Almost exactly a year after the release of Microsoft’s Xbox 360 came the game that would become the system’s must have, the game that showed people just what this whole “next-gen” thing was all about and helped cement the 360s position in the market.
That game was Gears of War.
With Gears 2 looking to be one of the must have titles this Christmas it seems like a perfect time to look back on the original and ask ourselves just why we played that campaign through so many times.
For those of you who haven’t played it (and I imagine you are few and far between) Gears of War is a 3 person shooter with an emphasis on it’s cover mechanic, while this has become common place in today’s shooters the main reason for that is arguably Gears of War.
The game takes place on an Alien planet that looks and sounds strangely like our own (think Star Wars with less bearded men and more American football). You take on the role of Marcus Fenix a seemingly disgraced war veteran bought in as a last resort to help quell the spread of the game’s antagonists the Locust, an alien species that live underground and can emerge right in the middle of a battlefield destroying allied defences.
Shooters live or die by how fun the simple act of gunning an enemy down is, a game can have some of the prettiest graphics and the best level design in the world but if it’s core gameplay isn’t fun then everything else may as well not even be there, Gears of War nails this and thankfully most other things as well.
The game is a technical marvel and it is still one of, if not the best looking games on the 360, the textures and lighting are some of the best we’ve seen in this generation of consoles, the game has however been criticised regarding it’s art style, while it is all a little grey and brown I’m of the opinion that the game nails the whole “war torn world” look down, the level that takes place in the broken down Fenix estate for example is a particular high point.
Each chapter offers very different environments which helps to stop monotony setting in, level design is very well done with intelligently placed cover dotted all over the maps and things like the mini boss battles with the Berserkers and other assorted beasties help to break up the action.
Gears also has some of the more memorable weapons in recent time, anybody that doesn’t like the sound of an Assault rifle with a chainsaw strapped to the bottom has clearly had their fun receptors switched off, the chainsaw kills alone are worth the price of admission, that along with the satellite based weapon the Hammer of Dawn which literally rains down fiery death on whoever you paint the target on help make up one of the best rounded arsenals of any shooter I’ve ever played.
The game offers up three difficulty levels, Casual, Hardcore and Insane, this brings me on to one of the games bigger features: co-op, two players can take on the Locust horde together either locally or over Xbox Live, one takes the role of our grunting hero Marcus Fenix and the other his bestest friend Dominic Santiago, it’s here where the game really shines, while the game is one of the best shooters on your own it’s in a whole different league when played with a friend, particularly when played on one of the higher difficulty levels
The games hide and seek gun fights are even more intense when played with another, the whole “cover me while I flank the gunner!” thing is in full effect and it makes for some really exciting situations, the ability to revive your team mate in the same way as you can in the single player portion of the game is a welcome addition.
My main gripe with the game is it’s length, clocking in at around 8 to 10 hours from start to finish on a solo play through the Hardcore difficulty it’s hardly the longest game of it’s type, what it lacks in length though it makes up for with replay value, the addition of co-op alone makes playing through the campaign multiple times on the different difficulties a joy, that coupled with the games deep and still incredibly popular multiplayer component this is one you could be playing for years to come.