Hype’s a bloody irritating part of gaming culture.
Despite the 360 now boasting a great number of cracking titles, the furore surrounding Gears of War has caused just about ever gamer out there to neglect their already purchased wares in order to get overly excited by a title that, until now, we’d seen little of.
Finally it’s here and it’s got a lot to live up to. Gears of War is supposed to do for the 360 what Halo did for the original Xbox.
So will our copies of Dead Rising, Test Drive Unlimited and Call of Duty 3 be taking a back seat from now on?
They say:
360 Gamer Magazine: “If you accept that this doesn’t reinvent the wheel, more pimp it to the max, then Gears is an immensely satisfying experience.”
Eurogamer: “Gears of War lives up to expectations in that it's one of the most intensely beautiful looking games ever made, but is one that plays by the rules in the gameplay stakes.”
Official Xbox Magazine: “Gears is the most important next generation game yet. It looks next gen, it feels next gen and most importantly, it plays next gen.”
We say:
Let’s not beat around the proverbial bush here – Gears of War is right up there as one of the very, very best Xbox 360 titles out there. Now that little quibble’s out of the way, let’s have a little chat about the game itself eh?
As Marcus Fenix (seriously, that’s the fella’s name) you’re one of a number of former soliders out on the field of battle, attempting to beat back the ‘Locusts’ who just happen to have taken over the world.
In terms of background story, that’s about all you get and, to be honest, it's all you really need in order to get out there and kick some ass. But it does seem like a slightly missed opportunity when you consider this is one game that could have been bolstered considerably with some well placed story driven cut scenes.
We’re thankful for one thing though. At least they’ve not crammed in some oddly placed love interest, or a scene involving some slightly scarred soldier being told to “pull himself together and get fighting” like we’ve seen countless times in the last few months.
You see, Gears of War isn’t really a long lasting title. The single player game will take you a mere half dozen hours to play through the entire thing. In other words, if you pick this up on your way home from work on a Friday night, expect to have had pretty much all your fill of the single player jollies by the start of work on Monday morning. That’s unless you’re made to put up some shelves – which apparently us blokes do – or fetch the shopping.
Having said that, the quality of those half a dozen hours is simply unrivalled on the Xbox 360. Despite playing in much the same manner throughout the entire time – get behind cover, wait for your enemy to pop a head out before blowing it clean off their shoulders – it’s just so much damn fun.
The controls are an absolute breeze. Popping a few caps in asses and getting ready to switch to the next logical area of cover is all fine and dandy. With things being so easy to control, the different difficulty levels really need to be tweaked to perfection and, for the most part, they work obscenely well.
The ‘Casual’ setting is fairly easy and even allows you to meander away from cover during the first half of the game with little recrimination. ‘Hardcore’ on the other hand feels absolutely perfect as you battle your way through the levels. Finish the game in this mode and you’ll be able to choose ‘Insane’ which, as the name suggests, is pretty bloody hard.
Alongside the single player mode there’s various multiplayer options. You can play as a team, rush around with chainsaws, whatever you like really.
Handling all this is a blooming gorgeous game engine that will blow away even the most hardened of 360 sceptics. Stick Gears of War on a HD screen in particular and you’ll be absolutely dazzled. It even manages to make the visually alluring Call of Duty 3 look a little, well, tired in comparison. It raises the bar a fair few notches and all future titles are frankly going to have their work cut out.
So a final score of a full five stars eh? Not too surprising considering the praise we’ve heaped upon Gears of War throughout this review. It may not herald a brand new genre or gaming technique, but it does what it does so incredibly well.
We’re struggling to name six better hours of gaming. Can you?
Like this? Try these:
Call of Duty 3 – Xbox 360
Condemned – Xbox 360
Brothers In Arms, Earned In Blood – PS2, Xbox
FORMAT REVIEWED
Xbox 360
OTHER FORMATS
None
POSTED...
Wed 22 Nov 2006 at 9:01am
