Articles
By Mr Shoosh
Published: Mar. 18, 2007 2:51 PM
There's been more hype surrounding GOW than a pre rendered PS3 video so the immediate question when reviewing this game is does it deliver? The answer? Who cares!! What I do know is that I've just spent the past few days addicted to a fresh, complete package of a game that sets new standards in numerous areas.
No game is perfect and pushing into the FPS domain with this much hype is always going to invoke criticism - but GOW does so many things so well, it deserves respect. The SP campaign is arguably the best to grace the 360, on COOP there's no debate; It's simply a masterpiece. The MP may not blow everyone's hair back but is sure to please the majority of gamers (including this one). Graphics have set an unprecedented standard for future next gen titles revving the Unreal 3 Engine well into the red and sound is simply superb.
The backdrop for Gears of War is a post apocalyptic dark world (Sera) with an impending subterranean threat called the Locust Horde. You play as Marcus Fenix, a condemned former war hero broken out of prison and immediately bought back as a 'Gear' (soldier). The story is engaging without overpowering the game itself and has you wanting to know what happens next. The main characters and their dialogue are entertaining and often humorous with lines that will no doubt infiltrate gaming vocabulary.
The control scheme introduced by Epic adds a new dimension to First Person Shooters by turning cover based shooting into an art form. In the case of GOW, you do judge a game by its ‘cover’. The mechanics of the whole cover system are slightly cumbersome at first (e.g. you may accidentally cover when wanting to run) though soon become fluent and certainly appreciated. The "A" button plays a big part as it controls covering, running and diving. When in cover, you can tilt your analogue stick to bring up onscreen options such as climbing over an object (e.g. slab of concrete), move forward, dive or dive to another cover position. This may sound (and initially play) a little messy, but imagine the ability to quickly and easily switch from one side of a doorway to another, improving your site of an enemy. This is by no means a run and gun game and once mastered, the concept and implementation of covering is a pure joy. Blind firing adds further depth to covering by safely allowing you to shoot less accurately, effectively dissuading your enemies from charging you.
The B button engages a melee attack with different effect based on your selected weapon. Left shoulder button allows you to view objectives and issue squad commands (cease fire, attack and regroup). Squad commands don't play a large role in GOW, although you may find yourself asking your often eager AI team-mates to regroup every so often. There's no jump button but speak to anyone who's played the game and chances are it won't come up in conversation. "Y" highlights points of interests and plays a subtle role in helping you avoid getting lost. Points of interests may be a loose (and consequently 'shootable') slab of concrete above an enemy sniper's head, an emergence hole or simply your team-mates.
Another ingenious feature of the control system is the Active Reload. When you reload, a bar appears where you can time your weapon to reload much faster and if timed to perfection, your next round will inflict greater damage. Mistiming your reload will result in a jammed weapon - the last thing you want in the heat of battle. The absence of a crosshair when you’re not scoping also adds another little challenge to the game and encourages you to take cover more often.
As with most aspects of GOW, the weapons on offer are both innovative and creative. My only criticism here is that there could have been more. The rifles are a nicely rounded and effective weapon with plenty of rounds that rip beautifully through Locust flesh. The human rifle is a modern take on a bayonet with a chainsaw in place of a blade. Naturally. 
There's the obligatory shotgun and pistols, both effective over short range. An accurate shot from the long shot (sniper) will literally send the newly-dead's head flying... and then rolling. Grenades are particularly crafty as they can be melee’d into your target for a ‘plasmanade’ effect.
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