Microsoft Gears of War

Not an Original Shooter but Does Everything Just Right.

Strengths: Graphics, Sound, Co-Op online, Online Play, and Gameplay.

Weakness: Short Single-Player

Gears of War is an action/3rd person shooter for XBOX 360. You play as Marcus Fenix with his allies against the Locust Horde who have pretty much destroyed all civilization. Cover is very important in this game and you'll learn to use it through GOW's cover scheme. The graphics look amazing and nothing on any of the consoles out right now even compares to GOW. Online Co-Op is great. Online play...
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Gears of War is an action/3rd person shooter for XBOX 360. You play as Marcus Fenix with his allies against the Locust Horde who have pretty much destroyed all civilization. Cover is very important in this game and you'll learn to use it through GOW's cover scheme. The graphics look amazing and nothing on any of the consoles out right now even compares to GOW. Online Co-Op is great. Online play is very strategic and requires a lot of team play. My main gripe with the game is that its really short. Only 5 chapters long. Should of been 10. I give the game 5 stars, since its truly a well put together game and a lot of fun.

By JDreborn - Mar 25, 2007

The game where you have a chainsaw on a gun.... and chop up stuff

Strengths: Graphics are the best to date on any game released on any platform, tight and responsive controls, frantic gameplay, Great multiplayer, Great Co-op over splitscreen or live.

Weakness: Online Connection issues, glitches abound and minor pop-in/framerate issues, Idiotic Companion AI, Campaign/Co-op a bit short, Story and Voice is campy, no pretty flower and shiny rainbow levels.

There's all sorts of buzz in the air around Gears of War. Typically you'll see the game associated with phrases like "OMG that's Gorgeous" or "!%@!ing awesome". On the surface, Gears of War definitely does impress with presentation and graphics. The game feels and plays like a cinematic movie with non-stop action and fury. Needless to say, if you want a game that will visually impress anyone,...
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There's all sorts of buzz in the air around Gears of War. Typically you'll see the game associated with phrases like "OMG that's Gorgeous" or "!%@!ing awesome". On the surface, Gears of War definitely does impress with presentation and graphics. The game feels and plays like a cinematic movie with non-stop action and fury. Needless to say, if you want a game that will visually impress anyone, look no further than Gears of War.

Now granted no matter how pretty a game is, it still doesn't make a game great. I'm happy to say that Gears of War is a solid game underneath as well. Both Campaign modes and Multiplayer modes control relatively the same. The only difference in multiplayer is that the opposing side will regenerate health over time just like you. Therefore the tactics of the game completely change. The multiplayer emphasizes teamwork and flanking maneuvers in order to get the upper hand in the game. Basically if you don't work together, you're going to find yourselves over-run if the other team is organized.

I won't go into too much detail about the single player campaign, but the co-op is flawlessly executed except for the occasional glitches. In split screen there is a definite handicap with grenade tossing because often the bottom of the aiming arc will be cut off. This game was definitely created to be played co-op. This is particularly evidenced by the incredibly stupid AI companion that controls Dom. In fact i've found moments (2nd berserker fight) where having Dom even just standing around (And yes that's all he did, stand around) was more of a pain in the butt than if he wasn't even around. Because if he gets killed, you have to start over. That's where the particularly forgiving checkpoint system actually comes in handy. Granted there were moments when I found that checkpoints could have been placed better, but in general, you won't have to re-play through too much excessive moments.

Bottom line, if you own an Xbox 360, buy this game. If you don't have an Xbox 360, maybe this game was just the reason you needed. This game is exclusively for the 360, and if it ever gets ported over to PC, I wouldn't count on any time soon (Halo 2 Still isn't even out on PC).

By zoglog - Nov 13, 2006

Gears of War has it all!

Strengths: Best shooter ever. Online and local co-op and multiplayer, one player campaign, new downloadable map and play mode. Best graphics.

Weakness: Several scenes are a bit dark. Online mode sometimes glitchy, other than that eveything else is perfect.

Totally redefine the way i think about a shooter. I am a huge friend of Japanese games and were not into FPS and shooter games before i played GOW. Now i am a big friend of shooter as well as 360 in general. Also i never think before this that Microsoft can come up with such a good piece of software.

By goengland - May 30, 2007

The Best Game Ever!

Strengths: Graphics, gameplay, online modes, story

Weakness: Absolutely nothing

If you own a 360 and haven't picked up Gears of Wars, you should be ashamed of yourself. This 3rd person shooter has everything from the best graphics I have ever seen to fantastic online co-op play. The levels work well and the story is always driving the gameplay. I would highly recommend this game to everyone that has a 360.

By thebob101 - Mar 2, 2007

One of the Best Games Ever!!!

Strengths: Graphics, gameplay, options for online gameplay downloadable maps for online play

Weakness: None so far

I have had this game for 1 week and completed on Casual mode. Starting to play Hardcore and opened Insane Level. Have yet to play online, but will do so this weekend. This is the best Xbox 360 game out there and ranks with PS2 God of War, Xbox Halo 2, and PS2 GTA: San Andreas. Thisis a must get if you own an Xbox 360. You would be doing yourself injustice if you have yet to play this and have a...
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I have had this game for 1 week and completed on Casual mode. Starting to play Hardcore and opened Insane Level. Have yet to play online, but will do so this weekend. This is the best Xbox 360 game out there and ranks with PS2 God of War, Xbox Halo 2, and PS2 GTA: San Andreas. Thisis a must get if you own an Xbox 360. You would be doing yourself injustice if you have yet to play this and have a Xbox 360.

By gsantiago - Feb 16, 2007