Gears of War 2

Hype. There was a lot of it for Gears of War. It paid off by being one of the best selling games for the 360, and at points was the most played game on Xbox Live. There was a lot of hype for Gears 2. Make an educated guess what the game is like.

Where to start. What I love most about 'Gears Double' is that it is, as IGN put, 'definitely not Gears 1.5'. Everything has been improved or at least revised: from the new huge selection of executions (some being absolutely gut-wrenching), to the new enemies to the armoury of weapons, unlike its predecessor's selection of about 8. The combat is now truly intense, as cover explodes around you, and you blindfire ruthlessly until Locust blood covers the opposite wall, you'll realise what an incredible battle simulation EPIC have made. The colour pallette has improved, and although the rusty look of the first game was effective, the new look makes it seem a lot more real. The campaign is darker (somehow), but has what the first installment's campaign lacked: storyline and emotion. Dom's icky situation with his missing wive has both deteriorated and has become a large element of the game, but is noticeably Hollywood, so expect cheesy lines and all the rest. The storyline has a lot more depth, and although it is along the same lines (destroy the Locust all over again) it's much more army-based rather than just one squad embarking on a mission which results in the near extinction of the Locust horde - let's just face it, it was a rediculous idea, fun as it was.

The multiplayer. You remember what I said about it last time; well made, but shoddily kept. There was lag, bad lag, and lots of it. Gears 2 started off exactly the same, and I almost gave up hope. But a couple of months later, a title update came to the rescue and almost all of the bullet lag has been eliminated. It has huge variation, replayability and a big stack of achievements to be gained, making what I think is one of the best online games around. If you're an only-online kinda player, this is undoubtedly for you.

Bad points are getting scarce with my later reviews, I seem to be buying pretty good games. I would say that anything that could be labelled as 'bad' is nothing more than opinion; technically Gears of War 2 is a masterpiece, but some may not like the larger scale, or the huge variety of troop types. Seeing as the blood and gore has somehow stepped up, if you're squeamish stay right away, but that's really it.

9/10 sees it being one of the great shooters of this generatio, but just falling short of perfection. Brilliantly made and a heck of a lot of fun. Epic shows a strength many developers don't have: learning from previous mistakes and understanding what appeals to players and what doesn't.

Fallout 3

As a home-coming review, this will be long, as there is a LOT to cover. And I'm back after a long break, too long I think. I've been away as a result of a serious addiction I'm afraid. What's the drug? This very game no less.

I picked up Fallout 3 after hearing very good things from friends, and endless 9/10 ratings from loads of sites. My experience of RPGs is very low indeed so it was a new thing for me, but damn am I glad I did. Fallout 3 is very much different from its predecessors; instead of taking the Diablo-like camera angles and the much darker world, it goes to the first/third person style and the gameplay having friggin' loads of weapons and complex combat, fitting nicely into the RPG/Shooter genre. Its main feature is definitely addictiveness, I've had too many endless days of straight Fallout, but no regrets, it has to be among the best games of 2008, and can please many different types of players.

First off, combat/blood/guy stuff. There are about 60 weapons altogether, each being pretty much completely different and exciting in different ways (for example the Fat Man which fires mini nuclear bombs, or the seven different custom made weapons which you scavenge junk for). As for aiming, you use a system called V.A.T.S, which pauses time and lets you choose a body part to aim for, and shows your likelihood of hitting. After this, it will show the shot in cinematic beauty, and if you got a finisher on them will show flying limbs a many, blood spurting all over the walls. Not really a game for kids. The stuff you kill will range from savage mutated monsters like overgrown scorpions and ants, to the totalitarian government army, the Enclave. This keep things exciting the whole way through and I don't remember once feeling resentful to go into combat.

The storyline is long, and including the side quests can rack you up a good 40-50 hours gameplay, allowing you full exploration of a massive wasteland, which despite it being destroyed by man's inhumanity to man, has a certain tranquility to it which I have not before seen in a free-roaming game. The storyline has many twists and turns, but the basics are: You begin the game being born and raised in an underground vault within a community of those in the same position. The vault keeps them safe from the fallout of the war which ended in just a couple of minutes of worldwide nuclear devastation. The supposed belief is that the vault is shut and stays shut to prevent any danger coming in, but one day your dad disappears and one of your older friends is murdered. You must journey out of the vault to find your dad and investigate what made him leave, and discover the secrets of the past. I'm sure many Fallout players will agree with me when I say the moment you leave the vault for the first time, the sun blinding your eyes to reveal an obliterated village before a giant barren wasteland is one of the most awe-inspiring pieces of gaming...ever. The story will not bore you, it is emotive yet recognisable, and with dad being voice acted by Liam Neeson, can you really go wrong?

Bad things about Fallout 3? Erm... wow... let me think... I suppose if you don't like horror and zombies and stuff, some bits like the pitch black metro tunnels may not appeal. And generally if you're not into RPGs and think that 'quests' and the levelling system is too nerdy then well you probably don't want to get it. But technically it's well made, I've yet to find any faults with the enviroment and characters, as both are magically believable. The complaint I hear a lot, and one that I recognise, is character movement, as the running animation is shocking, and as it allows you to play in first or third person, you get the choice to make your character look like a twat any time you like. Brilliant! Also, I've experienced 3 crashes in the two weeks I've played, bloody irritating, but autosaves are regular so don't worry about losing too much stuff.

If you thought the main storyline was too short and ended rather abruptly (I don't really disagree with you, it was rather sudden), I have reason to believe an expansion is on the way, which I greatly look forward to. You guessed it, I'm putting this on the *choir music* LIST OF BEST GAMES EVER. 10/10 I give it, outstandingly good, the story, the amazing bullet cinematics, the harshness of the creatures and the gore, the voice acting, everything is enticing as hell. Animations in general suck, but that's the only thing I can really point out as bad, it is more likely you'll be too blown away by the sheer depth and ironic beauty to notice. I recommend in general to most, it is one of the best games of this generation that I have seen, and is replayable to the point where I have spent almost 200 hours playing it.