Gears of War 2

[miffy495]

While I know that reaction to the first Gears was quite mixed on the Thumb, my Live account tells me I'm not the only one who's playing the sequel right now. That established, let's start the talking. I just completed the second chapter myself, having not had a whole lot of gaming time lately and taking advantage of a long weekend off school to really embrace the games that have been piling up. Holy crap, playing this game, I've got goosebumps. It's bloody incredible. It's still Gears, but it's so much more refined. The final chapter of Act 2 blew me away. Actually, all of Act 2 blew me away. It was crazy. And after that last chapter, I've finally seen a game show me what I was imagining in the Jabu Jabu's belly segment of Ocarina of Time. If you don't know what I mean, rent the game and find out. When I realized what was happening as that chapter started, my jaw dropped.

That said, the character interactions are pretty standard. Cole and Baird return, your squad is now the complete Delta Squad from Gears 1, plus one extra guy.

Any money on what happens to the rookie about 5 minutes later? Kind of interesting making him the brother of Carmine from the first game, but with 4 Carmine brothers, I'm starting to wonder if the series is planned to be a quadrilogy (Damn you Alien series for making that a word) just so they can off one of them each game.

At any rate, lots of fun despite the generic story, and the insanely cool setpieces make it a game worth playing. I may actually give the online a shot in this one, as I got the special edition and have a gold lancer to show off...

Edited November 12, 2008 by miffy495

[ThunderPeel2001]

Looks like I need this

[Ben]

I know it's pretty obvious/telegraphed stuff but you might want to spoiler tag some of the stuff in your second paragraph miffy just in case anyone cares.

Edited November 11, 2008 by Ben

[miffy495]

Sorry, I figured it was obvious enough that it wouldn't matter. I'll fix it. I did leave out a much juicier bit of story from the second act, as well as why the end was so damn cool. Oh well. Better safe than sorry.

[Roderick]

Ironically, Gears 2 got lost here in the whole end-of-year clusterfuck with Fable 2, LBP, Castlevania and so many others. But it's definitely something I'll be playing with three friends in Horde mode. Gears 1 was exciting, so this will probably tickle us too.

[miffy495]

In regards to the story, I can't help but laugh about truth in advertising when I see that 15 second spot they have where a guy sings "You already know the end." Still an amazing game, but man does that ever sum up the plot.

[twmac]

Gears of War 2 improved on everthing from the original.

I wasn't going to buy it and then I played it... Fuck, it was good.

[Scrobbs]

I drove a friend to Asda today, 'cos he wanted to buy it and was desperate. I watched him play on his 360 (he didn't want to try it on mine 'cos of saves), and was pretty meh. He kept banging on about the amazing graphics...well, I was watching the same screen, and yeh, they were nice. But...meh.

I did really enjoy the first game mark you.

Edited November 15, 2008 by Norfolk'n'Clue

[miffy495]

Having had the first night in a long time when I could get some quality game time in, I just sat down for 4-ish hours and finished my first playthrough of the game. Yeah, first. I'll be going back. It was really, really good. Also, the ability to select chapters after clearing them means that now I can go back and replay the most awesome sequences. (Read: 4/5 chapters of the last act, as well as a few choice chapters from earlier in the game.) The last act of the game was phenomenal. From the second that

you hijack a Reaver

up through the

rampage on a Brumak

and culminating with the fight against

the same Brumak, now giant, pumped full of immulsion, and lambent

I couldn't stop playing the damn game. So intense, so well executed. I only regret that I didn't figure out how to use the damn mortars until the last chance I had to use them. D'oh.

So as I said, I'll be replaying this game. Next time I need a brilliant (if mindless) action-movie experience, I know which disc I'm reaching for. I'm actually suddenly amazingly psyched for Gears 3 whenever they get around to it. After finishing Gears 1, I enjoyed it but didn't love it. Gears 2, I love. I want to see this storyline wrap up. Though I do get a bit of a vibe that they're going to pull a Halo on us and have you forge an alliance with the Locust against a greater enemy. (PS: This is purely speculation based off of a vibe I got from the game, and as such I don't think it warrants spoiler tags.) At least they did go above Halo 2 and actually give a real conclusion to the middle chapter. An incredibly satisfying one at that.

Again, so happy with this game. Damn. If you even remotely liked Gears 1, at least give it a rental.

[ThunderPeel2001]

Spore: Let down.

The Force Unleashed: Let down.

Fallout 3: Good initial reactions, but still lots of people saying it's overrated.

Mirror's Edge: Let down.

Fable II: Solid but not earth breaking.

Left 4 Dead: Same as above.

Gears of War 2: Fucking rockin!

Who could have guessed this is how it would turn out?

[toblix]

Mirror's Edge: Let down.

Fuck off!

[Ben]

Fuck off!

For once I actually agree with you.

It's depressing to see so many people (usually the same ones bemoaning a lack of something different) saying this. I think the basic idea of Keith Stuart's article/rant on the guardian gamesblog was right - people who claim to want innovation really want polish over adventurous design. Whether it's a concious want or not is another matter. Of course in an ideal world both would be great, but it's sad that when it comes down to one or the other, these people fall on the side of perfect execution.

Edited November 25, 2008 by Ben

[Roderick]

Really? It's sad that people want polish?

I understand the context of course, but you may be taking your point too far. Both originality and good execution are great boons, and there's nothing inherently wrong in choosing either one over the other.

In fact, in most games I see a lack of both, so let's not favour the one over the other just yet, until there really is that hypohetical situation where all games are exceedingly polished and fantastic to play, but completely unoriginal.

[Ben]

I said it's sad when people want polish over something different, with the caveat that people who ultimately use lack of polish as a reason for not enjoying a game are the same ones who constantly go on about wanting innovation and something different in games.

I clearly wasn't saying "it's sad to want polish. Full stop. End of story."

Jesus.

[Roderick]

You were saying exactly that in the last sentence of your previous post. Badly worded from your side maybe, and I understand the context like I said, but you are in fact saying that it's sad when people want polish over originality, which I dispute.

You make two points; I agree with the latter, but not the former. That's all it is =) No need for heated battle.

[Ben]

Two points? Err, no, I am making a single point, which is (as you have attempted to summarise):

"it's sad when people want polish over originality... when said people are the same ones who bemoan lack of originality."

[Roderick]

Well then, we are fuckin' agreeing.

I like me a little polish though. But I always enjoy the middle road of the failed masterpieces. Something like Morrowind, love it. But a well-polished Gears 2 is high on my list too.

[Cigol]

...but Mirrors Edge is polished?

The only negatives I can think of are the supposedly weak narrative, and its trial and error gameplay. On the former most games are guilty, and on the latter I find no real solution beyond the regular auto-saving they already implemented. What's actually wrong with the game to warrant the negativity though.

[miffy495]

For clarity's sake, the only reason I bought Gears 2 instead of Mirror's Edge was that it came out first and I still had the money for it at that point. Mirror's Edge I'm greatly looking forward to, but will have to be a post-Christmas purchase.

Still, as I believe I alluded to, I'm very happy with the way things turned out.

[ThunderPeel2001]

"it's sad when people want polish over originality... when said people are the same ones who bemoan lack of originality."

Erm... I've never said anything about lack of polish and the only complaints I've heard about Mirror's Edge are how generic it is. (Go read the Mirror's Edge thread.)

[twmac]

Just plowed through the majority of the campaign with a friend.

The game is epic, and the Horde mode is great. Apart from the early mission that felt like an on-rails shooter I have nothing negative to say about the game at all. Oh yeah, apart from the story line but then I've nver paid much attention to those.

[toblix]

It's this thread! Coming directly from Gears 1 (via a few hours of Fourza) I just played the first parts of Gears 2, and reading Miffy's glowing review makes me even more excited by it. A lot of changes were immediately obvious:

Better, smoother graphics. Gears 1 had lots of choppiness in cut-scenes, while Gears 2 looks better more smoothly. Technical improvements, I guess.

Movement feels a bit snappier – might be me imagining things again, but I definitely feel like less of a truck.

More interesting collectibles!

There's a sniper mode where you can zoom in and shoot off heads!

A seemingly greater attention to story. Sure, it's probably not going to be a fantastic story, but hopefully it'll be something to balance out the pacing and the hard-core broness of the first game.

[Sno]

There's a sniper mode where you can zoom in and shoot off heads!

The sniper rifle wasn't new to Gears 2, and it works the same as it did in 1.

Anyways, I think Gears 2 is not as good as Gears 1, mostly just for all the annoying vehicle sequences though.

[toblix]

The sniper rifle wasn't new to Gears 2, and it works the same as it did in 1.

What. Well, that figures, I guess. I always felt like the game didn't tell me everything properly. Don't tell me, the reloading thing was in Gears 1 as well?

[miffy495]

Yup. The whole thing.