Gears of War had a serious amount of hype to live up to. Did it deliver all that it promised? Did we get an immersive, mind blowing, shrapnel dodging and ass kicking experience? Absolutely! Let’s take a closer look at how one of the Xbox 360’s most eagerly anticipated titles delivered the goods.

The shooter genre is one that has captivated gamers since Doom first stole the limelight on the PC four score and seven years ago. Ever since developers have endeavored to enhance the genre, and whilst there have been some true gems across the consoles, there have been all too many lackluster titles flooding the market. Fortunately, the inspired crew from Microsoft Game Studios managed to put their collective creativity into delivering a fresh third-person perspective experience whilst not compromising on the essential supply of guns and ammo. We praise them for giving entertainment starved gamers worldwide a meaningful way to pass their Christmas vacation.

High resolution graphics that run at super smooth frame rates are a given, as expectations continue to increase with each quality title raising the bar another notch. So what is it about Gears of War that sets it apart from the rest? Even on a standard TV output it has beautifully rendered graphics, let alone the visual eye candy on a widescreen HD TV. It looks gorgeous, but that is no longer sufficient to keep us playing for hours. Although being the graphics driven consumers we are, without the highly polished polygons we might have skipped this title for something shinier, so it is nevertheless an important requirement but not a differentiator in my book.

The mystique of Gears of War that gets you hooked and keeps you coming back has to do with the atmosphere that carries you through the story. From the opening moments as you are sprung from jail until the final confrontation, you can’t help but being engaged and subsequently motivated to keep on playing. Is it the dialogue, lighting, music, shooting, running, dodging or rather the culmination of these aspects into a holistic experience that forms an engaging and darn right thrilling experience?

Pacing plays a vitally important part in controlling the atmosphere and is craftily employed throughout the game. It subtly flows seamlessly from a gritty fast paced shoot and run for cover frenzy to a sedate walk whist moving between the desolated city blocks. During these “quiet” periods you will feel the need for a respite to recover from the relentless onslaught you encounter during the battle encounters. Regardless of how much or how little onscreen action there is, there is always an underlying tension and general sense of uneasiness throughout the game. The subtle use of audio and visual stimuli provide sufficient subliminal hints at impending danger, ensuring you never completely drop your guard. In this respect Gears of War is almost an action thriller, whereby you are constantly expecting something bad to happen at any second.

Consoles usually get a bad rap for the “sluggish performance” of their controllers in shooters compared to the speed and precision achievable with a mouse in PC based shooters. Gaining sufficient fine motor skills to efficiently wield an anologue stick with precision during chaotic moments is one that only comes with practice. It is nevertheless achievable and probably needs the same level of practice and dedication it takes for one to be truly comfortable with using a mouse on the PC based shooter. Gears of War makes successful use of the Xbox 360 controller by making it intuitive and simple to use. Yes, you still need to master the art of controlling your players movement with one analogue stick whilst moving the targeting crosshair with the other analogue stick. You do, however, have the option not to specifically aim, which in some cases is handy when you don’t want to stick your head out to get shot off, but for the most part you will want to get used to the aiming mechanism.

The innovation comes in through the use of the trigger buttons on the controller. With the left trigger you engage aiming mode which exposes a portion of your body from cover and whilst depressed provides a crosshair which can be moved with the analogue stick. This increases your accuracy dramatically compared to the random fire option. The right trigger is used to fire the active weapon and just feels so natural you will use it instinctively. Combined, the two trigger buttons and analogue sticks give a simple and effective means to navigate the environment and effectively dispatch the baddies.

Another fundamental aspect that makes Gears of War a winner is the cover system. You can’t just go Rambo and expect to live for more than a couple of seconds. You will need to find cover during the fire fights to protect yourself. Cover comes in a variety of incarnations and is simply a button press away. You tap the A button and you will go careering off into the nearest cover. This is ultimately the coolest feature and an essential component to the success of the game. You find cover, then use the left trigger to peek from cover, right trigger to squeeze some rounds off and it is goodbye enemy. Without this feature Gears of War could have been just another pretty shooter, yet with it you are faced with a whole new dynamic which forces you to use the environment to protect yourself and flank the enemies to get an improved firing line.

Undoubtedly a masterfully crafted game worthy of a place in every gamers’ collection. It will draw you in, thrill you with varied indoor and outdoor scenarios and keep you on your toes. Wonderful to play alone and awesome to tackle with your favourite shooter buddy in co-operative mode.

Pros: Controller mapping just feels right; shoot the bad guys; decent yet non-intrusive story; varied missions; co-operative mode.
Cons: Nothing that I can think of.

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