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Saturday March 10, 2007 - 12:09 PM
First off, I'm not a big shooter fan. There are few exceptions to the rule however. PainKiller, Call of Duty, Doom 3, and Gears of War are some that have made the list of generally awesome shooter games to play.
That out of the way, Gears of War, isn't a typical shooter. The storyline and character development shines through in its darkest hour. Marcus and Carmine (as I was playing Campaign Co-op) are interesting characters in their own right. Marcus Fenix being a released prisoner that has war history while Carmine Santiago being the soldier that finds Marcus in the prison and ends up releasing him. The story takes place in a city that is at odds with a locust-like population that are looking to take over the city in it's entirety.
Controls-wise, Gears of War has a defensive system to it. When running with the A button, the camera automatically follows you (as though a cameraman were following) from a third-person perspective and you'll take cover if it's available. This is useful most of the time as there are many firefights where you'll die otherwise without taking cover. The A button is also used for doing barrel-rolls, which are extremely necessary in the Berserker portion of the game. Of note on weapons, only 4 can be held at any point, but swapping them out is as easy as finding them. The reload system is something I neglected a lot of the time while adjusting to the gameplay, but when reloading, there is a bar with a few notches around the center that if you time the sliding marker right, you'll hit the center notches and get a quick reload and for a moments, do additional damage to enemies.
In terms of graphics, this title shines with the amount of detail put into it. There's a point where my friend was saying, "It's almost like they put a bit too much detail into this." The in-game movies make this game gorgeous to watch with the voice-acting being superb. A small thing is that some of the characters look they're on steroids...especially Marcus.
With gameplay, GoW handles fairly smooth with a few faults. The camera takes a bit of time getting used to, and when running, it's disorienting after awhile. Otherwise, I wish there was an auto-locking aim system either in-place or the option to have it there. Not being a hardcore shooter, the aiming was tricky but not difficult enough to deter from the overall fun factor. A lot of different concepts come into play with this title, like trying to stay in the light so that the Krysts (?) don't come and eat you, or allowing the Berserker to make a path for you so that when you're outside, you can kill it with your satellite-based superweapon. The driving factor in the gameplay however is the overall sense of purpose. There's checkpoints at every interval and with the ongoing story, it's enjoyable as sometimes you're talking with the commander while walking through the delapidated city. The dialogue is refreshing and tends to build the characters up very well.
I would highly recommend this game to anyone who likes great plot, action-packed gameplay that's involved, and stunning graphics. Definantly one of the best titles for the Xbox 360.
Alan
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