Gears of War 2

THE BAD:

• The story mode, like the first game, is quite short. That's one of the major disappointments of the game.
  
• If you play the game online, you will come across a lot of idiots. But that isn't Epic's fault, it was bound to happen. Every game has its online idiots, even more so popular games like Gears.

SUMMARY:
This game was a little different to most I've purchased on Xbox 360. I knew it would be really good after playing the first game because the first was excellent also. But I was still pretty impressed. I decided not to check out any reviews or anything of the game, just to be a little more impressed and excited when the game came out. It came as a good idea, as it worked.

GAMEPLAY
A lot can be said about the gameplay in Gears. You can really tell how much they worked on it in the time they had to release the game. Their work really paid off as well as the game is absolutely excellent. You can notice within minutes of playing the game that the graphics have taken a step in the right direction from number one. Whether it's the characters in the game, the guns, the scenery, the story mode or whatever, you will notice what has improved right away. One major improvement for me is the new idea of being able to shoot and destroy the environment in the game - this is something they really worked hard on, and it has turned out so good. You would have noticed with the first wall, if an enemy was behind cover, you wouldn't have much of an opportunity to shoot him. But with number 2, you can pretty much destroy the wall he is covered behind.

The gameplay itself is really enjoyable and something I couldn't really pick a flaw on. As I've said already, they really have worked hard and you can see it straight away. The story mode is a continuation of the first game obviously, and normally second games of a sequel tend to disappoint, but this certainly impressed me for one.

GRAPHICS
The graphics are really phenomenal on the game and have hugely improved. Shooting the environment - as I mentioned above - is something that will impress you. Even when you shoot the water, whether it be online or in the story mode, you will notice how the bullets hit the water. The frag grenades in the first game kind of just exploded with a noise, without damaging the scenery, but in this you will notice it will destroy walls around where you have thrown it. When you look at Marcus's face from this and the first game, you'll see the difference. My favourite edited graphic from number 1 is definitely Cole. He just looks a lot different from the first in my opinion. A lot more bulky and muscly. In the first one, he kind of looked pretty fat. The Reaver enemy characters have also improved a lot, graphically. In the first game, you saw them towards the end but they appeared a lot more in this one and look a lot more realistic than the first. The very same could be said about the Brumaks too. You will fight one in the first game, but will come across more Brumak scenes in this and will be more impressed. What really impressed me the most is the fact that these enemy characters are fictional. They do a really excellent job on designing the characters. Something else that is really worth mentioning is the lighting on the game. There are scenes at the beginning where you can look out a window, and you will notice the shine on your character's face or body and it's just superb.

PLOT
Basically the game is a continuation from the first game. Something that never really showed up in the first game was Dom's search for his wife, and it came as a bit of a surprise to me at how emotional he has become from the first series. I'm sure she was probably mentioned in the first once or twice, but you'll find him always speaking about her in this game. His emotions make him a tougher characters, but also show you that he has a caring and sensitive side. So your search in this game is a search for the locust queen, but also a search for Dom's wife. Cole and Baird won't show up as early as the first game, but they will appear at some point and kick ass - don't worry!

ONLINE
Ah online mode. The online is something you will always enjoy on the game, especially if you have some friends who enjoy Gears of War - which I'm sure you will. There are some new game modes from the first and of course, the original ones as well. Something that has been added onto the game is the Horde mode. Horde is basically up to four players (you and three of your online friends could participate) and you go through many waves of defeating locusts. You can choose your difficulty level from the beginning and as each wave continues as you progress, you will face tougher and more enemies. Basically you have to survive - if you die, you're out until all of your partners die or until they last all 50 waves. If all of your team have been defeated, game over! Although you can continue again from the last wave you were defeated at. What I really like is the fact you can use the online maps as your Horde maps. So you will automatically be use to them at the beginning.

Another new game mode I enjoy is Wingman. It's pretty much like a team deathmatch, only you only have 1 partner. And you are against 5 other teams (6 in total, including your own). It's really good if you and your friend would like to give yourselves a challenge and play against other people with the same ambitions. The idea of the game is to rack up the most points from the 6 teams to be the victors. You receive one point for each kill you get. It's a really nice game mode and a great idea. Probably should have been added in number one, but I'm happy enough to know it's in the second one anyway. As I mentioned in the bad section, you will come across a few idiots, but that's only minor to be honest. After all - you don't need to have your mic on! And you can always mute these people if they do become more annoying. Online is something you will enjoy most about the game I'd imagine. If you have completed the story mode and would like a challenge without repetition, you can just play online and enjoy every minute of it. Gears of War is known for its online play, and it's just extremely enjoyable and fun.

TECH SUPPORT
I can't really say much about this. I've never really had technical problems with this, or any game in my life to be honest. No problem that would leave me phoning people for help. I don't think you will need much help in the game, and if you do you can always just access it on the internet. I don't think you'd need much more help than I have - which is pretty much none.

EASTER EGGS
There aren't that many Easter eggs that I know of on the game, but there are two that I have seen on Youtube, and it's probably best that you see the videos, rather than me explaining it and you becoming confused: