Review: Gears of WarGears of War is Microsoft's flagship title for 2006; hyped to insane levels- can Epic's first Xbox 360 outing provide the killer app we have all been waiting for?
You play as Marcus Fenix, part of a squad of COG soldiers- you are the human's last hope for survival on the planet Sera against the threat of the Locusts. The Locusts are a race of natives to the planet Sera who dwell in their own underground inferstructure and use a system of tunnels to move themselves around- popping up on the planet's surface as they please. They have one sole objective in mind, and that is to wipe out all human existance on Sera. Your job is to provent that from happening by mapping out their entire underground network, finding the heart, and ripping it out.
Visually this game is stunning. If you were hoping for true HD eye-candy, you're looking at the right game. Gears of War stands above everything you have ever seen before in a game, setting a new standard for next generation graphics. Simply put- it is leagues ahead of all other 360 games.
It's not all about the graphics though. Epic have clearly spent time in developing one of the smoothest gameplay experiences to date. Gears of War is very much a tactical game, with huge empasis on taking full advantage of cover. It feels great and all with very intuitive controls- the majority of interactions placed with the A button, which is also context sensitive. The weapons in this game are also very unique and you won't have seen any of them in any other game. The torque bow is one of my personal favourites. A mention must go to the chainsaw however- essentially a machine gun with a chainsaw bayonette- move in close for teh chainsaw massacre!
The A.I is fairly decent, with the Locusts making intelligent use of cover and providing a formidable challenge. I felt however that your team-mates, namely Dom, could have done with some fine tuning; at times they can be overly gun-ho and regularly get themselves killed.
With that said, we now move to the bad...I nearly cried believe me...almost...
Shooters have had a reputation down the years for not exactly having the most engaging of story lines. It has never seemed to be a problem in the past though right? Well Gears of War tries to be clever. There's an old saying that 'slow and steady wins the race.' Consistancy then, is the aim of the game- and that's where GOW lets itself down. Remember that pre-launch 'Mad World' trailer? It promised emotion, depth, and most of all- an engaging story. How unfortunate it is then.
The story never matches the heights the other aspects of the game set. The game wants to be an epic, you can tell what the developers had in mind- but the story is told in such a piss poor way- leaving huge gaps of WTF between acts- it starts to feel like a huge let down. Other shooters don't always have the best story, but atleast they are consistant- even if the story is 'fight aliens, liberate the world.' Many parts of the game are left completely unexplained and as a result has a very significant impact on the game. The parts that are explained are often incredibly vague, and as for Act 5- you'll be clueless. The entire plot is underdeveloped, and might I suggest reading the book you get with the collectors edition if you want to gain any sort of understanding for the backstory. Given that the singleplayer campaign is also very short (around 8 to 10 hours) the game needed a reasonably strong story. Gears of War promised an deep and emotional story, and it's the failure to deliver this that is so disappointing.
Overall- Gears of War is a good game, but probably doesn't quite live up to all the hype surrounding it. The game must be hailed for rasing the bar for next generation visuals, but ignore the graphics for a second and the story quickly becomes rather disappointing. Based on the singleplayer alone, the game gets a 8, with the multiplayer review coming a little later.
Score: 8
Multiplayer Review:
Gears of War is the definitive Xbox Live title. Versus play consists of the two sides- the Cog’s and the Locusts. There are 3 different game modes- Warzone, Execution, and Assassination. Warzone is basically what the name suggests- battle ‘til the end until one team remains victorious. In execution mode, you must wipe out the enemy team by executing them. This can be done in several ways- decapitation, curb stomp, or chainsaw. In Assassination you must eliminate the leader of the opposing team (Colonel Hoffman- COG’s and General Raam- Locusts.) Whoever succeeds in eliminating the leader then becomes the leader for the next round.
What makes Gears of War’s online component stand above the rest is the need for tactics. Success depends upon 3 key things. Knowing the maps and being aware of the environment, anticipation for what the opposing team may do, and good team play.There are an excellent selection of maps, all of which are superbly designed. My personal favourites would be ‘Canal’ ‘Gridlock’ and ‘Old Bones.’ Some maps are larger than others- but all work great. There really isn’t a bad map in there, the maps are that good.
The gameplay itself is smooth and fluid, with no hick-ups or lag whatsoever. Gears of War also provides some of the most satisfying gaming moments online- you really can’t beat sneaking up on somebody and ripping them up with the chainsaw bayonet, or shooting them down- them to be begging for mercy on the floor- only for you to decline their request and stomp their head into the ground.
That’s not all though. The game also features one of the most brilliantly integrated co-op modes. You could be playing a singleplayer game by yourself right, but then your friend gets online and wants to play with you. What do you do? Send him an invite straight into your game of course. There’s no need to exit your current game, your friend will just join on in as Dom- and help you kick Locust ass. The co-op in this game works really well, whether you’re playing via Xbox Live, System Link, or split screen local- it shines perfectly. In fact you could say that the game was actually designed with co-operative play in mind from the off. Lovely stuff.
All in all, you need this title and you need Xbox Live. I would even go so far as to say this is one of the best online titles on any platform ever. You won’t be disappointed.
Gears of War review breakdown-
Singleplayer: 8
Multiplayer: 9.5
Overall: 8.8
4 comments:
I'll tell you what i think when i get my hands on it in a few weeks, but i've just checked Metacritic (a huge site that compiles most of the major mainstream reviews on the internet) and the lowest score is 80%, it's official: You've given it the lowest score, lol.
Like i've been saying in my e-mails, story's in games don't really matter that much to me, they are usually crap anyway, so it's to be expected. Seriously though, what game of recent times has had a truly brilliant storyline? they are ALL cliched and unoriginal (Prey, GRAW, even the great Half Life 2), but that doesn't stop them from being fun to play. As long as it's fun, i'll love it :)
You can also use gamerankings.com to compare scores too, and yes I have given it a lower score- but hey I'm not getting payed by MS you know! ;)
Unorginality, cliche'd- isn't the problem here. It's the fact that it doesn't make any sense, you'll see when you play it. I gets to a certain part then all falls apart. Halo 2 didn't have the most fantastic story line, but atleast it made sense and you didn't feel screwed over.
Gears is truely a very over-rated game, it tries to be great, and it's the failure to be so that holds this game in the depths of mediocrity.
And remember, the 7.5 was awarded based on single player only- the score may change after I've added the multiplayer review.
It wasn't the story that made me not like GOW as much as I thought I would. For me it was the reliance of using cover all the time. Another annoyance was the fact that your merc team are virtually dressed the same as the enemy. I'd give it 8/10.
The game is good, but not good enough. There are many things I love about this game, a few things I don't like- and one thing I hate. The story really does prevent the game from being as good as it should be.
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