Rollercoaster... of blood

Microsoft were slated for not launching the 360 with a new Halo, but the announcement of Gears of War from Unreal creators Epic Games took the edge off – and when it arrived, doubters were silenced by its HD destroyed beauty and genre-redefining stop-and-pop gameplay.

Still, if you'd told us back in 2005 that Halo 3  would end up as only the console's third biggest shooter, we'd've thought you'd breathed in too much Imulsion. But that's what's happened; first CoD4 bagged last year's People's Choice award, and now Gears of War 2 has arrived to blow away the shooter competition… and arguably every other game this year, too.

Adrenaline-pumping

Gears of War 2 has one simple goal according to Epic's Lead Designer Cliff Bleszinski: to deliver 'the rollercoaster ride of your life.' And a rollercoaster it is; of blood, gore and chainsaw-revving, adrenaline-pumping action.

Indeed, Gears of War 2's Campaign often feels like the best action movie ever played. Not only has the cover system been tweaked, letting you snap to cover from further away, but weapon and enemy quotas have been intelligently upped, featuring more imposing Locust and heavier artillery with which to take them out.

From the very first chapter, Gears of War 2 hurls hulking Brumaks, Corpsers, Boomers and more your way, all of which fall beneath the mighty new gatling gun Mulcher and miniature airstrike Mortar. Meanwhile, explosive scuttling Tickers, flamethrower-equipped foes and enormous tentacled Reavers send you scurrying from cover in sheer self-preserving panic. You can play strategically too, setting grenades as mines and backing off to watch the fireworks – or find yourself in a deadly button-hammering chainsaw duel. It's typical Gears, taken to spectacular, nerve-battering new heights.

Bigger, better and more badass

The already amazing visuals have been improved as well in Gears of War 2, with a palette of planet surface forest vistas, crumbling warzones, eerie caverns and pulsating sinew, all played out to an electric pace of pulse-pounding set pieces, gritty duck-and-cover combat and wisecracking fratboy machismo. Gears of War 2 is every bit the bigger, better, more badass game that Epic promised.

Yet it's the subtleties of Gears of War 2's story (yep, there actually is one this time around) that most surprise. Occasionally amidst the gore and gunplay comes a radio conversation to let you catch your breath, or a genuinely emotive bittersweet cutscene, making you realise what Fenix and co. are fighting for. At other times you'll find notes carrying a near-conspiratorial undercurrent, hinting at a huge plot twist that never comes – but which fans can expect in the inevitable sequel.

Don't let that fool you, though; Gears of War 2 is far more satisfying than the first game. It's around a third longer, and just when you think it's about to end, it throws a whole extra act your way. And the grand finale, while not conclusive in narrative terms, feels far more accomplished than Gears 1's abrupt anticlimax.

For fans, experiencing Gears of War 2 in co-op will be a must. But that doesn't necessarily mean Campaign. Horde is a new five-player co-operative mode, requiring teamwork and skill to make it through 50 terrifying waves of increasingly powerful Locust. It's Gears of War 2's surprise hit, guaranteed to have you returning time and again to improve your place on the online leaderboards.

Ten-out-of-tenfold

More traditional multiplayer modes have also been fleshed out in Gears of War 2. Matchmaking is in (though currently pretty slow), the player count has been raised from eight to ten per game, and new gametypes have been added. The highlights are Wingman; where five teams of two battle it out, and Submission, which is basically Capture The Flag with a Gears of War 2 twist: the flag is a man, wielding a shotgun, and he won't be taken without a fight.

Is Gears of War 2 the console's biggest shooter then? Absolutely – it's a stonking sequel that makes the original look like a tech demo, with an almost unrelenting pace that makes every other 2008 release feel positively pedestrian by comparison. Gears of War 2 delivers on its rollercoaster remit, ten-out-of-tenfold. Gaming simply doesn't get better than this.

GAME's Verdict

• All the greatness of Gears of War. On Steroids.
• Some surprisingly moving moments in the story, too.
• Co-op Campaign is compelling, Horde is scintillating, multiplayer is even better than before.

• All the conventions of Gears of War: if you didn't enjoy Gears 1, this won't win you over.
• The vehicle section is annoying.
• Online matchmaking can be a bit... slooooooooow.

Review by: Mark[us] 'Fenix' Scott
Version Tested: Xbox 360
Review Published: 11.11.08

Mark Gears up...

In last year's Halo 3 review, we said that big sci-fi series follow specific rules – notably, that the second instalment needs to up the ante in every conceivable way. Gears of War 2, with its tagline of Bigger, Better and More Badass, is looking like a perfect example of that philosophy.

Bigger?

Gears 1 was arguably the Xbox 360's first killer app – and, some would say, the flagship title for the entire next-gen era. Its enduring success is there for all to see. With the Master Chief kickin' Covenant ass last year and Halo 3 Recon on the late-2009 horizon, sci-fi shooters are clearly a core part of the console's popularity.

Gears, however, is still a little bit special. The deliciously shiny eyecandy of Unreal Engine 3 and Epic's dystopian 'destroyed beauty' artwork are yet to be bettered even two years on, and the duck-and-cover gunplay and roadie run continue to be the genre's best examples, regardless of the past 24 month's countless copycats. Gears' other innovation, meanwhile, the timed button pressing of active reload, has been all-but overlooked by the rest of the industry.

So, with Gears of War 2, we have the sequel to the most innovative, atmospheric and gorgeously gritty-looking action game on Xbox 360. No pressure.

Gears of War 2 begins six months after the end of Gears of War. The Lightmass Bomb has been detonated beneath the planet's crust, but instead of delivering humanity a victory against the subterranean Locust Horde, it's merely bought them some time. Oh, and it's caused the Imulsion at the planet's core to vaporise, spreading a fatal airborne disease labelled 'rust-lung' across the human populous. Talk about one step forwards, two steps back...

Better?

Into this world-going-to-hell once again charge Delta Squad, lead by dynamic armoured duo Dominic Santiago, and main character Marcus Fenix. Musclebound linebackers they may look like, but in Gears of War 2 we're promised far more emotional resonance with the pair. The story for Gears of War 2 may at its forefront feature the war against the re-emerging Locust, but the battle to save Jacinto Plateau will encompass more backstory on Marcus, and the affecting love story of Dom's search for his missing wife.

Don't expect Gears of War 2 to go all soppy on us, though. This is still amongst the most macho games around, laced with enough gore, guns and testosterone-fuelled one-liners to please the most avid Arnie fan.

In keeping with its mantra, Gears of War 2 promises far bigger firefights than the first Gears, which featured three of four enemies on-screen at once. This time, the Locust Horde will actually be a horde, and gunplay will boast a scale and franticness designed to make you feel like you're really in the middle of terrible and epic global lizard-bashing.

Destructible scenery will help, as will all-new enemies, from kamikaze exploding Ticker monsters to giant flying tentacled things that look like Sentinels from The Matrix, and the Predator-like uber-boss, Skorge. Even the enormous missile-clad Brumack, which we barely saw in Gears 1, will be a regularly appearing enemy in Gears of War 2. More badass, indeed. As a frenetic co-op experience, Gears of War 2 could be unparalleled.

More badass?

Multiplayer however might have a steeper hill to climb – not least because the Xbox Live landscape looks very different now to how it did when Gears 1 launched. Can Gears of War 2, with its 5v5 gametypes, compete with the larger-scale Halo and CoD? Perhaps so; this is a more tense, stealthy affair, requiring far greater teamwork. And the new high-scoring Horde mode, where you and four friends have to survive against waves of insatiable Locust, might even give a game like Left 4 Dead a run for its money.

Bigger, Better and More Badass, then? You'd better believe it. Gears of War 2 will be shooting, slicing and dicing its way onto an Xbox 360 near you in just two short weeks.

Preview by: Mark 'Chainsaw' Scott
Preview Published: 23.10.08