Marcus Rides Again (Single-Player Preview)

Published November 6, 2008

It's been too long since I plugged the last headshot into General RAAM in Gears of War® and heard the Locust Queen mock my victory. The wait for the sequel has proved well worth it though, as Epic's Gears of War 2 storms Xbox 360® with a sequel so stunning in execution and so vast in scope that it dwarfs even Cliff Bleszinki's already bold "bigger, better, more badass" assessment.

The whole of Sera is crumbling down.

Lightmass Aftermath
The Lightmass Bomb dropped at the end of the first game may have dealt the Locust Horde a critical blow and bought humanity some much-needed time, but it also fed the enemy's desperation. They have returned to the fight with greater power and ferocity, and worse yet, they've unearthed a way to sink entire cities, leaving standing humanity's last hope, the stronghold Jacinto.

Epic has shown that they only scratched the surface
the first time around. Get ready for the greatness.

In this dark hour, the Chairman has tossed aside all thoughts of defense. All that remains is for humanity to launch one massive, desperate assault on the Locust stronghold. It is their only hope.

War is Epic
Marcus, Dom, and company play as central a role as ever in this heroic conflict, but in Gears of War 2, the scope of the war is shown in all its vast glory and destruction. Where battles in the first game took place in closed off buildings, underground tunnels, and cordoned off streets, the set pieces here are almost impossibly vast.

Gears of War 2 will carry you along sprawling forested mountainsides in a giant drilling derrick with teeming throngs of the Locust Horde below. It will take you to caverns so enormous you can see no wall or ceiling above. You will see entire cities cave in around you, crashing down into the Locust hollows below. You're no longer caught up in skirmishes and forced to imagine the war effort at large. It's right there in front of you.

Refining Gears
If Gears of War set the standard for Xbox 360 shooters with its rare combination of eye-candy, slick control, and innovative mechanics, Gears of War 2 fine-tunes every feature in sight.

Damn Reavers!

Drama
The original Gears spun a rollicking good action story, but it left gamers curious and wanting for context. What set off the Locust Horde on Emergence Day? Who exactly are Marcus and Dom and what part did Adam Fenix play? In Gears of War 2, you get all these answers and more, along with rare moments where our heroes are stripped bare of their gruff, unfeeling personae, and are consumed by poignant grief.

Adding further context to the already well-executed cutscenes is the new collectible system. Where you collected COG tags in the first game, now you find reports, newspapers, diary entries, and artifacts in addition to the COG tags. Every one of these items tells a story, adding greater depth to the war and its effects.

New Toys
The Lancer's chainsaw bayonet is a landmark weapon in gaming, but the good folks at Epic have a few more gruesome tricks in their arsenal.

• Mortar: The new portable Mortar sends death raining down from above, shredding entire platoons of enemies. The longer you hold down the Right Trigger, the further the mortar flies, so it does require some precision firing.
• Burn 'em up: The Scorcher Flamethrower makes short work of any enemy foolish enough to creep within range. Those that fretted over waves of Wretches can rest easy if they're toting this bad boy.
• Boomshield: This hefty riot shield allows you to deflect nearly any onslaught while wielding a pistol. Plant the shield into the ground to create instant cover. This will free up your left hand so you can use whatever weapon you wish.
• Grenade tweaks: Even the grenades have been given due attention. The smoke bombs now work as flashbangs as well, stunning nearby enemies in addition to obscuring the area with a smokescreen. Meanwhile, the new Ink Grenades explode into a cloud of swiftly fatal toxic fumes. Also, any grenade can now be planted onto nearly any surface, creating an instant proximity mine.

I'd suggest a long-range approach for these guys.

Amped Encounters
While you'll still do plenty of battle with Grubs, Theron Guards, Boomers, and the like, Gears of War 2 unleashes larger, nastier Locusts with much greater frequency than the first game. Don't be surprised when what seems a standard battle is swarmed by flying Reavers, let alone thundering Maulers sporting giant flails and Boomshields, or even enormous Brumaks blasting onto the scene with their enormous, shoulder-mounted cannons.

Vehicle Variance
Where the original Gears of War sported just a single vehicles sequence, the sequel spices things up with several such sequences. Without giving too much away, you'll find yourself slip-sliding along icy mountaintops in a COG-issued Centaur tank, flying to safety on a Locust Reaver, and even taking a turn as a Brumak rider.

Each sequence breaks up the normal course of action, and each "vehicle" offers an experience very much its own.

Subtle Tweaks
Often it's the little changes that can add so much to a game, and this title is no exception.

It's going to get toasty real quick.

• Meatshields: No longer is a downed enemy just a nuisance you must finish off in order to move on to the next one. Now, they become opportunities for portable cover. Run up to a crawling enemy and press A to grab them, putting them to use as the very appropriately named meatshield.
• Executions: You can still run up to a downed enemy and curb stomp them into oblivion with the tap of the X button, but now you can send them off with greater gusto courtesy of the new executions. Tap Y or B when near an enemy to initiate an execution. Whether it's flipping them over, straddling them, and beating them silly with your bare hands, or turning your sniper rifle into a makeshift baseball bat and bashing their head into pulp, executions are gruesome good fun.
• Duel time: Gone are the days when two players would run at each other with their chainsaws revved only to wonder why one player won the battle, and the other didn't. Now, when two revved chainsaws come into contact, each player must mash the B button to overpower their opponent and complete the saw attack.

Gears of War was a landmark game for Xbox 360. It set the bar for what was possible in this current generation of gaming, but with Gears of War 2, Epic has shown that they only scratched the surface the first time around. Get ready for the greatness.

Article by Ryan Treit