Perhaps the most anticipated game of the year for the Xbox 360, Epic Studios had a gargantuan task of delivering a system selling title before the mad holiday rush. Epic delivered on their promise and shelled out a title that's fairly unmatched on any next-generation system. The game's presentation holds a vast number of cinematic qualities that sci-fi movie producers can't seem to capture properly as of late. While the back story is far too limited, the main narrative slowly provides a modicum of facts to keep the player yearning for more. The story centers on Marcus Fenix, a former military officer serving prison time for reasons unknown. After being busted out by a former squad mate, Sergeant Fenix is recruited to lead a squad determined to take down the invading alien army, the Locusts. In short, the stylistic presentation yields a briefly engrossing tale of human survival within a horrific, terrifying world.
Gameplay: In terms of modes, the game provides single player, Co-op (online or local), and multiplayer deathmatch. The single player campaign is divided into five acts, each split into a set number of chapters. These chapters serve as saving checkpoints, but there are additional checkpoints between chapter markers. Overall, the saving system is very balanced. There are only a couple spots in the single player campaign that become tedious to repeat in the upper echelons of difficulty, usually at the ending of each Act.
As third person shooter's go, Gears is vastly more complex than other entries in the market. Gears relies on a cover system that uses stop n' pop shooting techniques to traverse the landscape. Via the green A button, players can use any object within the game to hide behind. The left trigger allows for popping out to aim and the Right trigger shoots. Also, special moves can be performed from cover such as leaping over a structure, spin rolling to another cover area, or blind firing. Also, some objects can be pushed when in cover by tapping the blue X button. Overall, the control system has a bit of a learning curve and exact usage of the A button can be clunky at times.
While in cover, it's a good time to switch weapons or reload. Fenix can carry two main weapons, a handgun, and a stockpile for four grenades. Of the two main weapons, the second weapon is stored over Fenix's shoulder. Weapons can be picked up off of any dead enemy as well as the ammo within those guns. Main weapons include two machine guns, a shotgun, a sniper rifle, a satellite targeting system, a grenade launcher, and a bow that uses explosive tipped arrows. Also, Fenix can switch out the standard issue handgun for a more powerful 6-cylinder revolver. Grenades are in the shape of a medieval mace and are simply swung to be released in a predetermined arc toward the enemy. Reloading is an interesting modification to the gameplay which adds a benefit / penalty system into the mix. Basically, there is a sweet spot to click when reloading a weapon. Hitting the perfect reload will add a small attack strength multiplier to your player, so hitting multiple reloads during battle can be advantageous. On the flip side, incorrectly reloading penalizes the player in reducing the multiplier to zero as well as spending extra precious seconds dealing with a gun jam.
Not surprisingly, the enemy A.I. will take advantage of a gun jam situation and charge ahead to annihilate you. The A.I. is particularly intelligent and uses the cover system at the same level as the player. Additionally, enemies will alternatively lay down cover fire to allow for teammate movement. Enemies that are allowed too close to the player will become melee crazed creatures and beat your corpse senseless before the incoming head stomp. Friendly A.I. uses the cover system fairly well, but they do tend to die often. Fortunately, the developer provided a way to revive a teammate during battle. Simply clicking the blue X button will kick start your bud back to health and the fight continues. Also, friendly A.I. automatically revives after all enemies in an area are destroyed.
While death in the single player mode requires restarting at the last checkpoint, the two player co-op mode allows for players to revive each other. Co-op mode allows much quicker movement through the campaign, although a few spots require splitting up. In those sections, continual death means restarting again and again. Co-op over Xbox Live is beautifully smooth. The game is synced perfectly with your teammate and lag is non-existent. When joining another player's co-op game, you will take the role of Dom. Games can be searched for a particular act as well as a level of difficulty. Players can join at any point within a chapter, which occasionally leads to a lack of ammo at the outset. Communication plays a key role in taking out the Locusts which makes boss fights a breeze. This is simply the best online co-op I've ever seen on a console.
The 8-player multiplayer versus mode is divided into three types: Warzone, Execution, and Assassination. While Warzone is a standard team deathmatch mode, the other two modes are decidedly more complex. Execution requires a finishing move to take out the opposing team in the form of a curb-stomp, headshot, or melee attack. Downed players will be come incapacitated and are forced to rely on teammates to save their sorry hides. Assassination is similar to 'Protect the Pimp' in Saints Row. Each team has a captain that has instant access to more powerful weapons than teammates. When the captain of the opposing team is eliminated, the player who pulled the trigger becomes the captain for the next round. The ten maps are varied and exactly the size needed for small four on four matches. While the Versus modes are enjoyable, I'm left wondering if the developer had to leave out other modes, such as capture the flag, due to a time crunch.
The achievements are generally varied, but the path to garnering that gamerscore is very straightforward. The game awards a total of 1000 points for completing a combination of 49 single & multiplayer tasks. All of the single player achievements can also be snatched up in co-op mode, either online or local. The single player achievements are assigned to completing the entire campaign on a certain level of difficulty. Fortunately, if you decide to complete the game on Hardcore the first time through, the game will award the Casual achievements at the same time. The same goes for finishing a co-op campaign on Insane. The multiplayer Versus achievements are directed at killing 100 people with a certain type of weapon. Also, a crazy 50 point achievement is tacked on for murdering 10,000 people in Versus matches over Xbox Live. Overall, Epic offers up the much heralded points in a simple, but effective fashion. On a side note, the achievement names are very creative and require a bit of pop culture knowledge to get the inside jokes.
Graphics: As if using a high-def visual lasso, Gears yanks the viewer into a coma induced state of pure, unadulterated awe. The stunning war-torn world is encapsulated by demolished concrete cities, abandoned structures, large-scale open courtyards, thick jungle foliage, and a variety of dark, menacing locust tunnels. A gratuitous level of detail would be an understatement. Environments while ultimately linear, are highly polished to take advantage of the power in the 360. Any wooden item can be demolished with a spray of bullets and moveable objects leave skid marks on the road / floors. Lighting effects, just as exploding propane tanks, are well defined; specifically for avoidance of the flying Krell. Dust particles explode in a variety of areas, mostly when enemy fire impacts your cover area.
The character models are the most impressive visual feature though. Models actually look identical to those artwork mockups developers usually release a year or two previous to the release of the game. Every muscle definition and facial scar is pronounced dramatically on each model. This amount of detail also carries over into the various weaponry; most evident when reloading. Animations are fluid to an extent not seen in most 360 titles. Leaping over barriers, rolling to cover, or just dealing with a nasty gun jam is visually stimulating and gives major credence to the competence of the developers at Epic. To put it simply, if you have seen the recent Gears commercial with the Donnie Darko music, that's the level of detail you can expect in the actual game.
Within Co-op mode, players will notice a slight bobble in the graphics engine when syncing with another player. It seems the 360 takes an extra few seconds to load the environmental textures. Also, Co-op yields the occasional graphical loading error when a player moves too far ahead of another. For instance, I strayed a few rooms ahead and opened a door to an exterior courtyard. The entire world was stark white, as if I just walked into the Construct in the original Matrix movie. After a couple seconds, the world reappeared; but not before I had time to comment to my partner about it. The Versus mode is just as visually tuned as the other modes, but it takes slightly longer to sync up 8 players.
Audio: The voice work in Gears is delightfully snappy and the dialogue bounces off each character perfectly. Epic used a variety of experienced actors for the voices of the various soldiers, specifically folks with previous video game or animation work. For instance, Marcus Fenix is voiced by John Di Maggio, perhaps most well known for the comedic voice of Bender on Futurama. Also, Mighty Rasta (Terry Tate in those hilarious Reebok ads) voices Cole, the lost Alpha team member found taking on a batch of Locusts all alone and having a ball. Most importantly, the voice acting is highly conducive to the nature of the gameplay. Characters will scream intimidating phrases during firefights and offer amusing banter during the downtime. The hours of voice audio programming that went into Gears is fully astounding.
In combination with the voice work, the sound effects are wholly complimentary. Bullet ricochets off concrete emplacements, the pounding heartbeat of a weary soldier, and the bass heavy explosions resulting from roaming Boomers are all auditory delights. Not to be overlooked, the visceral ripping of flesh via machine gun with the built-in circular saw blade is gruesomely enjoyable for repeated listens. Additionally, the directional effects with a proper 5.1 surround system are incredibly accurate and provide an excellent tool for returning enemy fire.
Perhaps understated, the musical score gently provides rousing military music to inform the player of the current situation. For instance, the musical track will become upbeat and suspenseful when entering a new battle and taper off in a victory tune when it ends successfully. While Halo certainly had a more memorable score, the orchestral tunes are welcome within Gears and do not require alteration with custom soundtracks.
Conclusion: Is the game worth the retail price tag? For folks without the benefits of Xbox Live Gold, I'd have to say no. The single player campaign takes approximately 7 to 8 hours on Casual and 10 to 12 on Hardcore, either of which easily done in a rental period. For everyone else, it's a no-brainer purchase. Without a doubt, the online co-op integration is nearly flawless and Versus multiplayer matches are absolutely addictive. If any multiplayer shooter has the gall to dethrone Halo 2 from the most played multiplayer list, it will be Gears of War; for a short time anyway. In any case, Gears shouldn't be missed by any Xbox 360 owner. Shooter aficionados, Sci-Fi fanatics, and even the most casual of 360 players will find Gears to be the most entertaining, involving game on the Xbox 360 in 2006.
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