Smooth controls and frantic battles
Gears of War multiplayer can be played as fast or as slow as you wish. In the games that we played no-one dared to venture straight out into the centre of the map as there was little cover. Most opted for a strategic position where they could take out enemies from relative safety and plan their next move based on spotting the other teams’ positions. Moving from cover to cover around the area and gaining tactical positions is essentially the main draw to this tactical shooter, but that’s not to say the action is slow by any means. There are fiercely explosive shootouts that will see you sticking your head from behind cover, frantic dashes to get to the safety of a barricade and tense, buttock-clenching stand-offs where the silence is almost deafening.
Controlling, switching and re-loading weapons become an instinctive reaction thanks to the easy controls and the speed in which they respond. We played with three different weapons, the machine gun, the shotgun and the sniper rifle. We also packed a smoke grenade which is ideal for giving you time to reach a safe position. Each of the weapons can be switched by using the positions on the d-pad and, if your bullets run out, the movement is so swift that it’s easy to switch to your new weapon without fear of getting shot during the change. There was also a rocket launcher on the map which spawns at the same point at the start of every round, so there’s often a battle to get to that position and scuttle back to safety with the goodies. The design of Gridlock though makes it a dangerous venture as you’ll need to proceed into open territory to pick it up. This results in a tense battle for position as each team plays cat and mouse in order to get their hands on the powerful weapon. It’s certainly not worth losing a team member over as the other weapons pack such a powerful punch, so on most occasions the rocket launcher was left behind. These weapon pick ups can be found in all multiplayer levels but certainly don't guarantee success.
Click for larger imageUp close and personal, the chainsaw or the shotgun are ideal weapons for making light work of the enemy, whereas a machine gun is perfect for drawing out opponents or pinning them back. Killing the enemy won’t take just one shot though, you’ll have to fire half a clip or so from the machine gun in order to bring them to their knees. The sniper rifle is more effective if you can get a clear head shot, but even still it took us a few shots to take them down. The reticules used for targeting turn red when you have a clear shot with any of the weapons and aiming for the head will always bring opponents to the floor quicker.
Gears of Wars also allows you to revive players within a set time limit. After I’d thrown a smoke grenade into a tunnel that leads from the centre of the map to the enemy spawn area, I dashed through thinking the coast was clear only to be ambushed by the highly entertaining and effective chainsaw brandished by one of the cackling Microsoft guys. I shouted out to Nick that I needed reviving, told him my position and then watched through his viewpoint as he made the treacherous journey to my position. Despite not even playing, it was unbelievably intense experience watching a team-mate ducking and weaving from cover to cover as other team mates provided cover-fire. Nick threw a smoke grenade towards the area I was located and made a dash for it as bullets whizzed past him. As I’m shouting ‘Hurry up, hurry up, I’m dying!’ he’d made what I can only describe as a journey of cinematic proportions from the east to west of the map to reach me but had unfortunately missed out on reviving me by only a couple of seconds. Putting his own life on the line he had now isolated himself from the rest of the team who were doing there damned hardest to try and evacuate him from the position. As I switched between the viewpoints of my different team mates it felt like I was the director of my own motion picture. The emotion and power that these beautifully rendered interactive environments, coupled with the furious action, manage to achieve is something that's hard to describe. It's undoubtedly down to the power of Unreal Engine 3 and the vision of the developers that prevent Gears of War from being another run-of the-mill third person shooter. The next-gen era truly begins when Gears of War arrives.
We also had a chance to test out a second map called Clock tower, where a bridge separates the friendly and enemy bases. Once again it was a small superbly designed and intricately detailed map with dozens of places to hide for cover and a gritty and tense atmosphere that made the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end.
While it’s true that we've only played two of the multiplayer maps, and can't say whether the single player campaign will match what we've experienced, it’s clear to see that Gears of War is pushing the boundaries of conventional gaming by bringing us an all action shooter that is more tense and exciting than any game you will have ever experienced before. It's a teeth-clenchingly aggressive game that shines with a cinematic polish more than any PC game we've played (although Crysis may make us change our minds when it arrives). We’re still buzzing about the time we’ve spent playing the game and feel it’s our duty to spread the word about the highly pleasurable experience. The blend of tactical play, jaw dropping action and physics, superb control system, stunning detail, breath-taking animations and well designed maps surpasses anything that we’ve witnessed or played…ever. Gears of War is so good that we’ve been on a come-down since we've had to leave it behind. It’s all we’ve been thinking about ever since and we’re in no doubt that it’s shaping up to be one of the greatest games of all time and one that should inspire other developers to conjure up fresh ideas and work outside of the conventional gaming bubble of sequels, stolen ideas and half-hearted movie tie-ins. Epic Games have managed to create a powerful experience for gamers, one that can’t be compared to any game currently on the console. Gears of War is world’s apart from any shooter title currently on the Xbox 360; if it wasn’t for having to catch a train home we’d still be there now. The era of next-gen shooters is upon us and you’d be foolish if you didn’t want to be part of it. ‘Emergence Day’ is on November 17th and it shouldn’t be missed. Rally the troops and get the word out on the streets because the hype is real. We'll see you in online in November!
We’ll have more soon…
Stick with us for some more hands-on previews coming up including Need for Speed Carbon, Superman Returns, Pro Evolution Soccer 6 and Call of Duty 3!
