Gears of War

[Roland]

Playing the SP campaign is enjoyable, trying to link together the sequence of events as a whole is best left to the mantra of "pop some corn, sit back and enjoy the ride— philosophy lecture cancelled for today".

My favorite stage is nightfall in the city, in spite of (or is it because of?) it taking a page straight out of Pitch Black. Of course ("watch out— philosophy major in the house!") they could simply have Jack decloak and cast a light over them the whole time.

Or carry a torch.

I don't know if I have a favorite yet. I just beat Act 2, and am into the mines of Act 3. The mines are certainly one of the creepiest areas in the game, with great ambience. It's just so fun, even replaying it almost immediately after beating it once. It's still so fresh and exciting. I think this game will have a bit more shelf-life than some other FPS titles out there.

I probably won't touch MP until I beat Insane. Oh, and I'm soloing this the whole way. I'll hit coop once I finish the game on all three difficulties. Until then, I want to experience the game itself, without distractions. I hear coop is a blast, though, so I'm excited to try it out in the future.

And yes, the story is simple, but it flows, it keeps you going, and it's never boring. I've truly come to appreciate it, actually, even more the second time through. For what it offers, they did a superb job. It's not a matter of setting your goals low, it's a matter of picking what you want to deliver, what your target audience is, and going at it 100%. They did just that, and I think they pulled it off beautifully. RPGmongers will certainly not find much to like about the game, but FPS gamers who enjoy a bit more than just your average shooter will certainly find much to like about this game. The dry humor is a nice touch, IMHO, and it truly fits the environment of the game. It's small things like that that just make it all come together. Even the foul language, which I usually don't approve of (it can be overused too easily, although in moderation it can add something positive to the experience, when appropriate; I'm not for censorship, though), I'm become accustomed to, and actually find more fitting than without. While originally the exchanges between Baird and Fenix seemed... irritating, as I'm sure Baird is supposed to be, this second time through I find them more comical and enjoyable. I found them amusing at first, but I'm finding them even more so this second time around. It truly is a game that gets better the more you play it, IMHO.

I didn't go into this game expecting much more than pretty graphics and a cool story, albeit a shallow one. I got both, and a whole lot more in the process, and I'm very happy with it. Chromehounds was fun, but it was a botched release, and so the fun eventually became tainted, not to mention repetitive. Gears SP so far has still remained quite fresh and enjoyable, even being so short, and I expect it to remain that way, even by my fifth or sixth replay. I can only guess at what MP has to offer, but I'm sure it will be enjoyable so long as technical hurdles do not become present.