One thing is certain, however: as soon as you're chucked into the clunking marine boots of anti-hero Marcus Fenix and told to save Sera from the Locust race, it's pretty plain that Gears of War is at least going to be the best-looking title you'll encounter in 2006. Much has been made of the title's technical virtuosity, and it doesn't disappoint - quite simply, the sights you'll see in Gears are unprecedented. The game's lavish cut-scenes (all depicted using the game's extravagant real-time graphics) are sandwiched by virtual worlds that drip with atmosphere, sensational level design (the graceful architecture of Sera is a highlight), and some remarkable lighting effects. The marines are modelled superbly, right down to every crease in their craggy necks, while some of the weather effects raise the proverbial bar to jaw-dropping levels. Let's just say we were close to breaking out the umbrellas at the start of Act Three.
Infact, without wishing to create another pointless debate, we've yet to see a PlayStation 3 game in motion that can match what Gears offers, and you'll find yourself stopping from time to time, just to take it all in. It's a striking advert for the Xbox 360 alright, and Microsoft must be hugging itself with glee at how things have turned out. If we had to level one complaint at how it all looks (and hell, we're being picky here), we'd suggest that the art design is a little too steeped in sci-fi cliché. After you've seen one hulking, armour-laden marine, you've generally seen them all. This grey, futuristic dystopia has also had starring roles in games before; it's just never been quite as beautiful.
Tough as nails and equipped with grenade launchers, Boomers are swines to take down.
Such ravishing visuals only go so far, however. Thus, it's a pleasure to report that Gears' soundtrack complements the eye-candy admirably. It also makes for one of the most atmospheric next-gen games yet, with the faraway battle cries of approaching Locust and the shrieking of the Kryll (an airborne enemy that attacks in flocks and only when you're in the dark) genuinely spine-tingling. Playing in co-op, it becomes easy to make the other player jolt with surprise, simply by revving up your chainsaw out of the blue. That alone is a testament to how well the game keeps you on the edge of your seat.
The palpable sense of tension can also be attributed to the combat. There's a certain rhythm to the gun battles in Gears of War, a pattern that largely consists of shooting, ducking, recovering health, and repeating the process. Levels are deliberately littered with features that can provide cover (pressing A lets you hug any such barrier), and using such aids effectively is as much a key to success in Gears of War as it was in Ghost Recon: Advanced Warfighter. Charging your enemy, even on the easiest of the three difficulty settings, is foolhardy in the extreme. After all, the Locust will find cover themselves and/or confidently flank you, thanks to some reasonably impressive AI routines (that said, the artificial intelligence would go wonky on rare occasions - once or twice during the game, we found ourselves face to face with an enemy, only for them not to react as we emptied a magazine into their head).
Although the pattern of "shoot, duck, recover" may sound like the perfect recipe for monotony, some novel level design, absolutely rock-solid camerawork, sharp enemy AI and rumbustious combat means that almost every skirmish feels different enough to warrant inclusion. It's only in the first of the game's five stages - incidentally, the weakest - that repetition really kicks in. You're also blessed with an impressive assortment of rolling and ducking manouevres, to help you weave to and from different points of cover, and all of these are intuitive to use within a hour of starting the game. Our favourite remains the "roadie run", a quick sprint (performed by holding A) that lets you rapidly cross exposed ground, and which is accompanied by an excellent shaking camera effect. Very useful, and it looks the part.
Your enemies aren't afraid to charge your way from time to time, and when you do get in up close, you'll discover another highly enjoyable trick: the chainsaw melée. By briefly holding B during close-quarters combat, you can get Marcus to flip his gun and slice his enemy clean down the middle. It's horrendously gory, but also viciously satisfying, and it's likely you'll laugh out loud (if only out of shock) the first time you pull it off. As finishing moves go, it's pretty emphatic. The rest of the weapons are a mixed bag. There's a fairly humdrum collection of grenades, handguns and shotguns, though the Hammer of Dawn (a targeting system that employs satellites positioned in space) and the Torque Bow will bring a smile to the face of even the most hardened FPS veteran.
As a marine, you're given access to a fairly flexible range of manouevres.
Although so far we've held back on mentioning anything in the game that vexed us, this isn't quite the perfect package. The brevity of the game (despite Mark Rein's claims, we completed Gears just inside 11 hours on medium difficulty) is one minor annoyance, though an excellent co-op mode arguably saves the day in that respect, not to mention the fact that you'll probably want to play through it again. And although we know you lot all hate poor old EA, the Electronic Arts executive who dared to criticise Gears for a lack of innovation isn't without a point - Epic's shooter is hardly representative of the kind of fresh, dynamic gameplay that next-generation hardware has the potential to deliver. Not that it ever pretended to be about innovation, but still...
It's also pretty light on both story and characterisation, with the game's foremost characters little more than square-jawed meatheads with single-digit IQs. Having said that, the dialogue is at least mindful of this, and some of the banter exchanged between the four marines is both entertaining and well-acted. Their repartee also serves a more important purpose, by powerfully reinforcing the sense of camaraderie and teamwork that Epic has clearly tried to imbue in players, the feeling that you're not quite alone in sorting out the mess you're confronted with. The constant chatter livens things up in the moments that the game does begin to drag.
Happily though, such moments are as rare as hen's teeth in Gears of War. What Epic has created here is a gorgeous, Hollywood blockbuster of a game, a title packed with soaring production values and a style of combat that manages to be highly engaging, despite its ultimately repetitive nature. True, it's some way from being original, and it features a cast and a setting that's almost as old as the science-fiction genre itself. But to whimper about such things as innovation would be rather missing the point; that for your hundred dollars or fifty quid, you're buying in to (at least) ten to twelve solid hours of supremely entertaining gaming. This is a formidable title - miss it at your peril.
Loading...
