Sunday 13 January, 2008

SUMMARY
Gears of war is a third person shooter thats focuses less on running and gunning and more on finding cover and outflanking the enemy. In the game you control a former solider named Fenix who escapes from prison in order to kill the Locust who plague Earth.

GAME PLAY
Last night my friend and I rented Gears of War and played all through the night. It was one of the scariest video games experiences I have ever had. Not expecting much, we at first were confused with the controls and game play. The controls seemed to be clunky and much different than the Halo control configuration I am familiar with. Once we learned how to effectively command our characters the game transformed into a beautifully designed adrenaline pumping shooter.

Let me first note that I experienced this game with my best friend on a big screen TV with surround sound with all the lights down in the middle of the night. The reason the game was so frighting yet exciting was because of the interactions between you and the AI, the beautiful graphics, and of course, the weaponry.

The game mechanics for Gears of War forces you to find cover immediately or be killed. This forces you to get up close and personal with you new best friend, a slab of concrete. Forced behind cover, you must decide when to pop up to start shooting the enemy at the risk of being shot at. This game play was very intense as I felt like I was risking my characters life every time I engaged an enemy. The AI responded tactically to our fire, taking cover and always trying to outflank us. This was a new type of shooting game that focuses more on strategy than other shooters, forcing my friend and I to make strategies of our own and creating very exciting play.

The graphics of this game were gorgeous. Every character in the game was completely idealized, extremely buff and masculine. The setting was very dark and dreary keeping me on edgy as I walked by hanging corpses. Even the music drew me into the game play because the sharp but melancholy sounds always kept me guessing where enemies were. The graphics were so good that when my girlfriend came back home from her friends she asked "What movie are you guys watching?" My friend and I just laughed. The graphics of Gears of War are very well done and make you feel like you are in a movie.

In Gears of War there is nothing more satisfying than cutting a Locust in half with a chainsaw. Gears of War has the best use of a chainsaw weapon than any other games I have played. The chainsaw is mounted on a machine gun and is the "melee weapon" for that particular weapon. The surprising nature of the game where grotesque Locust are constantly jumping out at you really enables to use this type of weapon like never before. Also, the cut screen when using the chainsaw on an enemy which splatters blood over your screen and vibrates the controller never gets old. This is just one example of the new types of weaponry in Gears War that makes the game very dynamic.

Last nights experience with Gears of War was very frightening but also one of the most memorable gaming moments in my life. The interaction and game play was very new and exciting while the graphics and sound kept me engaged. The weaponry and boss fights kept me pumped, enabling me to play all night. My experience may be different than others because I played under ideal conditions, however, I would recommend this game to all my friends noting only that it should be played at night.

Very very good entry! It's okay that is was a little late, since everything's just starting up and we're all still trying to work the classes out. This is a great entry, exactly what we're looking for! Great job!
-Chelsea C.(grader)