This game is awesome. If you dont have it go buy it immediately. The new horde mode is the best 5-player co-op ever made and will keep you playing hours on end.

With a hit like the original Gears of War already cementing its place in gaming history, its sequel had a lot to do in order to live up to the expectation and hype that were surrounding the franchise. Gears of War exceeds these expectations and builds up an already great game by giving fans more of what they want, but better in every way possible.

Gears of War 2 takes what was good about Gears 1 and adds to the experience to make an overall better game. Although the Graphics in the first game were great for its time, Gears 2 puts that game to shame. The game looks smoother, and more colorful than the previous with its varied environments and better looking character models. This is no Gears 1.5.

The campaign is a bit longer than before, but not extremely long. It actually feels about right this time. And the story, while not breaking any new barriers, does its job well enough to get you from beginning to end.

The multiplayer is just as good, if not better than before. But the co-op Horde mode is a great new piece to the puzzle that you and some friends just have to try together. There is also the use of bots just in case you are going to go at it alone. The training modes that the game offers are also a nice touch for those gamers that are new to the Gears experience.

The game isn't perfect, and right now has some issues with the competitive online with matchmaking and such. There are also some of the same problems from the previous game that show up. But nothing that takes away from the experience. And some things will more than likely get patched really soon.

All in all, this is a game that 360 owners, and gamers in general should experience. Its not a perfect game (I'd give it a 4.5 if there was an option for it), but it is without a doubt one of the most fun games you'll play this holiday season. Don't come into this game looking for innovation or completely new ideas. Come in looking for a sequel that takes it up a notch and never backs down.

November has been killer. Owning all 3 systems can be killer on the wallet which can leave you with some pretty difficult choices... which game to get on release and which games can i wait till Christmas for. Well, I bought Resistance 2 and was very pleased with that game, and so I was just going to wait till Christmas to buy Gears. Which was a very difficult decision because Gears 1 is by far my favorite 360 game. Then a day after Gears' release my friend called me and told me Gears 2 was the single greatest console game ever. And of course after hearing that i couldn't wait till Christmas, so i sold Dead Space (awesome) and Fable 2 (awesome game, horrible ending) and bought it. So now the question is did Gears 2 live up to the hype?

And for me, the answer is no.. not really. While I can say that some of the videos are insanely gorgeous, I cant say that I can tell a huge difference from Gears 1 most of the time. The game is very polished, I think it was just that I expected so much more from the constant fanboys yelling "OMG most beautiful game ever roflmao". It does look good, but to me only a few shots have shown a big graphical improvement from the first. So for the graphics are a 9/10.
The gameplay is basically the same as the first, which is ok, because if it isn't broke why fix it, right? They did implement a nice "meat shield" move where you can use your enemies as a shield. And I like being able to crawl to safety too. The AI is pretty good from what I've played thus far, with enemy soldiers working to flank you and gain and advantage and also, your squad actually kills enemies and will even revive you sometimes. The only problem for me was that I felt like I had done all of this before... It just didnt feel like a new game to me.. I had a friend over and he kept asking wasn't this in the first and I kept saying no.. So I'd give it a 9/10 as well, just because while they did make some cool new improvements, there really weren't that many.
The story...oh boy. I have never been a big fan of the story in Gears. I think it could be an awesome story, but I've never felt attached to it, or really even cared. Gears 2 suffers from the same problem for me.. While i wish I could start to like the story and even care about the characters, for some reason I just can't.. I just haven't ever cared for the way Gears tells its story. Although some of the cutscenes are amazing. The story lacks the power to draw you into it. So a 6/10 for the story.
Replay value is a freaking 10/10. Horde mode is one of the best things Gears 2 has going for it. It gets intense and never gets old. Couple that with the online competitive play and Gears 2 is already worth your 60 dollars. They also added two new online modes, i believe.. Wingman and a Gears version of a capture the flag type mode. The replay value is where it shines. I could play Horde over and over and over and over again.. I enjoyed Horde more than the story...
Overall, Gears 2 is a great great game.. While I dont think it lived up to the hype it has received. It's not the best graphically, or gameplay wise, or especially not narration wise, but it is a hell of a game. I highly recommend it.

First off I had to put a con but the gameplay is not repetitive.

Anyway, I don't need to go into detail since many have before but if ever there was a game to trump the visuals of Gears 1, this does which is crazy when you think about it. The only minor gripe is a hold over from the first one where, especially between load segments, textures dont always pop up right away and it can be jarring to see a low rez item then pop into high rez a few seconds later. It is not as bad as Gears 1, bit still annoying.

The best bits are the minor details that rock. The biggest I think is that now when you hit an enemy, they react like they should when being shot as opposed to moving like the bullets do not hit them. Gears 1, they never showed that they were being hit. Another great improvement is the bleed out carried over from multiplayer. That is, instead of being killed when the omen pops up, your AI teammates can revive you, a nice touch. Other great factors are the destructible environments, minor meat chunks that fly off the characters, and even the charring flesh when you get hit with a flame thrower.

I can't say much about multiplayer as I am still playing single and I do not start multi till I beat a game. Im sure it is fun though.

Overall, with a longer campaign, better voice acting, better story, more brutal ways to kill people, prettier graphics, awesome controls, and a level where you have to be fast or drown in worm blood, this is an awesome game and worth playing even if you are not a 360 fan. One word of warning though, Marcus drops more f-bombs then part 1 :-)

Gears of War is awesome in every possible way! I don't it could get any butter there lodes of new of weapons geto fight new mosters it is awesome!!!!