The second installment in Epic's dark and brutal sci-fi shooter justifies the incredible hype surrounding it, says Tom Hoggins.
With Gears of War 2 carrying the incredible weight of hype and expectation upon its impossibly large shoulders, it was always going to face a huge amount of scrutiny. Gamers and critics will pore over every inch of Epic Studios' well-oiled war machine, looking for the seams, seeing if the bows will break when given a hard enough prod.
Gears Of War 2
It's a phenomenon fairly unique to video games - hell hath no fury like a gamer scorned - so developers often succumb to the temptation to strengthen the foundations by laying on extra features in an attempt to confound expectations. More features, more characters, more, more, more. Inevitably, this can lead to the game collapsing under its own weight.
How Gears 2 avoids this problem is as subtle as a sledgehammer. Here is a game that pulls no punches - a brash, testosterone-fuelled, hyper-violent shooter that makes no apologies for what it is. Gears 2 is a sequel that remains true to its origins while being, in the words of Clifford Bleszinski, the lead designer, "bigger, better and more badass".
The Gears of War series has been a consistent deliverer of quality for Xbox, but which games are the best?
Gears of War is my favorite video game franchise, and the Locust is my all-time favorite faction.
My rank list:
1. Gears of War 2
2. Gears of War 3
3. Gears of War 1
4. Gears of War 4
5. Gears of War 5
6. Gears of War Judgment (No Locust in multiplayer was a disgrace)
2 is still my favorite but 5 is also up there (for me). Then I'd say 1, 3, 4 and Judgement. Tactics isnt the same type of game, so it seems odd to rank it among TPS when its a strategy game. So I make that one all its own. Pretty fun game too.
The first is and has always been the best one imo - the story, the levels, the set pieces, the soundtrack - as close to perfect as a campaign can get.
I’d say the series had been on a continual downhill slide until 5.
3
5
2
1
4
Judgement
I love the series as a whole, but 4 was pretty by the numbers, and Judgement was just ok.
I played them all since picking up a Series X about 7 months ago. Personally, I don't think time has been kind to the earlier games and they feel very slow and repetitive to play. Whilst the newer games may be prettier, they stick with the original gameplay mechanics too much in my view so as a whole series of titles, I think they are pretty average games.
Not to say they weren't fun and I have a lot of nostalgia for 1 and 2, I just think there are far better action games out there.
What's the best Gears of War game for players? Where to start? This guide should easily lend a hand.
Gears 1 and 2 will always be my favorite Gears titles. The scene where Dom find his wife and then has to shoot her was an epic scene.
My favorite Gears game list
1. Gears 2
2. Gears 3
3. Gears 1
4. Gears 4
5. Gears 5
6. Gears Judgement
Gears Of War is my favorite video game franchise. I can’t imagine how Gears 6 will look in UE5 after watching Hellblade 2 gameplay trailer
One of the reasons why i got the series x. Been fan since the first game.
Played them all recently on gamepass. Great games. But my favorites gotta be gears tactics. Don’t know why. I just had a blast with it lol
The Gears of War franchise's influence has remained to this day with cover systems becoming as ubiquitous as regenerating health. With a new console generation upon us, it's time to list the series from worst to best.
My ranking list
1 .Gears 2
2. Gears 3
3. Gears 1
4. Gears Judgement
5. Gears 4
6. Gears 5
1. Gears 2
2. Gears 3
3. Gears 5
4. Gears 1/UE
5. Gears 4
6. Gears Judgement
Close to my rankings but some differences. My rankings:
1. Gears 3
2. Gears 5
3. Gears 4
4. Judgement
5. Gears 2
6. Gears 1
People will hate on me putting Gears 2 so low but I always felt the graphics were too busy to the point of confusion and the combat/movement hadn't really improved over 1. Lot of cool ideas but execution wasn't the best as far as I'm concerned.
nice review, marcus chainsaw all the shooters around this holiday..
Metacritic 95% wow, it outscored all the shooters so far, except the xbox 360 version of Bioshock.
See guys, you can make a 300vs300 multiplayer, but it isn't the only thing that matters.
It's a game that doesn't outdo Resistance 2,we know we know
THE WAY 9s and and 9.5s and 4.5/5 are flying all over the place i am sure sonyfanboys wanna hang themselves
yo FBI, you really must not have a freakin life do you? you come to n4g and bad mouth anything xbox360/Microsoft related. well f*ck you and SONY, both of you have 1 thing in common... both of you TALK ALOT OF BULLSH&T AND CANT BACK IT UP. go sack on sony's balls you f**kin sackF*ggot!, your a loser and i hope your freakin SACKSTATION 3 gets stolen.
you know xbox is better quit freakin hating on it, you have no life, you don't go to college, you sit on your windows 98 pc drinking milk and cookies all day refreshing your internet explorer v.7.0 hoping to find another xbox article to sh*t on. well go sh*t on your SONY shrine you made in your bed room and leave use xbox people alone....LOSER!!!
wow FBI, your bubbles have just vanished! i wonder why...