Game Name: Gears of War 2
Developer: Epic Games
Publisher: Microsoft Game Studios
Release Date: November 7th, 2008
Platforms: XBOX 360, XBOX One
Introduction
Well last week I finished Gears of War 1 and I was back at it in Gears of War 2. Let us see if this sequel builds on the successes of the first game.
I liked the first one, but felt it was a little to paint by numbers action. I did enjoy the game but I was not super attached to the characters. Let us dig right in.
Story
This time around, you play again as the famous Marcus Fenix, leading the Delta Squad. Once again the Delta Squad is comprised for the most part by Baird, Dom, Marcus and Cole. The COG are asked to go down the Locusts tunnels to head the Locusts head on. While descending COG suffers a lot of casualties.
In the end, the goal would be to try to take down the Queen of the Locusts. However, things do not go as planned. It is learned that the only way to really get rid of the Locusts is to flood the tunnels.
Gameplay
If you played the first game in the series, you will feel right at home. There is not much here that has changed.
In terms of weapons, most of your favourites from the previous game come back. The new weapons that make an appearance are the following
Boom Shield
Butcher Cleaver
Dual Chainsaw Staff
Hammerburst II
Ink Grenade
Mulcher
Scorcher Flamethrower
I did not use many of these new weapons, with the exception of the Hammerburst II. I stuck to the same weapons than I did in the first game. It served me well so why change a winning formula.
The button placements are the same as it was in the previous game, so there was not much adjustment that was needed.
Again, the game is from an over the shoulder third person perspective. I think for this game it works fine.
Gears of War 2 - Sample Gameplay
Bottomline
Did I like the sequel to Gears of War? I will have to say yes. It took what was great about the first game and added a more in depth story.
The first thing that I want to talk about is the depth of the characters. as I mentioned in the review to the first game, although the game was fun, I did not really care for anyone other than Marcus Fenix. However, even then, that was stretching. What made the game good was the action.
This time around, they added elements to the story that made you really feel for the team. I do not want to spoil some story elements, but there were a few times, where the story was touching.
To be honest, other than the more in depth story, the rest kind of felt the same. Go from point A to point B and shoot people while taking cover. Although, it is repetitive, it does feel satisfying.
Although, I will say that I have experienced some bugs which are annoying. There are points, where you need to pull a lever or open a door and the game does not recognize the action that needs to happen. The only way around this was to reload the game and redo a section. Then it would be fine. It happened to be a few times during the game.
The one thing that I would have to say, is in this game, I did not feel the element of strategy as much as the first game. In the first game, the bosses were a learning experience. You had to learn how to beat them and learn their patterns. In Gears of War 2, I did not have as many situations where I was trying to figure out to beat a boss. This part was slightly disappointing.
I will say that I love the voice acting and the banter during dead periods. For example, when you are walking from one area to another, I like hearing the characters talk trash or throwing a joke. Since I never played this before, the last time that I saw this was while I was playing The Outer Worlds. It was nice to experience this.
Overall, I think in certain aspects, the game was very good and in other aspects I feel like the game took a step back.
This is just an action packed game with a good story and good characters. Yes, the gameplay does feel repetitive but it was still very fun to play. I recommend anyone to play it.
How did you like this sequel? Was it good or not? Let us know below.
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