It's definitely a lot better than 2. It has a more epic and polished feel to it.
The article lays it out.
All those features you listed - ODST has.
MW2 needed campaign co-op and more than 2 players. ODST had campaign and a Firefight.
Uncharted 2's co-op was fun, but severely lacking in depth.
It really came down to Borderlands, Dawn of War 2 and ODST. It was a tough call, but the staff voted.
Not the character, just the trailer.
http://marketplace.xbox.com...
Personally I like that it keeps the same aspect ratio despite the lesser screen realstate.
I've played the Horde mode and there are more than just 5 enemies at once. In fact, the biggest improvement to Gears 2 is the fact that there are large scale battles. There are scenarios where there are 25-50 enemies at a time in Gear 2.
One of my favorite articles to date.
I'm really not liking this trend.
I think Microsoft has learned from the error in their ways. It not only bit them in the butt financially with the RROD fiasco, but it hurt them in the consumer's eyes.
Really, we still don't know what kind of GAME is there in LBP. Just a concept.
Tons of info here. Good read!