the grunter

The Unreal Engine has defined first person shooting (FPS from here on) genre standards for the longest time, thanks to games that were built on the engine such as Counter Strike, Half Life and Team Fortress. As games like Call of Duty and Medal of Honor came out in attempt to challenge the multiplayer FPS throne, Epic Games answers with their first title developed in the then brand new Unreal Engine 3. This game is Gears of War (Gears from here on), an original Xbox 360 exclusive title. The reception – not only did Gears raise the bar on the level of quality and details visually, but also introduced an entirely new gameplay concept that no copycats have been able to successfully duplicate.

With the third installment of the title coming out soon, I feel that I need to let you guys know why this game helped Microsoft sell a crap load of Xbox 360′s and why Cliff Bleszinski (the design director of the series) gets to act like a douche and still loved by gamers around the world. For the record, personally I think any game company that aims to provide great gaming entertainment to the crowd would be privileged to have such a person to help design, promote and interact with the audience, with such energy, fun and really wants you to join in too.

(That’s Cliffy B.)

The Good

• Graphic capabilities upgrade in Unreal Engine 3 offers amazing visual effects such as high quality static lighting and soft shadows, as well as physics improvements such as soft-body physics. Moreover, the game doesn’t look any less impressive in multiplayer modes, which a lot of other games are forced to sacrifice visual levels for the extra rendering needs

• At least two new gameplay elements were introduced in Gears, they might not be the first to show up in the industry, but Epic Games made them work seamlessly – I’m talking about the cover system and and quick reload mechanism (which acts as a mini-game in itself). There is perfect balance in single and multi-player and the level designs work so well that there is very little frustration from people camping or running away
• Both the camera and controls work well so that you can still get a good view on the action while in cover, without getting sneaked up on. Combined with other gameplay elements such as the “Roadie Run” and diving, it’s so easy to look cool in this game
• The other feature is the quick reload – Press the reload button a second time when the icon is sliding across the ammo bar, time it right as the icon hits the white region, and your reload speed is faster than others, which is subtle effects in single player games but makes a world of difference in multiplayer online (try playing online without doing quick reloads – you’ll have a hard time). It is such a simple and clever way to make the boring reload button more fun
• Good story, voice-acting and pace. Boss fights do feel like you are fighting something bigger and meaner than the rest, and the last battle still feels quite epic to me after five years
• Awesome balance in terms of weapons in multiplayer, there is no one dominating weapon that everybody ends up using. I have been owned by dudes who were artists with a simple pistol. And I have seen people firing explosive arrows like Stallone in Rambo

(Like this, but from about 200 ft away)

The Bad

• Not a big fan of the extreme macho character designs, everybody in the game looks and sounds like Vin Diesel on horse roids. No wonder the game lets you chainsaw dudes in half
• Some minor rendering glitches such as when you run towards an unexplored area too fast, the game does not catch up on rendering fine details on the map fast enough, so you see the bare ugly unmapped textures (as if in a pc game, you turn off all the details) for a second or two. No biggie there
• Overall the game is very dark, I was glad to see some outdoor levels and I could definitely use more

The ???

• How can you do a roadie run wearing all that astronaut suit and gears?
• Grenade-tagging is awesome, maybe even more fun than explosive arrows, because it is close encounter which means the guy who gets tagged can immediately chase you and hopefully blow you up to pieces as well
• Bonus points for having the best TV commercial ever

Lastly

Call Gears a “killer app”, a “console seller” or whatever you desire, it is one of the most critical games in Microsoft’s console. I had the best times playing with my friends in Xbox LIVE battles, so this title also proved that the Xbox LIVE service is successful and worth the membership fee. If you are a new Xbox 360 owner, besides putting down a pre-order for Gears 3 I would also suggest going back to Gears 1/2 to learn more on the backgrounds and stories of Marcus Phoenix and his crew. Thumbs up.

 (Review 12 of 52, 2011)