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9.5 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
GEARS OF WAR 2 Posted by Dan Pearson on Nov 14, 2008 15:31 (Nov 14, 2008 15:31) |
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Welcome back to the world of Marcus Fenix and his fellow Gears. The world has not changed much since we left them last, the previous attempt to destroy the Locust Horde with the Lightmass did not work, in-fact it seems to have only caused more pain for the surviving humans on the surface. The Locust’s are now attacking cities from below, causing them to sink and now they are moving to the last bastion of hope for humankind, Jacinto. Rather than take it sitting down, the Gears have put up a massive attack front and are now looking to destroy the Locusts on their terms.
You take control of Marcus on a rollercoaster battle against terrible odds, the controls are as familiar as ever, it the classic over shoulder view, the RT is your fire, LT allows for zoom, the RB reloads your weapon of choice and again you have the small reload bar make an appearance to give you an attack boost if timed perfectly. The roadie run is still there with the press of the A button, hit a piece of scenery and Marcus will automatically find cover, be it behind a car, debris or a door arch. Cover is a vital part of this game, run out and you will be shot to pieces in moments. The idea is to find cover and take shots at the oncoming enemy, occasionally making a heroic dive for a better position. In the past, GOW was always referred to as Space Invaders, well that is an amazing compliment, Space Invaders is an all time classic and GOW has plenty of its potential.
The story itself has you running around some amazing locations, above ground you will be ambushed in a COG stronghold with some terrible secrets whilst underground you will be running and diving around a huge city recently sunk by the Locust Horde and even inside a giant worm. The on-foot action is as mad as ever with huge explosions and blood everywhere, the game however does drop the ball a bit on the vehicle areas. You control the car with acceleration and reverse on the LS and you point to turret with the RS to turn in that direction, this means that you can only shoot in the direction you are driving in; or you can stop and aim but you are then a sitting duck. One of the more annoying set pieces is when you are driving on a small ice lake, this is a very small part of the game but it just infuriated me, dying over and over again until I figured out the exact areas that will break on the ice. This section just completely killed the pace and sheer heart pumping action of the game.
 There are 4 levels of difficulty to contend with casual, normal, insane and hardcore, the casual and normal modes offer no real challenge other than allowing you to see the sights, it is the later settings that make the game more fun and will punish you for not using enough cover and it is on these levels where the amazing co-op modes work best. You can play in a variety of ways in co-op, split screen local game, host or join a co-op online. The action is just as good but there are two of you to share in the glory, allowing for some great team playing moments of offering cover fire and making mad rushes at the enemy.
GOW not only offers some amazing graphics and ground trembling sound effects but a truly amazing amount of weaponry. The fan favourite Lancer Assault Rifle is back with its chainsaw melee attack and the life saving shotgun is as kickass as ever, but the new additions really shine through, the Mulcher is a huge machine gun that is so heavy you can’t run with it, so using it sees you drop to the floor or use your cover as a mount so you can unleash a hail of bullets at your enemies. You also have the Mortar which is great for crowd control, similar to the Mulcher its too heavy to run with, when in use you drop to the floor, aim and a single rocket will shoot up, then a load of mini bombs will drop from the sky, dropping a carpet of destruction on all below, time your reloads well and you can continually take out wave after wave of oncoming enemies.
On top of new weapons you also need new enemies, and there are loads to pump full of lead, Tinkers reflect the current fears of the world, these guys are literally moving bombs, running in close to you and blowing up, there is the Predator like main baddass that pops up every now and again, Reavers make an impressive impact each time they arrive, flying through the air and crashing to the ground, tentacles whipping all over the place, a truly frightening thing to behold, and its only when you down your first one that the adrenalin starts pumping for more. The grubs have a bit more variety with flamethrowers included and of course the slow but heavy powered Boomers are always a challange.
Moving away from the story mode you have the online games. Now I was not a fan of the online games on the original, this was mainly down to the fact that I joined quite late in the GOW frenzy and most people had plenty of time to get familiar with maps, rank up and learn a few cheats, so whenever I joined a match I would always be the first to die, and if I somehow survived I would be head stomped into oblivion.
There are 8 multiplayer modes on offer out of the box with plenty of maps to choose from (plus if you purchased the release date version a bundle of free maps from the original game are also included.) Warzone has a COG team and a Locust team fighting against each other until there is a last man standing. Guardian is similar to Warzone in that there are two teams, but each team has a nominated leader and whilst these guys are alive you have unlimited spawns. Wingman has you play as pairs in up to five teams, the idea is to stick together and help protect and attack oncoming teams, if you split up you will die very quickly. The only way to score in this mode is with either a head shot or a close range attack. Submission is my current favourite mode, here you are in two teams and one player is marked as a “meat flag”, you need to capture him, use him as a shield and drag him to a marked part on the map, hold him for a set amount of time and you win the round. This mode really pushed the element of team play that was sorely missed on the original game as if you run off gung-ho your team will never win, this is sure to be a community favourite in the future. Execution is similar to Warzone in that you have two teams but you need to have headshots or close kills to gain points. Annex requires you to capture and control locations on a map and King of the Hill is the same as Annex but with one point to control.
 The most exciting addition in GOW 2 is Horde, here you have 5 players fighting against waves and waves of enemies. As you progress through each wave they will get harder and harder, throwing in Boomers and worse to keep the team on their feet. Some weapons refresh after each round and there are always plenty of ammo canisters dotted around the maps to make sure you are not left short. If you die in a round don’t worry because as long as one of your team makes it you will all respawn for the next level. This mode is a great idea for the GOW multiplayer and again pushes team play more than the lone wolf approach of previous modes, get separated and you will be overrun very quickly, especially in the later waves. After a few goes you will begin to learn there are a few handy places where you can strap down and just fight a war of attrition, but this wont work for all of the enemies.
The Gears of Wars 2 online modes certainly have the most important thing going for them in that the maps are well designed and again this an area I prefer over the original, there seems to be more cover available and a more logical map making on offer. Most of them have alternative routes like going over or under the bridges, levels with multiple gangways for snipers, but a great surprise is waiting for you in the avalanche level (I wonder what it could be?)
Although most of the game is perfect there is one really poor piece of programming that almost spoils the whole online experience, the lobby. When looking for a game, the computer will first search for teammates, then another team, this can take up to 5 min which is just mind numbingly boring. Of course once you are in the action it’s all great again but that time before just drags far too much. There is also the problem of a complete lack of auto balancing, if just one of your team leaves, most of the time because they hate getting killed, you are completely on the back foot and will find it very hard to win the round. I will stop badmouthing this game now as it really does not deserve it and it is just a few niggling little problem’s that I hope will be ironed out in the future.
GOW 2 has to be one of the most violent and adrenalin pumping games I have played in a long time, each factor pieces so well together, story, sound, action, online, they all gel to make a true masterpiece. Halo is no longer the Xbox’s jewel in the crown, GOW is the must have game for your noisy grey beast.
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