A sequel is defined as "A literary, dramatic, or cinematic work whose narrative continues that of a pre-existing work" and this sequel does that but so very much more, infact it wouldn’t be unfair to say that this is possibly the greatest sequel of all time. Starting from the end of the first game, the game opens by reintroducing the main characters, Marcus Fenix, Dom Santiago and Carmine who is the brother of the character shot by a sniper in the original game. Once again you are given the option of going through a training session (which is by far the most interesting twist of a tutorial ever seen in an action game and well worth playing even if you don’t need it) or diving straight into the action. Either way you eventually get to the point where the leaders of the Earth’s remaining forces have decided that the only way for the survival of their species is to go more on the offensive so the troops are sent to the main stronghold area of the dreaded locusts etc. The scale of the game is simply awesome. Usually in an action game such as this you can be overwhelmed by the sight of a dozen or so creatures coming towards you, in this game at times there seems to be a never ending stream of them to face and conquer in the various different situations etc that the game throws at you.
For example the first piece of action after the training sequence sees you riding on a rig through waves and waves of troops of locusts including creatures that in the first game were considered ‘big’ enough to be end of level baddies for want of a better phrase. Not so here however, as you fairly easily rip them apart gruesomely at times with your rig and armourment. This really gets your excitement level raised because if they were the biggest in the first game what is to come? A nice touch of the sequel is that it goes back and fills in some of the plot holes etc of the first title. However, it also tantalises you were brief glimpses of other things that are obviously there to indicate that a third even bigger game will be will us sometime in the future. The game, as action fans will appreciate, introduces a number of new weapons into the fray and some new moves for you to learn as well. These weapons include a new class of heavy weapons that you can choose to lug around at the expense of your manoeuvrability and speed. These are usually found in specific locations and to be fair you can either use or not. Personally I always want to see exactly what they do so I tend to use them rather than leave them but each to their own. The new moves include a bloody chainsaw duel and the ability to take hostages as shields. It is survival of the fittest in this war my friend no room for a code of honour or gentlemanly conduct. One thing that has been carried on from the previous title is the fact that you can play through the entire game with a colleague/friend. This will prove to be especially useful if you dare to play the game on the hardest skill level available. However, you need to complete the game once to unlock it. A neat touch when playing with someone else as a team is you can both have a different difficulty setting if you wish therefore you don’t have to play with someone of the same ability. Of course it wouldn’t be Gears of War without a good multiplayer selection as well and this time it has been increased so that you can have ten people playing in the same game at once. This makes for some very bloody, very awesome 5v5 battles. The favourite multiplayer modes from the first game all make a re-appearance such as Warzone, Execution and Annex. The map design on multiplayer is some of the finest yet seen with ten on the disk already and more will follow. Graphically this is an improvement on the first game. The attention to detail in this title is amazing. From the mundane such as the scar that Marcus carries on his face to the vast and elaborate underground palaces you come across later in the game. The character models in the game are quite possibly the greatest ever used in any game on any system with, for a change, real emotion on the human’s faces that you feel and share with them. There is a clever combination used of brown muddy environments and colourful spectacular areas that catch your attention and are quite breathtaking in places. The sound within the game is splendid. This is especially true of the sound effects used throughout the game. Blast someone apart with a gun or cut them apart with a chainsaw and not only is it visually gruesome but the squelchy squishy sound effect that accompanies it only highlights the effect. There is excellent use of ‘battle chatter’ used throughout the game and the vocal acting itself is first class. Overall this is a masterpiece of a game and one that will be responsible for a lot of people either choosing the 360 as their console of choice or making sure they have more than one. It is the very definition of a must-have game but beware it is definitely not for a casual gamer but for one who definitely counts themselves as core. Grab a pizza and a alcoholic drink of your choice, turn off the lights and turn up the sound level on your TV and enjoy, for once a game you will never ever want to see the end of and one that will keep you busy for a very long time.
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XBox 360 
