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.