The first Gears felt a bit lonely in terms of story, which was truly a reflection upon the game’s focus—it was only Delta Squad and nobody else. The sequel rectifies this. There are moments where other squads of the Cog army assist you or ask for help during the campaign.  In addition to this, various cut scenes show how epic the scope of the game is. Hundreds of Locusts are charging in and transitions between gameplay and cut scene is excellent.

However, Gears of War isn’t quite remembered for its story—the meat of the game is in the multiplayer, seen through its versatility. When selecting game types, everything is well organized with options of playing Public matches, Private matches, Local (on the same console) and System Link. Options can be tweaked in any way possible, from how many rounds you want in a game to the amount of bots you want to take on. Public Xbox Live is essentially ranked matches.

When choosing this match type, you are allowed to pick from various playlists that include Elimination, Territories, Horde, Wingman, and Flashback Players Choice. Elimination includes all standard deathmatch gameplay—with the exception of Guardian, there is no respawning in Elimination games. Warzone is the most basic, with the rules being “kill the opposing team”. Execution is like Warzone, but you can only kill your opponent using the 11 Execution moves in the game which includes the very famous Curb Stomp from the first Gears. Guardian is the most interesting in that each team has a leader and the main objective is to go after the opposing leader so that the team will stop respawning. Territories games involve your team to claim a certain location in the match that is represented by a circle and respawning is allowed in Territories. Annex mode has various territorial control locations that have a maximum of 60 points. In order to win, each team must take control of these locations. Once the 60 points have been registered to a team, the control location switches and you must be quick to get to that point. King of Hill is similar Annex, only in this mode, there is only one control point and you are not allowed to step out of the circle. Submission is a different take on the Capture the Flag formula. In this mode, there is a lone human on the map that you must return to the teams control point. The twist here though, is that he can fight back. AI here is pretty smart, so expect a few deaths when trying to capture the “meat” flag. Horde is a mode in which your team is faced against wave after wave of the Locust Hoard. For more details on this, check out our preview from E for All. Wingman borrows from the Warzone mode but in this game type, everybody is split up in five teams of two. Again, the goal here is to eliminate the opposing team.

From a visual standpoint, Gears doesn’t disappoint. Running on a newer version of Epic Games’ Unreal 3 Engine, the game runs smoothly. Environments are given a much needed upgrade compared to the frequent blandness in the first installment. Cities ruined by Locust invasions evoke a feeling of “destroyed beauty”. The Locust home is filled with their own unique form of architecture that looks both alien and primitive. Vegetation in the form of color mushrooms and strange flowers give life in what could have been another boring underground mission. The music is excellent as well, with a pulse pounding orchestral style heard when action starts, as well as slow menacing sounds happening when the action is at a pause.

Even with the vast improvement in story, aesthetic and additional modes, there are still some technical problems that most likely could have been fixed before release. One of the main problems that come to mind are graphical pop-ups such as enemies appearing, then disappearing in the blink of an eye. The inconsistent A.I. of teammates might have you obliterating the opposition one minute, then suddenly dying the next. And finally, the story asks more questions than provides answers. While we do find out who exactly Dom was looking for in the first Gears, we do not know anything about Adam Fenix, Marcus’ father. He is mentioned in both installments, but is nowhere to be found. And the Locust continues to remain a mystery.

Even with a few flaws, Gears of War 2 is a must buy game for those who own an Xbox 360. It has excellent visuals and sound, improved gameplay from its prequel, a great story and Horde, one of the most addicting modes that has ever graced a console.

Bottom Line: 9 out of 10