Steve's Nutshell Reviews: Gears Of War

gearsrating-4.5Game Type: Tactical Third-Person Shooter (Rated M for "Mom May Not Like This")
Platform: Xbox 360
Publisher / Developer: Microsoft Game Studios / Epic Games

 

Okay, so if you don't know anything about this game then I implore you to read up on it HERE . I don't have time or space to go over every detail and rehash what thousands of other reviewers have said. Simply put, Gears of War is one of the best video games ever released. Ever. I don't care if you think PCs are superior or that consoles are more fun, Gears of War is the kind of game that would kick ass on either (Dunno about a Mac... Who cares? I suppose it would look nice). It's the kind of game that takes a hold of you and owns you for a long, long time.

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Basically Gears is the kind of game that has a great story, great game-play and fantastic voice acting. The immersion value alone is worth every penny. The sights, sounds and action will make you feel like you are there, being pwned on by the Locust. Make no mistake, this game is no cakewalk. One of the first things you run-and-gunners will learn about as quick as a hypersonic round through the brain is that cover is your friend. No, more than your friend. Cover is your intimate life-mate. Hump cover as much as freaking possible and you'll be alright. The neat things is that the game is designed so that you have to take cover as much as possible, allowing for actions that involve hunkering down behind walls, doorways, rubble, your mom, or whatever in a variety of ways (and you can either aim, exposing yourself more or blind-fire... brilliant!). The weapons are extremely satisfying, as are the enemy deaths. Speaking of the enemy, the Locust are no slouchy mofos. They WILL take you down if you aren't careful. Kudos to Epic for programming great AI.

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This is a nutshell review, so I can't get into everything, but if you are looking for a game that looks right, feels right and sounds right, as well as allowing you to kick mucho tail, this is it. Although I could have just shot the crap out of Locust all day on foot, there are turrets (called Troikas) and vehicles (and mine carts) to change things up a bit.

No game is perfect, however, and even though Gears of War sports a fantastic story, to-die-for graphics, high quality sound and even excellent multiplayer, it does have it's flaws. First, you can't jump. You can dive, though, which makes it kind of hard when you're trying to dive away from the nigh invulerable Berserkers (who can only be destroyed with an orbital beam weapon you target it with) and you end up taking cover, getting smashed to bits as a result. This is because thesame button for diving is the one for taking cover. Ah, well, a minor annoyance. Then there's the invisible walls. Sometimes, they're a blessing though, because there is terrain that might seem confusing to many players; backtracking and getting lost would totally suck. I still hate invisible walls. In the driving parts of the game you have to stop the vehicle and man the mounted gun (in single player mode). This doesn't seem odd until you realise you have passengers that are of a martial capacity. It kinda blows, but once again it's minor. I also feel there could be a better variety of weapons... I mean, what's the point of new toys if I'm just going to keep using the gun I started with (which is the best weapon in the whole game; and major bonus points for the chainsaw bayonet!). My biggest beef is with the final battle, which (as many have complained) comes too soon. It makes this great game become less great with a typical "Boss Battle" that we've come to expect from games like Metal Gear Solid; except the Boss is WAY easier to kill (and there's no unecessarily zany story surrounding him/her). I felt a bit let down... BUT there will be a couple sequels, so all is not lost. Huzzah!

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My gripes aside, Gears kicks some serious ass and if you own a 360 it should be a crime not to posess this remarable achievement of a game. I believe this to be the best thing on the 360 or any of the "next-gen" systems so far. If Halo 3 is as good as Gears of War, then the new Xbox shall own all.

It sure is nice to see a video game live up to all of its hype.

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