Clash of the Next-Gen Titans

By Vicious Sid
November 15, 2006 17:06 PM PST
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The Weapons

Gears of War keeps its arsenal streamlined and sleek. The weapons will seem familiar to old-school shooter fans -- a shotgun here, a machine gun and sniper rifle there. But thanks to the new Active Reload system, which rewards players for carefully timed reloading, there's still a layer of freshness to the combat.

Insomniac's exotic weapons make for some fun moments in Resistance.

Resistance takes a different approach with its wildly original arsenal, which feels like something ripped straight out of the Ratchet and Clank series. (Not surprising, considering Insomniac's development history.) Some guns fire giant balls of explosive goo, others zap crowds with electricity, drill through walls, or launch floating turrets. Combat may not be as satisfyingly gritty as in Gears of War, but it's arguably more fun.

VERDICT:

Resistance, though it's a close call. Gears of War's sleek guns feel ultra-tight, but Resistance has a bigger, more inspired arsenal, with the added perk of dual firing modes.

The Single Player

Gears of War has a solid single-player mode, though the story drags. The key complaint is that the campaign is too short, though a robust cooperative mode and multiple difficulty settings keep the replay value high. Only the highly scripted levels throw a wrench into the works.

Gears of War singleplayer: awesome, but short.

Resistance's campaign is much longer that GOW's, and that's an asset. It's also well-paced, with nice variation between front-line skirmishes and epic boss battles. Split-screen cooperative modes (no online co-op) and multiple difficulty settings add a boost to replayability, as do a whole host of secret weapons that only appear on the second playthrough.

VERDICT:

Tie. Resistance has a longer, more satisfying single-player campaign, but Gears packs in more intensity and a bit less monotony. Either way, gamers win. Gears gets a special nod for its online cooperative play mode.