Well I got this today and have now had a good 3 or 4 hours on it now. I am happy to say, this game rocks.
When I first loaded it up I tried out the training section with AI team-mates and opposition. The training basically guides you threw the basics of each multiplayer mode and also gives you a good test of the bots. I have to say the AI was really good, both of the opposition and my team-mates. The enemies would attack and move pretty much like a human player would in an online match. I say pretty much cos there were a few times where the opposition AI just stood there for a few seconds letting me shoot them but those instances were very rare. For one of those instances there were three or four really cool ones, where the AI would crawl away from me as they were downed or my team-mate would run over to revive me. This is a great little way to get to know some of the maps and if you're new to Gears multiplayer then it is a top notch introduction to the brutal world.
That was the starter, once I began the campaign (on normal) it was pretty clear from the off that this time round the mode is more epic and more brutal! Don't wanna ruin the story for anyone but it seems like Epic have put alot more thought put into it. The long-ish cutscene in the opening chapter is an example of this, it sets up what is to come perfectly.
Again I don't wanna ruin the "wow" factor for people but some of the set piece battles so far have been superb. Hell, even just the ordinary fights against the drones have been great, so immersive and brutal. Let's just say Cliffy's claims of bigger and badder are totally spot on.
You would be nothing without your weapons in this game and boy does the game hand you some equipment to play with. You have pretty much all the weapons from the last game and a few new ones too. The ones I have used so far have been the flamethrower and mortar gun, there might be a couple of other new weapons later on but not too sure. The mortar gun is incredible once you get the hang of how it is meant to be used. It just causes complete and total mayhem! Some might say it might be a little overpowered but the fact that you don't get loads of ammo for it and can't carry it around all the time (due to the size) balances it up in my opinion. It can be also very detrimental to you, if you don't use it correctly as I found out in the most bloody and brutal way possible!
There also some other cool things Epic have introduced, one of them is the achievement tracker which pops up when you contribute to a particular achievement during play. It can also be accessed from the main menu so you can always keep track of how many more kills you need for that crazy seriously achievement! There are also alot more collectables scattered around levels for you to pick up, these are added to the war journal in the main menu so, once again, you can track your progress with them. Lastly I noticed something new in the menu called "what's up", this is very similar to your 360 guide but the Gears of War version. It shows you what your friends are doing and more importantly shows you how many are play Gears of Wars 2. Not a particularly amazing feature but still a nice addition nonetheless.
Haven't tried online multiplayer yet as I want to finish the campaign first before I lose countless hours to that! So yeah to sum up, this game is brilliant.....if you have a 360 and are even remotely into shooters then you have to pick this up!
EDIT - Forgot to add, the game looks stunning. Still takes a few seconds for textures to load in sometimes but apart from that the game is "beautiful".
When I first loaded it up I tried out the training section with AI team-mates and opposition. The training basically guides you threw the basics of each multiplayer mode and also gives you a good test of the bots. I have to say the AI was really good, both of the opposition and my team-mates. The enemies would attack and move pretty much like a human player would in an online match. I say pretty much cos there were a few times where the opposition AI just stood there for a few seconds letting me shoot them but those instances were very rare. For one of those instances there were three or four really cool ones, where the AI would crawl away from me as they were downed or my team-mate would run over to revive me. This is a great little way to get to know some of the maps and if you're new to Gears multiplayer then it is a top notch introduction to the brutal world.
That was the starter, once I began the campaign (on normal) it was pretty clear from the off that this time round the mode is more epic and more brutal! Don't wanna ruin the story for anyone but it seems like Epic have put alot more thought put into it. The long-ish cutscene in the opening chapter is an example of this, it sets up what is to come perfectly.
Again I don't wanna ruin the "wow" factor for people but some of the set piece battles so far have been superb. Hell, even just the ordinary fights against the drones have been great, so immersive and brutal. Let's just say Cliffy's claims of bigger and badder are totally spot on.
You would be nothing without your weapons in this game and boy does the game hand you some equipment to play with. You have pretty much all the weapons from the last game and a few new ones too. The ones I have used so far have been the flamethrower and mortar gun, there might be a couple of other new weapons later on but not too sure. The mortar gun is incredible once you get the hang of how it is meant to be used. It just causes complete and total mayhem! Some might say it might be a little overpowered but the fact that you don't get loads of ammo for it and can't carry it around all the time (due to the size) balances it up in my opinion. It can be also very detrimental to you, if you don't use it correctly as I found out in the most bloody and brutal way possible!
There also some other cool things Epic have introduced, one of them is the achievement tracker which pops up when you contribute to a particular achievement during play. It can also be accessed from the main menu so you can always keep track of how many more kills you need for that crazy seriously achievement! There are also alot more collectables scattered around levels for you to pick up, these are added to the war journal in the main menu so, once again, you can track your progress with them. Lastly I noticed something new in the menu called "what's up", this is very similar to your 360 guide but the Gears of War version. It shows you what your friends are doing and more importantly shows you how many are play Gears of Wars 2. Not a particularly amazing feature but still a nice addition nonetheless.
Haven't tried online multiplayer yet as I want to finish the campaign first before I lose countless hours to that! So yeah to sum up, this game is brilliant.....if you have a 360 and are even remotely into shooters then you have to pick this up!
EDIT - Forgot to add, the game looks stunning. Still takes a few seconds for textures to load in sometimes but apart from that the game is "beautiful".
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