Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 201-205 of 257
 New and Improved! 10% More Awesomeness November 17, 2008
Poisoned Blade (California)
1 out of 4 found this review helpful
I rented Gears 2 and played through the Single-Player Campaign in 3 days. It is a true sequel to the original game, so the story is a continuation and the gameplay doesn't really offer anything drastically new. With that said, Gears of War 2 slightly improves on all of the Campaign aspects of the original Gears of War.
The strength of Gears 2 is definitely the Campaign, whether you play single player or with a friend. Most of the levels are truly epic and now there's moving and destructible cover. The weaknesses are the multi-player. There's some lag and starting a game could take a while. Also, the chainsaw and mortars (explode in the air and release a cluster bomb) seem cheap ways to kill or be killed.
The Story 7/10
There is one, it's ok, and doesn't bog down the gameplay. There are a few dramatic scenes in the story, but not enough build up to make them truly memorable. However, the action never slows and the story does a good job at setting up the levels in the campaign. The story is an improvement over the first Gears, although that's not saying much.
Gameplay 8/10
The gameplay is very similar to the original Gears. Play single player or co-op. Duck, Flank, Shoot. But now there are more enemies and more weapons. The gun battles are really fun and the wide range of enemies keeps the action interesting. Battle enemies with mortars, flame throwers, gatling guns, lancers, rifles, machine pistols, grenades, shotguns, sniper rifles... etc. You can also take shields from enemies and plant them as portable cover and of course, you can grab a wounded enemy and use them as a meat shield. There are also finishing moves like the beat down, curb stomp, and the chainsaw up the a...
There are a few enemies that change the battles strategies like tickers. They're like jihad-watchdog-suicide-bombers. You need to shoot them before they get close to you and explode. They definitely get your attention in battles.
There are some vehicle levels where you get to mow down hundreds of enemies at a time with a tank. This is pretty satisfying.
There are 4 difficulty levels for the campaign and the checkpoints are very generous. Just about anyone can finish Gears and the harder levels offer a challenge for the hardcore gamers.
There's also a Horde Mode where you and some friends can battle wave after wave of enemies and accumulate a score. Horde mode is pretty addicting because the gameplay mechanics are fun and the pacing of the battles are intense.
Levels 8/10
The first Chapter of Gears 2 showcases some of the best looking battles of all time. You really get the feeling that you are in a war. Reavers fly into the battles from above, buildings collapse around you, armies of enemies rush onto the battlefield like a gruesome tide of terror. Gears 2 raises the bar as far as epic battles are concerned in the same way that Call of Duty 4 raised the bar on intensity. The battles are are something that everyone should experience, even if you just want to rent the game.
However, when the game decides to move away from the duck, cover, shoot gameplay, the levels are pretty awful. Whoever thought 'driving a tank with poor traction on cracking ice and insta-killing them if they fell through' was a fun idea, should be banished from the game industry. The great levels outnumber the bad 7 to 1.
Art 9/10
Gears 2 looks amazing. They've moved away from the grey enemies and grey backgrounds and added some color and some awe-inspiring views. The characters, enemies, and effects all look great as well. The presentation of Gears 2 is through the roof!
It's rated M for violence, gore, and language. The Game is about 12 hours long and 10 of those hours are really good. The Horde Mode and Online Versus Mode can add hundreds more hours of fun.
Avoid this game if you didn't like the first Gears, you don't like M Rated Games, you want great multiplayer, or you want vehicle combat like Halo.
 Great game November 17, 2008
C. Turpin (Brooklyn, NY)
1 out of 3 found this review helpful
After playing the first Gears of War I was definitly looking forward to Gears 2. I thought that the first game could use more refinement in several areas (especially the awful story). Since playing this I was glad to see the game has more refinement built into it then just about anything that I can think of(I encountered no glitches, however slight anywhere). Everything about Gears of War 2 is intensely fun, when playing co-op with a friend it adds all that much more to an already great game. The story is still a bit lacking in Gears 2 but the amount of non-stop action doesn't let up at all and actually the story gradually becomes a distraction to killing more bad guys. Also the new "Horde" mode is tons of fun and gets exponentially harder as you progress, its an awesome distraction that you can waste hours on all by itself..
Great Follow Up!!! November 17, 2008
Eric Schneider
2 out of 4 found this review helpful
Gears of War 2 is a great follow up to the first Gears of War. Epic did a very good job with refining what made the first game so popular. The graphics are very crisp and really showcase the Xbox 360's capabilities. The other changes to the game are the new execution styles there are now 11 ways in all to execute a downed foe. That makes it a lot of fun and the chainsaw work that they did really shows in the chainsaw duels and chainsaw in the back moves. The game is a good length at 15-20 hours in length depending on difficulty and how much you explore the world and take your time to collect all of the the collectibles. The collectibles is also a nice addition to the second gears because it gives you a lot of backstory to the game. The scale in the second gears is also a lot bigger and better along with the new introduced characters in the game. The only real complaint I have is with the wait time to get into an online match. I like the new format for the online matches but the wait time is a little long. The achievement tracker is also very nice because it tells you how many more kills, collectibles or other stuff you might need to get a certain achievement. All in all Gears of War 2 is better in a lot of ways over the first one mainly because epic refined what was already good and now they made it great. Bring on Gears 3 and great job epic on another classic must buy game.
Great sequel November 16, 2008
A. Espinoza (San Diego, Ca)
2 out of 4 found this review helpful
i loved the first game and this just added to the franchise. Gears of War 2 is great in all aspects. the gameplay, the story line, the graphics, and even the co op.
if you liked the first one well you will like this one. the characters grow on you and the story picks up adding more details on the COG and the horde back ground. Must buy.
 Borring- Doom 1996 was more fun November 15, 2008
jimcrackcorn (phoenix, AZ)
7 out of 37 found this review helpful
This is a boring game- nothing new here, totally ripping you off. Save your money for something that isn't just piggybacking on the popularity of the first one.
Showing reviews 201-205 of 257
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