Genre: Third-Person Shooter
Year: 2006
Developed by: Epic Games
Published by: Microsoft Game Studios
Platforms: XBOX 360, PC
#114
Feeling Like: Gowddamn
Scott and Dave O. were house sitting. I was beckoned over. It was the first time I saw the XBOX 360 in action and I was immediately envious. We had a Wii, sure, but this was on another level. The graphics were in high definition. The violence was visceral. The “wow” factor was there, much like the first time I played Goldeneye 007 or Halo: Combat Evolved. It wasn’t just that the game was fun, it’s that it was new, on the most powerful system available and every gamer my age was talking about it.
I remember the stop and pop gameplay mechanic being frequently praised, rightfully so. Never mind the plethora of conveniently placed waist-high obstacles, it was fun to sprint into cover and start hunting for targets. In previous shooters you could always hide behind barricades and doors, but there wasn’t a mechanical relationship between you and the environment. In Gears of War, there finally was. By anchoring yourself to a wall or obstacle, you had much more freedom in both offensive and defensive options. You could always hunker down and just take pot shots, but the Locust will often try to flank you so turtling isn’t a permanent option. The lively and fierce fights are a trademark of Gears of War. Very few third person shooters do it better.
I’d never seen such realistic graphics, at least not on console. Never mind that the screen seemed to be slapped with a grey/brown filter, each area felt like a downtrodden, broken part of the planet Sera. There’s been a massive attack by a subterranean alien race, which gives plenty of opportunity for sinkholes to appear and for us to learn that a rumbling means danger will be upon us soon. The fear of the ground was a Pavlovian response that soon encompassed our entirely playthrough.
Marcus Fenix is a great protagonist, though like the rest of the franchise, there’s not a single subtle thing about him. He’s played by the legendary John DiMaggio and I can’t imagine a single other actor providing the voice for our intrepid leader. Imagine if Bender had blended HGH milkshakes for breakfast, was permanently pissed off and was only recently released from prison to go on a suicide mission to save humanity. Bite my shiny metal ass, indeed!
Naturally, I played through the campaign with the Commodore. I won’t reminisce to the degree I did in Gears of War 3, but he’s the perfect partner for this type of journey. He adds levity when necessary and when you’re going through a gory romp that can delve into the terrifying, it’s great to have somebody burst out loud laughing at how badly we failed a certain section. Or an overly exaggerated “WHOA!! HELLO, WE’VE GOT EVIL BATS!!!”. I’d hesitate to go through this one solo, since it’s definitely the creepiest Gears game, but with Dave and Scott by my side, any hesitation was replaced with fervent desire to complete everything the game had to offer.
That went in-line with the crew in-game as well. You’re almost never by yourself, certainly not in co-op, but one of the things I’m glad Epic borrowed from the Halo series was to include a number of NPC allies in firefights. Augustus Cole, or “Cole Train” is one of the more entertaining side characters in gaming history. Taking a page from the Terry Tate – Office Linebacker ads , Lester Speight absolutely kills it as Cole. If I’m going up against a merciless, disgusting, monstrous force that have too many teeth and are armed to the gills, I want Speight by my side. He’s fearless, constantly trash talks the enemy and has more muscles than Gears of War has guitar twangs. There’s no psychological depth to the character, but that’s not what Cole Train is all about. For lightening the mood in a dark, gritty world, Cole Train (and his partner Baird!) is the perfect companion.
As great as Marcus and Cole are, neither hold a candle to the real star of the show – the Chainsaw Bayonet. Considering how many weapons have been created for video games, both ranged and melee, it’s pretty difficult to come up with an original take and boy did they do it here. The shooting feels great – the gun has weight to it, and I never felt like I was underpowered as long as I had a good amount of ammo. The melee attack starts revving your chainsaw, and then if you’re close enough to an enemy you gruesomely use it to cleave an enemy in twain. It’s efficient, it made my skin crawl, and it’s difficult enough to do so you can’t spam it but not too difficult that would prevent you from trying. It’s one of the trademark moves in gaming history and one of the main reasons it garnered mainstream attention.
Speaking of mainstream attention, what really grabbed everybody’s attention was the trailer. THE trailer, it really is one of the best in gaming history. “Mad World” fits perfectly, and the action shows exactly what the game is about; navigating a destroyed world, lamenting its destruction and trying to survive an onslaught from a horrific foe. The song was so well matched that they used it to great effect in Gears of War 3.
Some minor frustrations, or at least some guilty feelings regarding me dying to the above baddie about half a dozen times and forcing us to restart from the same checkpoint over and over. That elevator sequence haunted me, I simply could not hit this target the size of a school bus for some reason. I’d like to say Commodore was endlessly patient, but he’s only human.
The campaign in Gears of War 2 is even better, maybe the best campaign co-op I’ve ever experienced and that’s the main reason it’s higher on the 500. Epic really perfected on a formula that was already fantastic and just what the video game doctor ordered for the masses in 2006 when hardware was experiencing leaps and bounds, yet our desire to shoot baddies with impossibly tough action cliches was nowhere near satiated.
The 500 