Gears of War

Gears of War is a third-person shooter for the Xbox 360. The game centers on the soldiers of Delta Squad as they fight to save the human inhabitants of the planet Sera from a relentless subterranean enemy called The Locust. The player is the character Marcus Fenix, a former prisoner and war soldier. In co-op, the second player plays as Marcus' friend and fellow soldier Dominic Santiago, or "Dom". The two soldiers join Delta Squad and battle The Locust throughout the campaign.

Co-op in Gears of War allows two players to play through the game from start to finish. The game offers the ability to invite players on the user's friends list and have them join the player’s game to help them out. The game chooses each player's character depending on certain factors. The first player or multiplayer game host plays as Marcus while the second player plays as Dom. Co-op differs from the single-player game in some ways. On the parts of levels that offer multiple paths, the first player chooses their own path and that forces the other player onto the other path. Both players are separated and each have to deal with separate parts of the level. If either player is downed while on these split paths, both characters will begin from the last checkpoint. While outside these paths the players can revive each other.

The AI in this game I personally thought was excellent. The Locust and especially the Kryll scared the heck out of me when I turned to see them in my face. Or even the thrill of running from the Kryll due to the fact that they can instantly kill you. The Berserkers had awesome AI. I mean they turn at you and just keep charging until you're dead. In the train mission, I recommend co-op, because on the train, one person can distract the Berserker so you can focus on the switch and luring him over.

The Xbox Live in Gears of War is really not that good though. Ranked matches are extremely annoying because you have to wait for the whole round to end to respawn. The multiplayer maps are very repetitive. As in downloadable new mappacks compared to old maps.

Overall, Gears of War is an extremely good game. It is tons of fun to play. The Xbox Live online multiplayer is repetetive and can be very annoying at times. So, you could say I have mixed feelings about this game. The AI and campaign mode are excellent though. Basically, just go buy the game.

I give Gears of War : (4.4 out of 5)