Publisher: Microsoft Game Studios
Developer: Epic Games
Release Date: November 7, 2006
Genre: Third-Person Shooter
ESRB Rating: Mature

Gears of War is the well known and much-hyped shooter from Epic Games that largely stood up to that hype and delivered one of the great early killer apps for the Xbox 360, going on to become the X360’s best selling game until the arrival of Halo 3.

The story of GoW is set some years after a great calamitous horde of mutants swept across the planet, destroying every city in their wake and leaving the world as little more than a scarred wasteland. You see this harsh, war torn land through the eyes of Marcus Pheonix, a hulking brute of a man with an unknown past who’s stuck rotting away in prison. To your rescue comes your old buddy Dom to bust you out of the clink and join you in your fight against the horde, later to be joined by additional party members Augustus and Damon.

The story doesn’t bother trying to be overly deep or philosophical, but has just the right mix of mystery and suspense to keep it interesting. The character’s are also engaging and often quite humorous, which is a nice change of pace from the otherwise dark and gritty world.

Game-play is what separates GoW from the shooter crowd, straddling a nice line between slower paced tactical shooters and more intense FPS games like Halo. The game-play is driven by its cover system, whereby nearly anything can be used to shield you from enemy fire, allowing you to duck or hide while under fire, and quickly pop out to blast enemies when the stream of bullets halts.

This system would not work nearly as well if the levels weren’t designed as well as they are. Ruined cities, underground tunnels and decrepit mansions are all filled with just the right mix of open terrain and cover spots, allowing you to gun down your enemies and strategically plan your next course of action, picking out the next best spot to find shelter that will also give you a good clean shot at your foes.

If you think you can treat GoW like any other shooter and ignore the cover system, simply running around madly firing at everything in sight, think again. You’ll find yourself on a quick one-way ticket to the hereafter with an unhealthy case of lead poisoning.

The game controls superbly, with one main button being used to control a variety of actions in conjunction with the analog stick. This makes the game much more accessible to those unfamiliar with shooters, who may find the control schemes on those other games daunting.

Gears features a healthy dose of unique alien baddies to lay waste to, each with their own combat styles, strengths and weaknesses, that each require different tactics to dispose of. The enemies are all suitably gruesome and well detailed, and die in many hideous and creative ways.

Speaking of detail, the one area other than the controls that will make this game appealing to just about anyone are the stunning graphics. They were largely the cause for the tremendous amount of hype and it’s easy to see why.

Even a year and a half after its release this is still one of the most stunningly beautiful games ever crafted. Levels are large, well designed and gorgeous, with incredible detail. Character models are fantastic, with rippling muscles and fluid animation. Light and weather effects are superb, and the gore from your many kills is suitably detailed and gruesome.

Sound is outstanding, highlighted by the thundering sounds of explosions and gun fire. The soundtrack is perhaps an odd stylistic choice, being almost entirely orchestral as opposed to pumping rock or hip hop, but the epic and sometimes forlorn tone of the music fits perfectly with the wasted world you traverse.

In addition to the main single player campaign, there is multiplayer, which is a large focus of many developers now. Not only can you brave through the entire main campaign with a buddy in split screen or online (and they should at the very least be more competent than your A.I partners), but you also have the usual collection of deathmatch modes for multiple players to throw down in.

The increased tactical aspect of the game-play adds great depth to the multiplayer battles, requiring a good deal of skill and teamwork to get by. You can’t simply rely on reflexes or having the biggest gun, though that never hurts.

There are 4 multiplayer battle modes that can be contested on 16 different maps, full of their own unique layouts and secrets. You can acquire numerous achievements by playing online and accomplishing a variety of goals, and there are also rankings that are based on the ranking matches played.

As with any game with an online element you get your fair share of quitters, but as the game has now been out for some time, the community left playing online is largely made of the most devoted players, with the casual players who are more likely to lame out having moved on to the next big thing. It’s a perfect time to hop into the online realm of GoW.

Gears of War is a beautiful game with enjoyable play mechanics and a lot of fun to be had online. If you’re looking for a shooter with a slightly different feel, or simply want to see what all the fuss is about, you really should not hesitate to check it out.

News: All is quiet on the Gears of War movie front, but with the recent announcement that the rumored BioShock movie is now officially underway, expect more from the Gears of War movie camp in the near future.