Gears Of War

Believe the hype: Gears of War is the best shooter around. Forget Halo, Gears is THE game for 360 action fans.

A third-person tactical shooter, Gears usees the Unreal Engine 3 to bring the game to life in a big way. Graphically the game is amazing; I can only guess how sweet this would play on a high-def TV. The environments that you play in are all huge, with plenty to look at, and fortunately hide behind.

That’s right, hide behind. This is an action packed tactical shooter. And the game play is slightly different than most other games in that the game play, and thus the controls, are set up for shooting from behind cover, then hopping over and running for the next piece of cover as you systematically destroy the Locust Horde.

What? You don’t know about the Locust Horde? Have you been living under a rock for the last year?

The Locust Horde is the enemy. They have infested the earth, destroyed our cities and now hunt us from under ground. They can pop up anywhere, anytime. They will come at you from all sides. They have an unwavering bloodlust to see us all dead.

This isn’t war; it’s a battle for survival.

And what do we have to fight this battle? A small, but ample range of guns, the mainstay being a machine gun with a chainsaw like attachment for dispensing of the Horde in a spray of blood if you get into one on one fighting with one of these monsters of Hades.

And I’m not kidding when I say a spray of blood. Gears has the graphical grunt to make this one of the most visually gruesome games available. And it’s not gratuitous either; it adds to the feel of the game, this is after all a battle of life and death.

The audio is also fantastic, so much so that I had to revert to headphones so that I didn’t keep everyone awake whilst I was playing late at night!

And what about the game play? Well, I’ve already told you about the shooting from cover, but what I didn’t mention is your team-mates who fight alongside you. Look after them (heal them when they get hurt) and they’ll help you dispense some of the horde, and trust me when I say you’re gonna need their help!

To start off with Gears takes the game play a little differently, giving you the choice to go through a little training, or get straight into the action. This is a nice touch. After that it’s pretty much your standard fare, fight your way through the levels, with cinematic cut scenes filling in the story and giving you hints as to what you’re fighting for, and against.

There’s plenty of ammo around, so for the most part you’ll have plenty of lead to send towards the Horde, and there an assortment of futuristic weapons for all situations.

There are no medic packs however, and as in Call Of Duty 3 there is no need, as there are visual clues that you need to find cover and recuperate. Personally I find this a much better way of dealing with the mortality of man vs ongoing gameplay.

There is no real indication of what way you should be going, there are of course the physical barriers that prevent you from going certain ways, and for the most part the game play or your team-mates will keep you moving in the right direction. I did however find myself in a couple of situations where I was wondering what the heck I was supposed to be doing, but soon got things sorted.

The environments are varied with interior and exterior fighting. The main enemy is the horde, but from time to time you’ll come up against some of their little helpers, which will initially catch you off guard as they fall on you from above.

Unlike Call Of Duty, Gears does have the end of level, almost impossible to kill monsters. The first of which I met was a brutal dude that could kill with a single hit, and the only weapon capable of dispensing with the brute could only be used out side. This required some quick thinking, as you had to lure the beast outside without getting pummelled in the process.

All in all Gears of War is a tight package, and if I had to sum up the game play in one word it would be ‘intense’.