the matchmaking system is in. This single handedly ruins a large portion of the games multiplayer package and is a real shame because I can see the length that Epic went to in order to improve aspects of the games mechanics. Frame rate issues still crop up but they are less frequent and you can now take a downed enemy as a meat shield or have chainsaw duels instead of the randomised crap that the first game had. Small improvements like this really add to the game and show that the developers really care about the game.
Gears of War 2 has fantastic production values and polish, with a co-op ready campaign that runs at around 8 hours on normal or 10 hours alone. Its an easier game than the first one but try it on inane and you will be under serious strain to survive. The new enemy types add variety to the game and the campaign is a better one than the first game, though again it has a poorly paced middle chapter that tries to turn the game into a survival horror and really comes off badly. The boss fights are a lot weaker this time around, with one of the worst last bosses I have ever seen in any game. It also lacks the spark of freshness that its predecessor and while it does a lot of things better it does nothing new really. Despite this its a truly fantastic campaign that is a blast to play, and remains one of the best games of this generation.
Pros:
- Great graphics and detailed environments
- Cover based combat is done so naturally and fluidly
- Versatile and fun selection of weapons
- Better game mechanics and polish
- Co-op campaign
- Great multiplayer modes and maps
- Horde mode is incredibly fun
- Improved storytelling
- Great sound design and good music
Cons:
- Truly awful last boss
- Grenades tagging to walls takes tactics right out of the combat
- Campaign has a weak middle chapter with poor pacing and an out of place tone
- Frame rate drops and texture pop-in persist, though is is to a lesser extent
- Serious matchmaking problems and host advantage
- Doesn't quite have the same spark as the first one, despite being more polished
Wtf:
- Is the last boss a joke or am I missing something?
Score:
- 8/10