Gears Of War 2 Video Game Review: A Broken COG
Let me preface today’s review by saying, with a note of smug certainty, that I am NOT one of those gamers that thinks Cliffy B. is some kind of genius because he came up with Gears of War. In fact, after playing Gears of War 2, today’s game of note, I’m left feeling about the same way as I did before about the franchise.
This time around, it’s time to take the fight to the Locust, who were NOT in fact destroyed by the Lightmass Bomb (just a good chunk of them). Actually, the Lightmass Bomb did about as much damage to humanity as it did to the Locust, causing a fatal respiratory disease called rustlung after people breathed in vaporized liquid Imulsion. And better yet, the remaining Locust have figured out that emergence holes aren’t just for moving troops any more, and figured out a way to make holes the size of cities, pretty much sealing humanity’s fate. The last human stronghold, Jacinto, is under siege by the Locust hordes, and thus, humanity’s got to go blast up some Locust in order to keep the ground under their feet intact. Meanwhile, Dom’s still looking for his wife Maria, and the Locusts have a whole host of new and horrible devices to rain death and misery on humanity.
You see that? That’s a PLOT. In fact, if the inevitable movie version–last I heard slated for 2010–is anywhere near as deep and as rich as that plot description I just put up was, then the movie’s going to be a downright WONDER. There’s plenty of character development, good voice acting, and everything that’d make a good movie out of this game.
The only problem, however, is that it’s really not much of a game. Seriously–you spend most of Gears of War 2 roadie running from one patch of cover to the next while occasionally blasting at Locust. This is then broken up by some of that sweet, sweet plot. How this thing won Best Xbox 360 Game at the Spike Video Game Awards AND at the Diehard GameFAN Awards when there were perfectly good copies of Fallout 3 hanging around is utterly, utterly beyond me.
Oh, sure…the gameplay is a whole different horse on multiplayer mode, with plenty of interesting modes to play including the new Horde Mode, in which you take on steadily expanding waves of Locust in a battle so big that “epic” sounds weak beside it. And of course there’s all the standards like Deathmatch and Capture the Flag, modes that are downright SOP (standing operating procedure, in case you don’t habla) for first person shooters these days.
There’s even plenty of downloadable content, with fresh maps and dashboard themes and for some reason a gold-plated Hammerburst rifle for use in multiplayer modes (and Oblivion took flack for horse armor? Where’s the justice?). A glitch-busting patch has also been released.
While I love the plot of Gears of War 2, I can’t help but feel let down by my involvement in it. I mean, sure…my steady succession of run, duck, shoot, repeat is saving humanity from bloodthirsty monsters, but man, is it ever DULL. I’m half tempted just to let the Locust have Sera and tell whoever’s left on the planet to just pack up for Earth already and nuke the site from orbit.
It’s the only way to be sure.
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February 23rd, 2009 at 7:37 am
I haven’t played Gears of War 2, but I’d imagine this is accurate. I traded in the first one after a couple of days of play. I agree that the plots are solid, but that the gameplay really does lack something. I also find Cliffy B’s influence on character design annoying at best. Why all humans of the future are built like gorillas and wear power armour is beyond me. I got enough of it in unreal. After a run with the first Gears of War there is no way I’d shell out 60 dollars when things like castle crashers or puzzle quest can be bought for pocket lint, or as the reviewer noted, while I can still play fallout 3. I liked unreal tournaments when I was younger, but I find my expectations for story telling and gameplay mechanics to be much higher nowadays. Maybe this is why Gears is so popular, it fits the online PVP niche like no other?
February 23rd, 2009 at 11:48 am
I disagree, its one of my fav Xbox 360 games as it packs so much into one neat tidy package. Had a blast with an online Horde party last night, 4 of us desperately trying to reach wave 50. I’d rate it 4 out of 5 stars, dropping 1 only because it isn’t very original.
February 23rd, 2009 at 12:15 pm
Maybe that’s the clearly defined difference?
People who want a single player experience of note should steer clear but those who seek online play should enjoy this thoroughly?
Considering how well rated it is and how well sales are, maybe that means the most important aspect of games in this genre is indeed the online play first and foremost. Or maybe reviewers considering it’s awards. Oddly enough I think fallout is rated over it on metacritic even though Gears took home the gold at spike.
February 23rd, 2009 at 12:17 pm
You can take any game and break it up by its constituent parts and label it as tedious. GoW2: run, duck, dodge, and shoot. Halo 3: jump, throw grenade, shoot, collect ammo. Call of Duty 4: Camp, wait, wait, wait, shoot. Even Fallout 3(which has consumed more of my life then I care to admit) has elements of repetition comparable to GoW2. There is only so much innovation that can be brought to a TPS. If Fallout 3 would have made it possible to even play 2 player co-op then I think it would have made more of an impact. Fallout 3 was also crammed with free experience and environment glitches. The majority of GoW2 glitches are present in multiplayer games. What we need to lobby for is a MMORPG with the Fallout 3 theme.
February 23rd, 2009 at 1:54 pm
Hi guys–I’m the same Steve Anderson who wrote this sucker up. I’m not going to correct anyone, actually–I think you all understand the thrust of the review pretty well, and Chris, you’ve got a point about calling a game tedious by breaking it down into its key components. I’m not going to fault Gears of War 2 very hard, it simply wasn’t my kind of game. The biggest problem I had was that there was this great environment, this deep and involving story, and it felt like I had so little to do with it that I might as well have not even shown up. It’s going to make a fantastic movie, but the game really didn’t involve me that deeply. And also, Chris, a Fallout MMO would be awesome, especially if they keep that engine. I’m concerned about it winding up too much like WoW, though, with it’s constant go there / kill that / get this / come back here quest style. Fallout 3 broke that up a lot by interjecting the story directly into the gameplay.
February 23rd, 2009 at 2:21 pm
Ok so now on my shopping list i have gears Of War 2 and Fallout 3 so far most people seem to like these game best. cheers
February 23rd, 2009 at 7:33 pm
A Bethesda created MMO makes me drool, though I think I’d avoid it so I could keep my wife.
April 28th, 2009 at 5:03 pm
The only thing I hate about Gears of War 2 is that Dom kills his wife thats just wrong.