At the end of last year, I played Gears 5 and I was surprised as to how good it. Playing it reminded me of the first few games in the series and I had the desire to play them all again, but this time I would have a partner in crime to play with (Hi Nollsy!). We already completed the original Gears of War together, and as I reviewed it previously there was no point doing it again. But with Gears of War 2, I never reviewed it and was looking forward to it.
I like Snickers, there are reliable, tasty, a good bit of bite and they have nuts! The only thing better than a normal Snickers is a peanut butter one or an ice-cream one. Being honest, if it is a Snickers bar of any description I don't think you can go too wrong. Playing Gear of War 2 I found myself asking was it as reliable as a normal Snickers or was it even better?
The first installment of Gears of War introduced us to the Gears Universe but was sparse on a lot of details. With Gears of War 2, it really builds up the Gears Universe and answers a number of questions along with asking a few more. At the end of the first Gears of War, it was thought that the Locust might be beaten, it turns out this could not be further from the truth. The Locust are eager to take over the surface of the planet, but before doing that they want to sink all the cities. But why? Well, you will have to play to find out, I'm not telling you. There is more effort gone into character development , and not only between Marcus, Dom, Baird and Cole. We also see Dom struggling to try and find his wife and Marcus hoping to find his father who seems to have a deep knowledge of the Locust.
Overall the story is really good and focuses on so many different things without it feeling jumbled. There is a real sense of feeling like you are a team. There are some highs but many sad lows which left me feeling a little emotional. The story of Gears of War 2 is it all it could be and more.
Visuals
The Gears of War world is dark and gritty, not only because of the damage done by the Locust (and the humans) but also because the buildings have a very industrial feel to them. When I found out we would be spending some time underground I was a little nervous. Not because I'm afraid of the dark but because in the first Gears of War I found it a little tough on the eyes and while there were some cool visuals the lighting was so low it made it hard sometimes to work out where you were going. This time is very different it well lit, you can enjoy the underground rivers and some of the Locust architecture which is very standout and ornate. There are many more types of enemies this time, they are big, bad and won't go down without a lot of bullets.
Overall the visuals look really good and the developers have taken more risks and it has paid off. The world feels much more organic than the original Gears of War and we felt more engaged with it.
Music
The world is dark and the music in the game is a great reminder of this, and when it isn't doing that it provides some great battle music that helps you keep pushing forward. The score is put together by American composer Steve Jablonsky. He has a rich body of working including; Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty, The SIMs 3 and Prince of Persia: Forgotten Sands. On top of this, he also penned the scores for movies such as Transformer, The Island, Pain and Gain and a host of TV series.
The score is almost two hours longs and features some great tracks, my favourite being...all of them. It is one of the rare cases where I enjoyed the whole soundtrack. It is perfectly suited for the game and helps add to an already enjoyable experience.
Gameplay
The gameplay is in third-person and the mechanics are much improved in Gears of War 2, the cover system is much stronger and responsive. The weapons feel more varied and the constant looming of battle helps keep you on your toes. The Lancer weapon now has a chainsaw that feels much more responsive than the first Gears of War. There is now a range of weapons including the Hammerburst, Poison Grenades, along with bigger weapons like a minigun and mortar canon.
Down but not out. This is big thing in Gears of War 2, your allies will pick you up if you are down but enemies will also help each other. This time you can carry out executions on downed enemies which can vary depending on what weapon you have. It's pretty fun and nasty at the same time especially with the noises being made.
There are some larger enemies like the Brumak and Reavers which offer tough resistance but offer more fun when you can actually use them yourself. Yep, that right you have a mount, kind of, it is short-lived but a lot of fun.
Outside of the main campaign is Horde Mode which sees you take on wave after wave of enemies. It can be done solo but is not as much fun. There are a number of maps to pick from Avalanche being my favourite by far. If you just want some mostly mindless fun for a short time this will suit you down to the ground.
Overall the gameplay is awesome and much improved over the original.
Final Thoughts
So, after twelve hours or playing how did we feel? Pretty damn good. The story was really good, as were the visuals, music and gameplay. I am really happy and getting to play it with someone else was a lot of fun. Gears of War 2 still holds up well and gets a solid 5 out of 5
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