OK, so I finally managed to finish Gears of War, I’ve had the game for ages just never got round to actually playing it. Don’t ask how long it took me, didn’t take me ages but I played it over several days spending a few hours on it here and there. Overall, I thought the game was very short and lacked a little in storyline however the great gameplay mechanics and concepts throughout the game were fantastic.

Firstly the plot, the general storyline was pretty good. The game takes place on the fictional planet “Sera”, where a group of soldiers in a Delta Squad fight to save their plant from the enemy of the game, the Locust Horde. Even though the game had a good enough storyline, I still felt it lacked something maybe it could have had some twists or turns throughout the game which would have made the plot different from anything else.

Characters: The player takes the role of Marcus Fenix, an ex-prisoner and hardcore soldier. The other characters are Dominic Santiago who mainly fights with Marcus throughout the game, he’s a very loyal character and is driven by friendship and his family. Augustus Cole loves to be right in the action, he doesn’t mind getting dirty when fighting and Damon Baird is very intelligent and has a broad knowledge of technology, hacking, repairing etc, he’s also very sarcastic throughout the game which lightens the mood in several moments. Those are the four main protagonists which you will mainly see through gameplay, but during cut scenes there are other characters which drive the storyline.

The Gameplay:- The game is a third-person shooter with it’s main aim being to use as much cover as possible, whether it be walls, hedges, cars, columns, anything which could initially stop you from getting hurt or even stop death. The player can also assume different rolls/dodge movements to take cover. I feel one of the best movements is the sprint of “roadie run” (part croach, part run) which makes you harder to target. It’s not just this move thats great, but the ways its captured, the camera here lowers at the level of the character and becomes unsteady and feels like the camera is running behind the player, it’s very clever.

Like many shooters, there is no health bar as such, but if you are hit the COG symbol pops up on screen letting you know that you are wounded, and as you constantly get hit the symbol fills with blood which lets you know that you are severly wounded or even dieing and you need to take cover immediately. Once you’re covered the symbol fades away and you can carry on with gameplay. I like the idea that you don’t get a healthbar, this is quite a new concept, since the next generation consoles have emerged this has seemed to be a successful factor in gaming. The idea that you have to pick up health packs is getting quite old, so the idea that you don’t have to do that is brilliant in my eyes.

Weapons:- This game only hosts a small selection of weapons from pistols, shotguns, rifles and sniper rifles as well as the “Lancer” which is part assault rifle and part chainsaw (the damage done with this is awesome). When using the chainsaw on an enemy, the camera/screen is splattered with blood which is a really cool effect. There are also grenades which can be used, and some special weapons which can be picked up throughout the game including the “Hammer of Dawn” and a host of weapons from the enemy.  

Achievements:- I love achievements, I don’t have many to my name just yet but i love the idea that you get points when you’ve unlocked something.

The game comprises of three difficulty modes, Casual, Hardcore and Insane. When each act is completed on each mode you receive achievements, as well as receiving achievements for completing entire modes. The achievements can be unlocked on the single mode as well as the co-op mode. A lot of the achievements can be gained on the multiplayer modes, but I have yet to take a look at the multiplayer for this game.

Generally this game KICKS ASS! It’s fun, gorey in parts, good enough storyline to produce a sequel (which it has), some awesome maneuvers and a great set of characters. I love this game and can’t wait to get the sequel.

If you havn’t got this game yet, I’d recommend getting the Limited Collector’s Edition! Not only do you get an art book, making of DVD with great concept art and some interesting interviews but it also comes in a great tin box with a slip case. Gotta love the Collector’s Editions!

Hope you enjoyed this review.

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