SpawnPoint - Where Game Begins

Gears Of War 2 continues the heroic struggle by Marcus Fenix and Delta Squad, trapped in an intense battle against the Locust Horde, Gears of war follows the same style as the previous, an epic tale of survival and vengeance.

The second instalment keeps things similar to the original, not many updated graphical features, and there’s no need, the original was visually stunning and so why fix something that isn’t broken, not to say that new things haven’t been introduced, all new weapons, environments and vicious enemies.
 

New Environments

Story
Six months after the first game, a disease called ‘rust lung’ is infecting humans, making the resistance against The Locust far weaker, and with fear that the last surviving city of Jacinto will fall, its up to Marcus Fenix and Dom Santiago to save the day.
Although elements have been brought into the plot, which include family, death and intertwining love this seems unsuitable for a blood thirsty shooter, though it sheds light on unanswered questions, and makes the characters seem more human, making us being able to relate ourselves to them, the plot has not been ruined or been made too complicated, though it throws at you more questions that need answering.

Gears Of War 2
Gameplay is similar to the original, though fine tweaks have been made to overall make this more realistic and easier, for example not only can your AI team mates recover you but also you can quickly tap A to crawl closer towards them, but sometimes its much safer to just play dead especially if you’ve fallen behind cover.
The weapons have received upgrades making it more balanced and fairer, as in the previous many people complained it was too hard, though epic have heard there pleas they haven’t made it too easier, but just that little more balanced that doesn’t see you repeating a scenario over and over, getting your head blown off again and again.
 

Everything seems to have got bigger and scarier

New Additions
New weapons such as the flamethrower help bring down swarms of enemies that surround you, the suitably named ‘mulcher’ is a high calibre chain gun that can tear the greatest of enemies down with very little rounds, you can attach grenades to walls to double them up as mines, and a new grenade that gives off toxic gas that can be highly lethal to the enemy and your team mates, so use with care.

New fierce executions that push the violence meter off the scale, you can use wounded foes as a shield that can take a little bit more punishment before you break its neck, on top of this there is another 3 ways, you can perform a curb stomp, a series of blows to the face and the signature chainsaw move has also got a fun new way to kill enemies, if two players ready there saws they enter a duel which is won by whoever can button bash B as fast as possible and it is indeed very gruesome to watch though exhilarating that bring the world of Gears Of War 2 to life.
 
Bigger and badder enemies await you, including a leviathan that is so big you must get inside the beast, and take it down internally, foes such as this often don’t just appear, a dramatic build up will start, luring your mind into a state of tension this is just the start of the foundation of the creepy, eerie, dramatic atmosphere that is often seen in Gears Of War 2.
 

Devastating new enemies

Multiplayer
Undoubtedly Gears Of War 2 is best played with friends, and within the campaign there is the ability for a friend to support you via drop-in, though if your looking for a head to head style mode then that has had a massive renovation also, new maps, many more players to destroy, and game modes to choose from include, Warzone, Execution, Assassination and King of the hill, and yes there all as violent as the name suggests, these make a very welcome return and the new additional game modes include:
-    Submission, which is a kind of capture the flag style operation, though the flag is a civilian that has somehow got himself into this awful mess, its your job to carry him to the checkpoint.
-    Guardian, a game which has a specified leader, where the leader must remain alive for the others to respawn, if the leader falls then that is taken away leaving the others vulnerable.
-    Wingman, a typical game of working together and reviving one and other to complete the objective.
-    Horde, the most challenging mode, a team of five people must take on swarm after swarm of enemies, increasing in numbers and size each time.

Though if you do not have an internet connection, a bot function is available, which is good that spans the life out of Gears Of War 2 that little bit further, it doesn’t compare to online play, though it gives new players the chance to practice before taking on the all mighty campaign.

The Good

• New additions to the game that doesn’t ruin the experience 
• Independent difficulty for co-op mode, if one person is more experienced, why should another suffer?
• Same style of play as the previous that took the world by storm, why re-invent the wheel?
• All new multiplayer experience
• Long and fulfilling campaign that can be set aside for a few hours of online play
• Much more gruesome!

The Bad

• Unanswered questions will leave you slightly confused as to what’s going on

The Ugly

• No glitches that obscure the greatness of the game are present, or criticisms can be made on the visuals and animations

The squad embark on their toughest mission yet

Summary
Gears Of War 2 keeps things original, yet still brings new experiences to your eyes that are visually stunning, creepily atmospheric and intensely challenging, yet gruesomely rewarding.  Definitely one for the collection that will proudly be placed next to its predecessor’s case. 

By Liam Copping