Other Modes:

Gears of War 2 has all the multiplayer options of the first game, as well as a few new ones. In addition, if you have a brand new copy of the game, you’ll find a code to download updated versions of some Gears 1 MP maps. This is an interesting way to curb used game sales. Considering that the game has sold about 4 million copies so far, maybe the ploy worked.

I’ll start by talking about the best new mode: Horde. This is essentially Invasion from Unreal Tournament 2003 / 2004, redone for Gears of War. Pick a map, and you and  up to 4 other people can fight wave after wave of increasingly difficult enemies. There are 50 waves, and believe me, getting through them will take some serious teamwork. A major criticism of this mode is that it all takes place on a single map. It would have been nice to choose a map list that rotated very 5 rounds, for example.

In addition to standard team deathmatch variants, there is a fun new mode called Wingman. It’s essentially team deathmatch, but each team is only two players. You both use the same player model so it’s easy to keep track of your buddy. Due to the fact that you can be downed if you take enough damage and will need your buddy to revive you, it behooves you to stick together.

Annex is a King of the Hill variant involving random zones that appear throughout the map, one at a time. Teams earn points by holding a zone. Strategy is important here, since you have to decide whether you will attempt to take a zone that is about to expire, or head to a different area of the map in hopes that the new zone will appear near you.

Finally, Submission (also known as Meatflag) is a capture the flag variant involving a live flag. The “meatflag” is actually a Stranded (one of the citizens in the game) holding a shotgun. He will defend himself, so you have to down him and then use him as a meatshield while you head to the goal.

For those of you who might be hesitant to play online (and I wouldn’t blame you: this game is rife with cheaters and glitchers), the excellent news is that there is full bot support. You can even, apparently, have a guest play split-screen with you over live, as long as you use what they call a private lobby. I did not test this, but hope to do so soon.

Suggestions for Improvement:

There are a few ways I think this game could have been even better. I’d like to be able to give Dom (or whomever happens to be your buddy at the moment; you change partners in a few places) a few simple instructions, like “stay near me”, or “don’t run off and get yourself killed while I’m trying to snipe”. I’d also like the option to split the screen vertically. To me, the vertical split always makes me feel like I have more viewing area. I can appreciate that this wouldn’t be the case on a standard television, but who has one of those? While I’m at it, 4-player campaign, at least over Live. And why the hell not? Half the time you are running around with 3 other characters anyway. While I’m writing out a wish list, how about a level editor / sharing system that works on the 360? Far Cry 2 has shown that it’s quite possible.

Final Thoughts:

I enjoyed this game quite a bit. There are of course some frustrating moments, and I wish that the “diversions” were more fun, but when it comes down to it, combat in this game is just awesome. I expect to play quite a bit more of this one, and I look forward to the inevitable third title in the series.

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Tags: gears of war 2, review

This entry was posted on Sunday, January 18th, 2009 at 8:30 pm and is filed under Reviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.