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• Gears of War
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Over the top with Gears of War

Connecting you to the visceral thrills within Gears of War is tough without spoiling the surprises. But trust us; we’d rather surrender to the Locust Horde than ruin this special game for you! These few hundred words are purely to express how it feels defending Planet Sera as COG soldier Marcus Fenix and his kick-ass Delta Squad.

Let’s start with the sheer pace of this thing. Not even the guys watching us play could peel their eyes from the screen. Sure you can pause, but for over four solid hours we honestly couldn’t bear to do that! ‘Gears’ is tighter than a gnat’s ass. You’re delivered from one scene to the next often with mere seconds to catch your thoughts before another Locust hole opens up…!

Much as you’d love to, running and gunning is categorically out of the question. Cliffy B has warned so many times that “stop and pop” is the only way forward, and (shock) he’s right! Any concerns we had of such tactics diluting the action were incinerated from the prison break onwards. Blind-firing to buy time while closing in on targets only adds to the drama. As Delta Squad scurries between cover, lobbing Boomshots to drive confusion among the Locust ranks, it’s always bedlam… but always under control. Circling and jumping around the enemy using the biggest splash-damage gun you can find is not the answer here. Besides, these heavy-laden soldiers aren’t inclined to prancing around – in fact they won’t jump at all, but again this emerges as a Good Thing.

GOW is locked tight to its unique tactical combat system. Every move is driven from a simple control scheme, and we soon got used to pumping the A button to dash and dive through open space, or hug and hurdle objects used for cover. We also got to really admire the tactical impact of each weapon. The Assault Rifle/Chainsaw combo is indispensable for its medium range accuracy, rapid fire in short bursts when required, and of course the ultimate satisfaction of sneaking up close and noisily carving some Locust steaks. We enjoyed with some degree of insanity the shotgun’s deafening roar while blasting apart smaller, faster enemies that attack in groups. At the other end of the scale, the stupendous Hammer of Dawn had us yelling in victory as it fried towering Locust beasts with a satellite laser. At the time of writing we’d had the most fun popping Locust skulls with turret-mounted machine guns. Oh yes.

It’s absurd, but pretty much the only time you’ll appreciate Gears’ grand scale of visual splendour is when you’re not playing. While taking charge of the action you’re only aware of the crazy detail in your immediate surroundings, and the view down the barrel of your gun. But to sum up, comparison to a Hollywood blockbuster is not at all far fetched. We didn’t stop marvelling at Gears’ visuals for the entire session. Frankly, if you’re not passionately impressed by Gears of War you deserve the saw!