Gears of War 2 for Xbox 360

Gears of War - one of the most popular franchises currently going on the Xbox 360. When a sequel was announced, we just knew that the second time would be a charm. And it had to be, because though the original Gears was an excellent third-person shooter, it still had its issues, namely in multiplayer. It was promised that everything we hated would turn into a magical ride on the COLE TRAIN, BABY! Alas, the same problems that plagued the original Gears are still alive in its sequel. Though it's more of the same, it's...more of the same. However, don't fret. That's definitely not a bad thing, as the original Gears remains one of the best (and one of my favorite) shooters on the 360 to date. Gears of War 2 follows suit, but those changes we were promised? They're as visible as Fenix's neck. However, what remains is still a visceral, raw, and chainsawin' good time. The noticeable updates make your trek all the bloodier, and what's presented is quite the adventure.
Set six months after the events in the original Gears, we're introduced to the aftermath of the failure of the Lightmass bomb. Inevitably, Locust are crawling everywhere, lurking around every corner. Now there's even more of them, in much more powerful denominations. They're even armed with a weapon of catastrophic proportions (of course). Leave it to Delta Squad to protect the planet Sera from all that ails it, including some new recruits the Locust hordes have picked up.

Taking up the mantle of Marcus Fenix once again, Gears 2 feels more like an expansion on Gears 1 rather than a completely new game. Controls are mapped the exact same way as they had been, and the Lancer feels like an old friend. However, there are a few differences. Enemies that were rarely seen in the previous title are now out in full force, such as Brumaks and Corpsers. You'll be fighting tons and tons more of the relatively normal Locust drones, but the battles overall feel like more of an attempt to elicit a "WOW!" response from the player rather than impress them with the solid gameplay. The infamous courtyard battles begin to grate on the nerves with their scope and size and the sheer amount of Locust dispatched to take care of. This was one area I felt the first game suffered from - too many enemies at one time, in one place, making the game feel like a prolonged sight-seeing mission where the animals in any given area felt compelled to attack.
Though the core gameplay is the same, there have been some new additions to the arsenal, as well as defense mechanisms. For example, meatshields are now available to use, which entails using an enemy as your personal shield. This is entertaining and a great way to get back at the army that's plaguing Sera. It's one of the funnier parts, to me, to take such revenge on some extremely unsavory creatures. And since one of the central themes of Gears has always been cover, there's even more to use now. But now we have some instances of mobile cover, such as the Boomshield, retractable cover, and the Rockworm. Using the Rockworm feels strange and unfamiliar, but the Boomshield is fantastic against enemies who have no idea what you're holding could possibly protect you as well as it does. It's satisfying to advance toward a crowd of them while they continue to take futile shots at you. As for maneuverability, moving between Roadie runs, and simply taking cover feels a lot smoother now. However, it still feels a bit awkward to me in a game that takes precise, and deliberate movements WHEN you want them and not a second later.

An interesting addition is the achievement indicator that will let you know how close you are to getting a certain honor. This is a mechanic I've enjoyed before in The Orange Box and one that many more games need to adopt, as going for those more ridiculous achievements (See "Seriously 2.0") can become a confusing endeavor.
It's easy to see that the gameplay has been relatively unchanged, but the storyline has been stepped up considerably. However, it's clear from the onset that this is no longer only primarily Fenix's show. Focus is shifted from him to some interesting new recruits, and another Carmine to take note of. The eerie Locusts' ambitions are seen more clearly, and rather than just an exhibition for how manly and rugged Delta Squad is, the sequel's story feels decidedly more all-encompassing on all fronts. There's more raw emotion, more feelings, and while there isn't an abundance of hugging and kissing, you smart-alecks, you can most definitely feel what the struggle on Sera is doing to its inhabitants, namely Dom, who is searching for his wife. Aside from this, there are new elements of the story introduced that are not quite solved through the end, but what we do see come to halt answers previous questions rather nicely. And this new story-driven initiative is where the game, to me, really shines. Where the first game failed in bringing believable characters that one could empathize with, Gears 2 has managed to bring together a host of characters that you can actually picture yourself being a part of.

However, the ending does fall rather flat, and seems it was just a hurried attempt at tying the game up just so it could hurry up and get released. This is a major gripe I have with the game as a whole. Inevitably there will be a Gears of War 3, but they didn't need to make it so blatantly obvious. With that said, the campaign was a fun, albeit very short (five acts long) experience that drew heavily from the original game's pool, and that was quite disappointing. While the smaller changes are most definitely appreciated, it still would have been nice to see a bit more of a difference made since this was supposed to be the AMAZING sequel to Gears of War.
Now, onto the co-op and multiplayer.

The cooperative experience in Gears of War always felt great, and it was an exciting experience to share with a buddy. It's back in full force, and if you feel like depending on the AI to have a go, you won't need to worry much for them, except in a few rare cases where they don't quite realize they're being shot. They'll revive you, and take cover when appropriately, but nothing beats the satisfaction of accomplishing gargantuan tasks with your best friend at the helm with you.
And as for the multiplayer? While the host advantage is nowhere near as glaring a problem as it was in the first game, there are still plenty of bugs to be found, making Gears 2's multiplayer merely more than an afterthought to the much more in-depth and polished campaign. First of all, it can take up to a half hour in order to find a game to play in. That's one demerit, right there. In the time I spend to find an open match to play on Gears 2, I could have finished one or two Team Deathmatches on Call of Duty 4. It's really quite ridiculous. Not only that, but there are a multitude of bugs to watch out for, such as your player model simply floating onscreen after death, and other miscellaneous goodies that hinder your gaming experience. If you can get past that, the multiplayer is an interesting time-waster, though I feel it is not the premiere game that people will turn to for their multiplayer goodness, and statistics so far have proven me right. This is simply because Gears multiplayer never truly feels like it was made specifically to be fun. It feels tacked on, rushed, and truly horrible, and that's when it's running smoothly. However, one area in which it redeems itself was Horde mode.

Horde mode pits you against wave after wave of Locust coming for you, and you survive as long as possible. This, to me, was the best usage of multiplayer, as it encouraged real teamwork and seemed to move the smoothest out of all of the modes. Plus, there's a real sense of accomplishment after surviving all 50 rounds. It's similar to the rounds of zombies to be annihilated in Call of Duty: World at War's Zombie Apocalypse mode, and is a blast to play with friends.