Gears of War 2: Gears of War 2 SE: Price: £44.99 Players: 1-2 offline; 2-16 (system link); 2-10 (online multiplayer) Widescreen: Yes 60Hz: Yes (optional) HD: 720p/1080i/1080p Dolby Digital 5.1 Sound: Yes Vote and comment on this game: View Comments Gears of War 2 comes two years after the original - albeit only six months in terms of the game's timeline, the locust horde is back and this time it's bringing it's Dad... hmm... sounds like that came from a film but it can also apply here too as the monsters that you have to battle in this sequel are some big bad bastards! Once again, the story is wafer thin but that doesn't matter as all gamers really want to do is pick up their gun and fire away until the ground is laced with gory, alien blood. However, let it be known that humanity has put aside its differences to combat the enemy, not realising that it's having an adverse effect on themselves because they're bigger than all of us put together.

Gears of War 2 Act 1 Chapter 1/Chapter 2 Part 1: Tip of the Spear: Welcome To Delta/Desperation Part 1 When you start, you can go through a training section with a new rookie if you really want to, but for those who've played the first game, this isn't necessary. On the weaponry side, the main tool you'll use is the Lancer which holds several hundred rounds of ammo and pressing 'B' activates the chainsaw bayonet. Get the chance to get close to a baddie and set it off and you'll witness something so damn cool, but trying it on a more substantial creature and without wishing to go back to the last checkpoint is a real struggle! There are various other weapons which are mostly variations on a theme - and the Hammer of Dawn will also rear it's head later on and I've yet to encounter that at the time of writing, as well as a flamethrower but in addition to the chainsaw action being my favourite, the turrets also give a good blast to proceedings.

Gears of War 2 Act 1 Chapter 3: Tip of the Spear: Rolling Thunder There are no health power-ups in this game. If you're up against it then you'll need to rest and recouperate inbetween shooting. Your fellow marines will also take a number of hits so it's up to you to revive them. The plus side is that they rarely seem able to die when injured, crouching down. However, when under heavy fire, they get injured way too quickly, so even if you do help them out, they're still bound to get into trouble before the next checkpoint is reached. Don't they ever go for cover? You'd think these beefcake blokes could take more rounds than the average human, but then they don't look massively intelligent so perhaps that's part of the problem? Gears of War 2is good fun, but even this time round it does feel like it goes on a bit, and while what's still to come looks very impressive, it does also feel like more of the same. When there's all guns blazing, the gameplay is fluid but it still has some problems with the cover system in that it's not always easy to 'hug' a wall or a concrete slab so you can escape bullets raining down on you. However, a great plus this time is that I love the fact you can almost kill a baddie and then use his body as a shield while you walk towards more baddies! That can be seen in some of the game footage featured online here, as well as another fun tactic of walking up to an almost-dead enemy and curb-stomping him right in the head to put him out of your misery!

Gears of War 2 Act 2 Chapter 1 Part 1: Denizens: Scattered Part 1 This game plays out in a roughly linear style but also one that's fun, so at least you won't be having much trouble working out where to go next. One thing that did become frustrating is that too often the game just seems to play by itself as it takes you to the next level. It does tend to blend in well with the gameplay but the problem is that it can take over for too long in one period. Downloadable content is also available and the game itself comes with the ability to get 5 bonus maps on which to wreak online havoc and even if you don't want to go online for one of the many Xbox Live experiences, you can indulge in the co-operative single player story with a friend. In this review, I've uploaded a number of clips which are as follows: Gears of War 2 Act 1 Ch.1/Ch.2 Pt 1 - Tip of the Spear Welcome To Delta/Desperation Pt 1 Gears of War 2 Act 1 Ch.2 Pt 2 - Tip of the Spear Ch.2: Desperation Pt 2 Gears of War 2 Act 1 Ch.2 Pt 3 - Tip of the Spear Ch.2: Desperation Pt 3 Gears of War 2 Act 1 Ch.3 - Tip of the Spear Ch.3: Rolling Thunder Gears of War 2 Act 1 Ch.4 - Tip of the Spear Ch.4: The Big Push Gears of War 2 Act 1 Ch.5 Pt 1 - Tip of the Spear Ch.5: Roadblocks Pt 1 Gears of War 2 Act 1 Ch.5 Pt 2 - Tip of the Spear Ch.5: Roadblocks Pt 2 Gears of War 2 Act 1 Ch.6 - Tip of the Spear Ch.6: Digging In Gears of War 2 Act 2 Ch.1 Pt 1 - Denizens Ch.1: Scattered Pt 1 Gears of War 2 Act 2 Ch.1 Pt 2 - Denizens Ch.1: Scattered Pt 2 Gears of War 2 Act 2 Ch.2 Pt 1 - Denizens Ch.2: Indigenous Creatures Pt 1 Gears of War 2 Act 2 Ch.2 Pt 2 - Denizens Ch.2: Indigenous Creatures Pt 2 Visit my DVDfeverGames Youtube channel.

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Review copyright © Dominic Robinson, 2008.