Mon 15 Aug 2011
Playstation
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Gears of War 2 - Review
Gears of War 2 continues the story six months after the end of the first game packed with a new 10 hour campaign full of entertaining wordplay and climactic confrontations. I noticed that there was definitely a greater feeling of grandeur in GOW2 than there was with its predecessor, and a greater attempt to unveil more about the characters and their personal lives.
The story line peers deeper into the psychological impact of war, death, love and the possibility of extinction. I felt a stronger connection to the characters and learned more about those characters them this time around.
But Gears of War 2 is fundamentally the same as its predecessor with regards to the controls, the mechanics, the visuals and dynamics, with the exception of few improvements.
The cover system that Gears of War pioneered has been completely redesigned and functions a lot better, so now your character doesn’t hug the wall beside you as opposed to the one in front of you.
The revival system has also been refurbished. Not only do your AI teammates or human teammates have the option of healing you when you’re injured, but you can now tap A repeatedly which causes your character to crawl closer towards your opponent so you can be healed quicker.
The assault rifle is still the default firearm in GOW2, however a number of new weapons have been introduced to the Gears of War Universe as well, most notably the flamethrower, yes, a flamethrower. All of the new weapons have been successfully weaved into the multiplayer game, it still feels very balanced.
What I found most surprising about this game is the sequel actually manages to take the already over the top violent classic and make it even more graphic, now with four ways of killing your enemies in close combat.
One of these new execution methods actually allows you to use an enemy as a shield prior to breaking its neck which I found somewhat humorous, it makes close quarters combat a little more interesting. New game play features have been added in both single player and multiplayer modes, but aside from a few things here and there the game is essentially the same fire and cover dynamic that was the backbone of the original game. There’s nothing drastically new.
Gears of War 2 is an impressive sequel, it sticks to the winning formula of original and builds upon the Unreal Engine, actually improving the visuals of what was already a visually stunning game, adding new dimensions to the presentation, such as walls that spew dust and degree under gunfire and an increased amount of enemies simultaneously onscreen.
The sequel boasts meticulously detailed level and character designs accompanied by improvements to the mechanics, most notably the updated cover system which was a bit tentative in the first game. GOW was already a polished gem, Gears of War 2 boasts an improved graphics engine and has corrected whatever imperfections still lingered from the first Gears of War.
But it is fundamentally the same as its predecessor, only with new environments and a darker storyline. The bottom line, if you liked the first Gears of War, you’re going to love this one, while not a new game, the sequel does everything a sequel is supposed to do, continue where the old one left off.
Rating: 91%
Pros:
Once again Gears of War 2 Looks stunning
The game delivers a fresh new 10-hour campaign
Improved gameplay mechanics
Cons
It acts as a sequel but is ultimately the same as Gears of War
The story line peers deeper into the psychological impact of war, death, love and the possibility of extinction. I felt a stronger connection to the characters and learned more about those characters them this time around.
But Gears of War 2 is fundamentally the same as its predecessor with regards to the controls, the mechanics, the visuals and dynamics, with the exception of few improvements.
The cover system that Gears of War pioneered has been completely redesigned and functions a lot better, so now your character doesn’t hug the wall beside you as opposed to the one in front of you.
The revival system has also been refurbished. Not only do your AI teammates or human teammates have the option of healing you when you’re injured, but you can now tap A repeatedly which causes your character to crawl closer towards your opponent so you can be healed quicker.
The assault rifle is still the default firearm in GOW2, however a number of new weapons have been introduced to the Gears of War Universe as well, most notably the flamethrower, yes, a flamethrower. All of the new weapons have been successfully weaved into the multiplayer game, it still feels very balanced.
What I found most surprising about this game is the sequel actually manages to take the already over the top violent classic and make it even more graphic, now with four ways of killing your enemies in close combat.
One of these new execution methods actually allows you to use an enemy as a shield prior to breaking its neck which I found somewhat humorous, it makes close quarters combat a little more interesting. New game play features have been added in both single player and multiplayer modes, but aside from a few things here and there the game is essentially the same fire and cover dynamic that was the backbone of the original game. There’s nothing drastically new.
Gears of War 2 is an impressive sequel, it sticks to the winning formula of original and builds upon the Unreal Engine, actually improving the visuals of what was already a visually stunning game, adding new dimensions to the presentation, such as walls that spew dust and degree under gunfire and an increased amount of enemies simultaneously onscreen.
The sequel boasts meticulously detailed level and character designs accompanied by improvements to the mechanics, most notably the updated cover system which was a bit tentative in the first game. GOW was already a polished gem, Gears of War 2 boasts an improved graphics engine and has corrected whatever imperfections still lingered from the first Gears of War.
But it is fundamentally the same as its predecessor, only with new environments and a darker storyline. The bottom line, if you liked the first Gears of War, you’re going to love this one, while not a new game, the sequel does everything a sequel is supposed to do, continue where the old one left off.
Rating: 91%
Pros:
Once again Gears of War 2 Looks stunning
The game delivers a fresh new 10-hour campaign
Improved gameplay mechanics
Cons
It acts as a sequel but is ultimately the same as Gears of War
