Gears of War 2

First Glance
Epic’s Unreal engine returns for some blood, guts and cussing adventure. This game made it to 2008’s top 10 ‘Watchdog’ list of games unsuitable for teens. Uhhh, it’s a game – come on. Luckily there is a censor setting from the game’s menu but who wants too see ooos and ahhhs when we can hear sh*ts and giggles.

Short Story
Six months after the detonation of the Lightmass Bomb, Marcus Fenix and the rest of the COG team are back to wreak some more havok on the Locust. There are new weapons, new multiplayer options, and even some great co-op modes riding on this 2 million unit seller.

The Score
Gears of War 2 is packing a Busy Gamer Score of 4. For the Busy Gamer there is alot to be offered. The controls are easy, multiplayer and co-op offer some nice suprises for late night plundering with your friends. And even if you lose track of the storyline it isn’t hard to follow suit with the assault on the alien campaign.

Body of Review
As with the predecessor, the very first thing I learned in Gears of War 2 is the cover system. It is this games strongest point. Knowing when to duck and roll is critical to your survival. The AI being very responsive, also taking advantage of cover. I found myself occasionally unloading a full clip to take out just one mob, which made me feel I was fighting more than just a computer controlled critter.

The executions were an awesome flare to the game, a nice head stomp, neck break, and human shield add a nasty zing to the gameplay making multiplayer more fulfilling of course for all you Halo tea baggers out there. Slapping a grenade on someones back and watching them go boom was a nice touch too.

The graphics are on par with any other game of this caliber. Lots of blood, break away rocks from gun fire and streaks of guts on the ground are prevalent throughout the campaign. Head shots look awesome and give an unforgettful watermelon splatter, if you can imagine that anyhow.

Campaign mode is somewhat lack luster but co-op was very enjoyable. Some scenarios split you and your partner up to complete parts of the story, opening up areas allowing you to finish the levels. Both you and your buddy can set your own difficulty level to beef things up for hardcore players running with a novice. This was a nice added feature, or rather a nice consideration towards new players.

Multi player matchmaking of course always cranks up the rating for our Busy Gamer games. The ability to just jump in and commit to some random chaos and destruction is always a plus for the Busy Gamer. If you can’t find any buddies to roll with, you can just set up some bots to practice on. I havent seen that since Unreal and Perfect Dark. Matches can even be created mixing players with bots. Horde mode I found really satisfying. You and three other players set up in a scenario to fight off waves of the Locust. There are 50 in all. Did I mention that you only get one life? Completing all 50 gives you a nice achievement too.

If your not too obsessed on storyline I think Gears of War 2 is an excellent addition to a Busy Gamer’s library. Jumping back into the game after time away for me seemed fairly painless. I don’t think it will replace your Halo fix, but offers a nice change of scenery and a heck of alot more blood and entrails.

-Crutchboy out

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