The Innovation of Gears of War

So when my buddies and I got an Xbox 360 for our dorm we had to decide on what games to buy as well, and we cam to the obvious conclusion that the game Gears of War was priority number 1. The game looked amazing when advertised, and offered the option of online play from Microsoft's Xbox live community, as well as an in depth storyline with some very innovative features. We picked up the game, and have yet to put it down.

The Graphics are among the first features you'll notice when playing Gears of War. The lighting effects are stunning, and the environments are vast and detailed. When it rains water splats when it hits the ground, and runs off rooftops in streams of varying sizes. Also when you kill an enemy with a shotgun, they blow apart, or when you use the chainsaw you actually cut up an opponent. The amount of blood and gore used in the game is a little over the top, but adds to the fun of the game.

Now we look at, or rather hear what Gears of War has to offer. The sound effects will stun even the most seasoned gamer. You can tell how far away someone is by the sound of their weapon reloading, or the shells of ammo hitting the ground. You'll be able to hear someone sneaking up behind you because they are walking too fast, or breathing too hard. It is very easy to discern what direction battles are taking place at and how many people are fighting. Also the way that small noises are added to the game, rushing water, buzzing insects, breathing, the way your guns clank about when you run, all this adds to the overall feel of the game, immersing you in the experience like nothing else.

Controls in Gears of War are a bit hard to get used to, but work well with the style of the game. You will have to get used to using the right and left bumpers in order to reload your weapons quickly, and aiming with the left thumbstick and moving with the joystick to line up shots. The sniper rifle is a cumbersome weapon because of this control scheme, but once you get the hang of it you'll do fine. It will take you about 30 minuets of playtime to really get a good feel for the control scheme used in Gears of War.

The vast amount of innovation in Gears of War is something any long time gamer will greatly appreciate. Gears of War is not your typical shoot em' up game, in contrast it takes a fair bit of strategy in order to maneuver and complete the numerous levels. You will have to coordinate attacks with your teammates in order to take out hard to reach enemies, like huge gun turrets and enemy snipers. This amount of strategy in a corporative game is something this genera of games needed to see. Also taking cover and avoiding fire is a key aspect of the game. Your character will not be able to stand up to a hoard of enemies and just take damage, you have to hide, and then pop out of your cover and shoot. Again this innovation seems elementary, but has been lacking in other shooters, and adds so much realism to Gears of War.

The way you reload your weapons is even a new technique added in Gears of War. When you go to reload you guns a small bar will appear underneath your ammo. A slide will appear on this bar and if you hit the right bumper when the slide is in the correct position indicated in the bar then you will instantly reload your gun rather then having to wait in the heat of combat. However if you miss, your gun will jam and it will take longer to reload.

The weapons used in Gears of War are nothing new, with the exception of a couple of stand outs. For the most part you'll be using your standard shotgun, sniper rifle, machine gun, but there are two really great weapons that Gears of War have added. The Hammer of Dawn is a satellite relay gun that, if used outside will target an opponent and destroy them by blasting a beam of energy from an overhead satellite, but as cool as that is the chainsaw bayonet attachment for your machine gun is the games most fun weapon. The chainsaw bayonet comes standard on your machine gun and will cut any enemy to ribbons at close range using a melee attack. You also have the option of revving up the blade using the R1 trigger button for added carnage.

Online play is good, but could be better. Halo 2 has the best online matchmaking system I have ever seen and should have been applied to Gears of War, but the game is fun anyways. You have the option of playing a few different game types, like War Zone where its two teams of 4 pitted against each other in a variety of different environments. If you die, your out until the next round, but don't worry you'll be back before you know it. Also Assassination is an interesting game type where your mission is not to kill the entire enemy team, but rather you have a specific target. This adds a more strategic air to the game.

So you have a game with superb graphics, the most realistic sound ever heard out of a game, decent online play, and more innovations then you can shake a stick at, and a chainsaw bayonet for mowing down any foe, and you have everything you need for an amazing game. Gears of War is defiantly a must own for anyone with an Xbox 360, in fact I'd buy the system just to play the game!