Gears of War 2 (2008) Throwback Review

Introduction:

In my look back on the original Gears of War, I mentioned how it served as an interesting time capsule. It reminded me that there was a string of years where Xbox was the king of home console gaming. Gears of War in 2006, Halo 3 in 2007 and Gears of War 2 in 2008! Not to mention, third party games were coming to Xbox 360 much earlier than the PlayStation 3! Games like Bioshock and Oblivion came to the 360 a year prior to PS3. And in some extreme instances like the original Mass Effect, five years prior. Isn’t it kind of ironic how now we’re seeing the opposite with games like Black Myth Wukong and the Marvel vs Capcom Fighting Collection?

To focus specifically on Gears of War 2, I mentioned how I loved the gunplay, cover system and world of the original game. But the complete lack of storytelling and character dialogue left me feeling a little empty. The game felt like a blueprint for much bigger things. It reminded me of how the original Uncharted made me feel- wanting for more.

Gameplay:

The core concepts of bouncing between cover and the third person shooting feel just as good as the first outing. The game still feels a little heavy for my tastes, but I have to accept that it’s just a personal thing, and it serves the Gears of War series well enough to have a heft to the characters. I can get past that.

New additions include being able to enter a near death state, where Marcus will crawl on the ground begging his AI teammates to help him back up. And they usually do! Which means that sometimes you won’t always die when you think you will. Speaking of AI, it’s pretty obvious to me that the AI overall is much smarter, both on the COG and Locust side. I noticed many times that my AI partners were killing plenty of Locusts. Oftentimes in games with partners, I notice my teammates don’t usually kill enemies, they just weaken them. Probably to leave the player with the satisfaction of finishing them. But I think it’s pretty cool to have teammates that are genuinely useful. As for the Locust, roughly half the times I took my sniper out, they would start walking left and right, making them hard to headshot. Maybe that was just a coincidence, but it happened a lot to the point where I noticed.

There’s also chainsaw duels, where you and an enemy will both attempt to chainsaw each other at the same time and have to duke it out by mashing the B button. Another cool new addition is the “meatshield” ability. If you down a Locust right before you kill them, you can pick them up and use them as a shield. But to be honest, both of those additions seem much more fun in multiplayer (which I have not experienced).

Lastly, Gears of War 2 adds a lot of awesome new guns! Who can deny the fun of a flamethrower? Or the poisonous Ink Grenades? Or the strong rapid fire Gorgon Pistol? I loved experimenting with them all and eventually finding a set of guns I wanted to keep. Gears of War 2 is exactly what I want from a sequel: the same thing as last time, but with a few additions.

Presenation:

* spoilers from this point on *

I have a weakness for games that take me to locations with a strong aura. Places that make me stop playing the game for a second and go “wow…this is so beautiful”. Gears of War 2 gave me that feeling multiple times (although I’m not sure if “beautiful” is the right word).

There’s a point in the game where you have to go to New Hope Research Facility. It’s littered with giant glass tubes holding creepy looking experiments known as Sires, and thick wires attached everywhere. It’s a pretty intimidating atmosphere. Especially when things inevitably go wrong and you have to shoot a ton of Sires. I had this moment of playing the game at night in my dark living room. I was shooting my Lancer for dear life. Both in-game and in real life, the only light I was getting was from the bullets leaving my gun. I was fighting for dear life in this laboratory of nightmares. It was in that moment I thought to myself: I love the atmosphere of the Gears of War series.

There’s also the Nexus, which is the underground headquarters of the Locust. This place gave me borderline HR Geiger vibes. The walls and floors looked disgusting and borderline squishy. You can imagine the air being humid and uncomfortable. It’s a creepy place to say the least. The team at Epic did a fantastic job at making me feel like I was in a place close to Hell itself.

Story:

* more spoilers *

Before you hate me, I’m warning you.

Gears of War 2 is when I heard the story really picks up for the series. I was excited to get attached to these characters, because after Gears 1, the main four of Marcus, Dom, Baird and Cole, felt like war bros and not much more. This game did a better job of establishing Baird as a tinkerer, somebody who knows machines quite well. Cole is….well he’s still Cole! He makes me smile and laugh, and he had a fantastic scene at one point. But I still don’t know much about who he really is. Marcus is now confident as the leader of Delta Squad, but doesn’t have much in terms of character growth. Instead, we get a focus on Dom. Dom is looking for his wife Maria, whose name he has tattooed on his massive bicep.

Dom gets a lead on Maria’s whereabouts shortly after Delta enters the Nexus. I love this little cutscene where Dom and Marcus have their first big disagreement on screen. Marcus wants to head straight for the Nexus for the sake of their mission. Dom wants to take a detour to look for Maria. For a second, they’re about to go their seperate ways. But Dom alludes to Marcus’ imprisonment we saw in the first game. Many years ago, Marcus abandoned his mission to look for his father Adam Fenix. Dom mentions that, and Marcus, realizing he’s a hypocrite, decides to help his best friend.

There’s two moments in the series everybody says are heartbreaking. One of them is in this game. Of course, it’s when Dom finds Maria in a dilapidated state. It’s definitely a sad scene, but I felt like the game didn’t do enough of a job to make it really reflect on Dom and push his character forward. Dom doesn’t mention Maria for the rest of the game. Neither does Marcus, who saw what Dom did. The only reminder we get that these events ever happened is Dom holding a photograph of Maria at the very end.

I think it would’ve been really cool if in between all the gunfights, Dom talks to Marcus about how he’s feeling. Or tells him a story about them two as a couple. But instead it’s just “Locust, Locust, Lambent, Locust Queen, Kill!”

Maybe I just have the wrong hopes for a shooter like this. But when I hear fans of the series talk about it, they always mention the story and the multiplayer. The multiplayer I already know is fantastic from my years of playing Gears of War 3 online (I never played the story of 3), but what about the story? I’m waiting for that “I get it” moment. There’s really not much here. I mentioned it in my last review, so this will be the last time I mention it again; think of what Naughty Dog did with their characters in their third person shooter series. In Uncharted, the cast talk a lot in between all the shooting. It helped make Sully, Drake, Chloe, and Elena all become lovable characters. Gears 1 & 2 came out a year before the respective Uncharted games, so instead of copying them, I wish they had the foresight to do it first.

I read that the team brought in a comic book writer, Joshua Ortega, to help flesh out story. And no disrespect to him, but I honestly don’t see much a difference from the first game. It’s a little better, but not my any astronomical means.

Again, maybe my expectations are wrong. With the heft of the gameplay, I can accept that it works with what the game is trying to do. But with the emptiness of the characters, I feel like it clashes with what the game is trying to do- make me love these people.

Overall:

Gears of War 2 is exactly what I love in direct sequels. It takes already proven mechanics and adds just a little more to it. It’s like adding a slice of cheese to a plain burger. It’s only going to make a great thing even better, but you didn’t overdo it.

The story I think takes a step in the right direction. But for my tastes, it’s not quite there yet. But I have to acknowledge the improvement.

I liked Gears of War 2.

(In an effort to move away from traditional numerical scores, I will use the following metric: Hated, Felt Neutral, Liked, Loved, Can’t Stop Thinking About).