Gears of War 2
Microsoft
Xbox 360
4 stars (out of 5)
Review by Hayden Meikle
Sequels can be dangerous territory for film-makers.
Those who disagree might like to sit down with a DVD of Legally Blonde 2, The Next Karate Kid or, if you are really brave, Dumb and Dumberer.
Happily, the video game industry has had a lot more success with the process of building on an idea and making it better.
Halo 2 and 3 were significant additions to the ground-breaking first game, Metal Gear Solid 3 and 4 were fantastic, Gran Turismo 4 and Project Gotham Racing 4 expanded successful driving simulations, and Fifa, Madden, NHL and NBA Live have all breathed annual life into sports gaming.
The trend continues this summer with the excellent Fallout 3, the wondrous Fable 2 and now the very polished Gears of War 2.
I still rate Gears of War the best action/shooting game to be produced on the Xbox 360, a console now into its fourth year.
There was something about its visceral graphics, explosive sound and simple but substantial gameplay that struck a chord.
And I'm not even a big fan of intense action games.
Out comes the sequel, with Microsoft hoping fans of GOW and its Bruce-Willis-crossed-with-Sylvester-Stallone big-time hero, Marcus Fenix, will tune back into the series.
The story is familiar, with your action men back out fighting the evil Locusts, an alien race bent on world domination.
Most of the gameplay, the weaponry and the setting is also not vastly dissimilar to the first game, which is not at all a bad thing.
Most new games, which cost millions of dollars to develop, look nice.
But Gears is a series that prides itself on gut-burstingly lovely graphics, and GOW 2 knocks out all other comers.
The details on the characters and in the environment are exquisitely rendered, with designer Epic taking special care to ensure every level looks as good as possible.
The boffins have also paid more attention to the enemy and presented a much greater range of loathesome Locusts to be liquefied.
The single-player campaign is longer and deeper than in the first game, and there are massive improvements in the multiplayer options.
To me, the measure of a sequel is whether it strikes a chord with both someone who did not play the first game and someone who played the first game till the cows came home.
This does it.
First-timers would slide seamlessly into the controls, and regulars would find enough to encourage them to come back.
With the sequel, Gears of War has signalled it is the sole genuine challenger to Halo 3 as the game all Xbox 360 owners must have.
The year in review
On December 23, Signal will review 2008 and reviewers Hayden Meikle and Simon Kemp will name their games of the year.
We're keen to hear your thoughts, too.
Send an email to Hayden Meikle (hayden.meikle@odt.co.nz) with your games of the year and why you loved them.
