Have you been playing Gears of War 2?

Written by Jim Squires

Tuesday, 25 November 2008 05:38

Dan and I have spent a good chunk of time over the past few weeks knee deep in the guts of our COG comrades, and we've been loving every minute of it. While the campaign mode seems to be a little light and hokey in the story department, it provides us a snapshot of a different tide in the war. The tone and style of the story gives a fresh coat of paint to a campaign that has remained essentially unchanged. But anyone who's fired up Gears 2 knows that the game isn't about the campaign mode, co-op or not. There's only one word on everybody's lips when they're talking about Gears 2, and that word is HORDE.

Before I'd played it, someone attempted to describe Horde to me as a tower defense game where you and your friends are the towers. It may not capture exactly what Horde is, but it's not that far off either. Horde sees you in a group of up to five friends tackling wave after wave of increasingly difficult bad guys. Things start off pretty manageable, but by the time you reach wave 17 or so it'll be an all out clusterfuck of people screaming into headsets for rez's and cover on ammo runs. With 50 waves in all be prepared to spend a block of five or so hours with your friends to clear out the Locust invasion. Completing all 50 waves again on a different map provides a totally new experience. They could have shipped Horde on a disc by itself and it would've been well worth the $59.99 price of admission.

While the whole world is raving about the co-op sensation that is Left 4 Dead (and rightfully so), I still feel that the best co-op experience I've had all year was right here in Gears 2.

What did you think of Gears of War 2?

Comments (4) Add Comment

...
written by Dan Zuccarelli, November 25, 2008

It was a total blast in co-op... so much so that Xerxes and I played through just about the entire game in one sitting! It's leaps and bounds better then playing the game solo (as I did the first Gears) and while the dialogue is certainly hokey I actually enjoyed the little story they told here, it's a fun world.

Oh, and Horde mode is awesome plain and simple.

...
written by Xerxes3rd, November 25, 2008

I felt that the story was quite thin, but it was enough to move you through the game. The whole "side story" of Dom and his wife was over-the-top, but then again, so is almost everything else. =) Co-op is always a blast, and I loved playing Horde mode.

If I had to choose between L4D and Gears 2 co-cop/Horde mode, I don't know if I could.

...
written by dgenerate, November 25, 2008

I don't know why people rag on the story of Gears of War. It's like complaining that Die Hard 4 didn't move you emotionally.

I understand that they TRIED to add some story, and that's great, but a shitty story doesn't really detract from this game, particularly when the voice acting is better than 90% of games out there.

Also, best line ever: "More like 10 shitloads"

Horde mode is crazy awesome! I've been playing pretty much daily with the guys from work. Never have we had so many people eager to play together! It took us a few nights but we hit wave 50 on Normal. Pro Tip: Hail has a great bridge to hunker down on, overlooking the street.

I havent played too much of Left 4 Dead yet, but I have to say I'm more interested in the tech behind it than actually playing it. I will always have a boner for Valve, though.

...
written by Xerxes3rd, November 25, 2008

@dgenerate: I honestly don't have a problem with the story; the only issue I have is that Epic claimed their story was so incredibly amazing and engaging, etc. etc. Personally, I think the story was effective and complimented the game well.

My favorite line was "THEY'RE SINKING THE CITY WITH A GIANT WORM"... not even Marcus Fenix can make that line sound cool or intense. =)