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Gears of War -- overrated?!

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 3 / 18
Date: January 06, 2007
Author: Amazon User

I simply don't understand people when they call this the "Best Shooter Ever." I bought it for a friend of mine, wasn't impressed in the slightest, and bought myself a copy so we could play the game in Co-Op mode. Now I regret buying BOTH copies.

While the game does have great detail, the detail itself isn't pleasant to look at. EVERYTHING is a drab gray - I mean EVERYTHING. So much for vibrant color or the semblance of anything interesting to look at.

It's also 3rd person so you're forced to look at the absolutely GOOFY outfits the two main characters are wearing. BTW, what ARE they wearing? Some sort of futuristic backpack? Just plain goofy.

The foul language is embarrassing and really not necessary...but it's there so keep the kids away.

As for shooters, Call of Duty 2 or 3 is 1000x better than this drab thing.

way over-rated

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 3 / 18
Date: August 28, 2007
Author: Amazon User

gears of wars has way too much hype, being microsoft's only major shooter for xbox 360 so they marketed it ad infinitum. Graphics are awesome... gameplay is tedious and mediore

Genre redefining? ... I say frustrating.

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 2 / 10
Date: December 27, 2006
Author: Amazon User

Given the choice between Resistance: Fall of Man for the PS3 and Gears of War, I'd have to go with the former. I've beaten both, and Fall of Man was a lot more fun. That said, Sony didn't release enough consoles to meet demand and the price point is pretty high for the PS3, so I understand the enthusiasm for Gears. Gears, however, feels like an uphill hike while Resistance was just a pile of fun.

I must admit upfront that I'm mildly red/green color blind, and I'm not sure if the targeting recticle changes color obviously when you're on an enemy or a friendly, but I really had a hard time judging good guys from bad guys, especially in the beginning ... all the characters are short/squat and marine looking in the beginning of the game. Furthermore, squad combat means that somebody in your group is always dying and/or needing rescuing, and it feels a lot like you're dealing with other people's problems all the time, instead of having fun for yourself.

I would agree that Gears does take some steps toward redefining FPS games, and it undoubtably does do a better job of reflecting the way that real warfare happens than would a Halo-type solo adventurer. That said, the fun of video-games is that you aren't actually in a warzone, but on your couch, simulating an action movie. This one was just a little too bleak and rough-going for me to seem like fun.

A Review About More Than Just the Graphics

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 1 / 3
Date: November 17, 2006
Author: Amazon User

I have to admit I didn't know much about Gears of War before I bought it so I don't know about the hype. However, I'm sure they were comparing it to Halo. At the end of the review I'll let you know how it compares. Please note I'm only reviewing the campaign part of Gears of War.

The things I like about Gears of War:
The graphics are amazing just like the feeling when you first played a truly 3-D game over a decade ago. Lighting creates subtleties that only come in real life. Movement is natural as well as all of the physics. Faces have astounding detail and just an overall realism to them. You really have to see it to believe it. It is truly a next generation game and warrants the extra money. The gameplay is intense. I could actually feel my heart rate climb while I played it. It is mostly setup in small areas where you can use various objects to hide behind to as to keep your character alive. Even on the "casual" setting the enemy is relentless so action is nearly constant. You can also hide behind objects and shoot around the corner which keeps you alive a lot longer.
The whole interface for changing weapons and reloading is fairly intuitive; many will get used to it in a half an hour or so. Grenades are easy to use because you get a trajectory map for where it will fall. Having a chainsaw attached to your machine gun is definitely a plus. Physics in the game are the most lifelike I've yet seen. Guns have a correct range and bodies are not just gone once you kill them; they can be moved around and blown up some more if you so desire. Chairs, couches, clocks and dressers are all destructible too. Another very helpful thing is intelligent team members and the ability to command them to a certain extent. The levels are quite varied and keep you from getting bored of the surroundings. Something else that definitely is enthralling is the element of fear. You walk into an area and don't ever have a very good idea if anything is going to jump out at you.

Things I don't like about Gears of War
The major problem I have with the game is the lack of explanation within the story. It seems as if most of the story is based upon Marcus Fenix's quarrels with the "Gears" which is the military group he belongs to. You only get to see glimpses of the background behind these locusts. I feel like I was supposed to read a book before I got the game, because I don't have a very good idea what is going on. A few other things that really bother me, but which might not bother other first person shooter fans are: A closed in feeling everywhere you play, not just in environment but also in movement of your character. Many things are preset such as jumping over walls and running is done by holding down the A button and then you have cover while you run. Unfortunately while you're running you can't shoot or turn very well. Many of the movements seem to be like automatic which can get really annoying.

A lot of the game is based on staying behind concrete, walls and doorways to avoid fire. For example, if you are walking down a hall and just want to run it is difficult to keep yourself from smashing up against the wall for cover. I also personally don't like the fact that it isn't technically a first person shooter; what I mean is that when you go to aim you are actually looking over the person's should instead of being their eyes. As I said before the gameplay is intense and at some times so intense it just ends up being over the top. The idea of blood splattering on the screen is great, but not while you are trying to kill something-You can't see! Many areas of the game have objectives you have to complete, but give little or no idea on how to complete them. In one area you are coming out of the back of a house and are trying to get onto a helicopter to escape. You are told to get to the helicopter immediately all the while 10-12 enemies are in the way. Do you kill the enemies or get of the helicopter? Apparently both. Also until one of my team members died I didn't know you failed as well when that happens.

Is the game better than the halo franchise? No, not in my opinion, but Halo definitely has some solid competition where previously they didn't. Gears of War missed on a few key areas. Gameplay is rigid. You can't truly jump and everything feels limited in general. Even in the giant cave part of the game there is an obvious and minimal area of exploration. Secondly, the weapon I used 95% of the time was the machine gun and the other 5% I used the shotgun. It isn't that the other weapons aren't effective, they just have fundamental problems. The pistol is inaccurate and the recoil is enough to throw you off target. The RPG that the "boomers" use is difficult to get anywhere near a person. The torque bow is great if you have the time to not only aim but wait for the thing to be fully contracted. So unlike Halo where any weapon when used correctly is lethal, Gears of War makes the machine gun the most lethal. The other between the two is obviously the story. Not the storyline itself, but the fact that barely anything is told about your enemy, the main character, who the Gears are, if they are super soldiers, what time period it is or what the enemy is trying to do. This isn't just a personal predicament I have with the game either. In this day and age, if you don't have a well developed storyline people will think the game is one dimensional.

On gameplay I would rate it a 7/10, graphics: 10/10, storyline: 6/10 (only because it is so enigmatic), replay value 6/10, music: 5/10 (only remember hearing it twice over the course of twelve hours) and overall value 7/10. I really can't see how this is a "revolutionary" game. It is a great game, but in the long run will be forgotten.

Just plain fun

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 1 / 3
Date: November 17, 2006
Author: Amazon User

I've read and seen all the hype. I just bought and played this thing last night and it is very fun. Just. Plain. Fun.

THE Game for X360

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 1 / 3
Date: November 16, 2006
Author: Amazon User

This game will definitely sell some Xbox 360's. I let a friend play this game and couldn't get him to leave my house for a solid 24 hours. This is the best videogame I have ever played. Easy to learn control, challenging but entertaining, and the best gore In any game so far.

Overhyped (...but not much)

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 1 / 3
Date: November 17, 2006
Author: Amazon User

With all the hype this game has gotten, it's almost impossible for it to not be overhyped. Yes the graphics are great and the gameplay is pretty intuitive. Yes the multiplayer is fun and the chainsaw action is strangely satisfying.

This is a great game for any xbox gamer over 17. But it is not the next Halo. The story is lacking and never fully developed (though I'll spare the details to avoid giving away any spoilders). The multiplayer - while fun - is generally little more than a death match with no objective based gameplay. The duck-and-cover system is a needs some tweaking, sometimes it's too hard to get away from a corner no matter how many times you press "A," other times it seems like you move out of cover too easily without pressing "A."

These are all minor gripes; and the hype is right about one thing: gears of war is the best game to come out yet on the 360.

THE reason to have an Xbox 360!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 1 / 3
Date: November 15, 2006
Author: Amazon User

I have now played through this game three times in campaign mode. I have solved it on Casual, Hardcore and Insane difficulty levels. It doesn't get old. I have not played a game more than three times over since the first Tomb Raider on the original PlayStation back in 1996-97. Now after over a year since this game came out and playing other titles such as BioShock, Lost Planet, GRAW, GRAW 2, Rainbow 6 Vegas, Medal of Honor: Airborne and now Halo 3...it is my opinion that this is THE best title that the Xbox 360 system has to offer! If you have a 360, then you should be required to have this game...actually Microsoft should just load this game on the hard drive of all 360s from now on...

The graphics are the most amazing and impressive I have seen on any game console ever! The story is well written and compelling. Your earth-like world is being taken over by creatures from underground...and you have some cool weapons to use in the fight. A machine gun that has a chainsaw bayonet is the main weapon...and my favorite. You can blindly shoot over walls while taking cover or you can zero in with the sights with your finger on the trigger. For close quarters, you fire up the chainsaw and hack your enemies in half. The action is non-stop! There are grenades that stick to your enemies, smoke grenades, grenade launchers, shotguns, sniper rifles, pistols and crossbow styled weapons that shoot exploding arrows that stick to your targets!

The online features are packed with replay value...you can play the campaign in CO-OP mode with a friend from Xbox LIVE, or in a death match Xbox LIVE mode with multiple players. I just have to say again that the REPLAY VALUE is great with this game...there are essentially three ways to play...by yourself in campaign, online with a friend in CO-OP campaign mode, or online in team based multiplayer games. There are multiple maps and even more downloadable through Xbox Live.

Best FPS Ever, Period!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 1 / 3
Date: December 05, 2006
Author: Amazon User

Yeah, that's right. You heard me. Best FPS ever. Better then any Halo, Rainbow Six, URT, or Halflife game. The graphics are even making the guys at PS3 nervous to catch up. The gameplay is rediculously fluid - evading, hiding, rolling, using the chainsaw, and aiming/shooting. Its not as realistic as, say, Rainbow Six Vegas, but its 100 times more fun... Online or solo. I have never had as much fun playing an FPS since URT2004 on the PC. The only game that has come close to how much fun the one player part is was Chroicles of Riddick. Buy this game or throw away your Xbox360! And if FPS' are what you are looking for also pick up Rainbow Six Vegas and Call of Duty 3 (or 2). Enjoy!

Seriously?

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 1 / 3
Date: February 04, 2008
Author: Amazon User

Ive played the game through completion and have to say this game is average at best. I must preface my comments with the fact that I have not played this game online but have played split-screen. Average is a great rating for nothing but bullets with no thought - there is no strategy here. Simply pull back, find a spot and continue to shoot or die a 50 times - doesnt matter - just find a better place to hide next time.

I absolutely hate games that try to time events in a shooter and, well, to add to it you have a time limit to kill a boss with nothing on the other side deserving of the rush. Im an older gamer so I guess kids need the rush of constant action but this game is certainly not creative.

Look - its wolfenstein as a newer game but the problem is, there is no creativity here other than the shooting scheme - I like the ducking ability except that to jump anything you have to duck first. There is no freedom in this game - extremely linear.

And the one and only thing that will make me turn off a game and give it a poor rating - glitches. This thing has glitches - like having a guy standing in front of you while you are on a wall and you cannot get off the wall or a berserker continuously beating up the CPU instead of chasing you so that you have to replay the scene. And you rate this a 5? Seriously?

Wow - in closing and minus online play because I have not experienced that (but understand how all the bunkers are like paintball and could be fun) this game isnt that good.

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