Gears of War 2

Gears of War (GoW) was perhaps the Xbox360’s very first system seller. Carved using Epic’s own Unreal 3 engine, GoW was a visual masterpiece that was as visceral as it was beautiful. It told the story of a human civilization on the brink of extinction fighting for survival against the savage Locust Horde, a race of cruel (and not to mention butt-ugly) creatures that seemed to have emerged from the depths of hell itself. Standing between them and defenseless humans was a bunch of valiant, steroid-ridden soldiers called the Delta Squad spearheaded by Marcus Fenix, the game’s fearless protagonist.

By the end of the first game the Delta Squad held off the Locust invasion (or at least they thought they did) by detonating a Light Mass bomb deep inside their territory. Little did the unsung heroes know that this was nothing but a mere dent in the Locusts' operations. Soon the Locusts gathered forces and hit back harder than ever in a bid to destroy Jacinto, the last safe place humans can call their home. Your mission in Gears of War 2 is to protect Jacinto at all costs, while carving a swathe of death and destruction using your will, raw power, fortitude and of course your trusty lancer, attached chainsaw bayonet et all.

Delta squad

While the plot has been improved to a certain extent, the voice acting – just as in the first game – is cocky and brash, with Marcus and his merry men spewing tons of one-liners as they tear through the Locusts. (While I find nothing wrong with this – I especially enjoyed Cole Train’s clichéd quips – an intellectual gamer may find them a bit too juvenile.) What did surprise me was the way a few moments of emotion have been conveyed in this game. I was expecting to laugh or at least scoff at them, but here I was relating to a certain character’s exasperation, frustration, and sadness on-screen.

But hey, this is Gears of War 2 at the end of the day... so enough about the plot, let’s talk about chainsawing people in half.

Death from above