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Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #489 in Computer & Video Games
• Brand: Microsoft
• Released on: 2006-11-16
• Rating: Parental Guidance
• Platform: Xbox 360
• Number of items: 1

Amazon.co.uk Review
In a nutshell:
One of the most highly rated games of E3, Gears of War is looking likely to be the Xbox 360’s Christmas blockbuster with the best graphics yet seen on the system and a tactical twist on the usual shoot ‘em-up gameplay.

The lowdown:
With Halo still at least a year out this is currently the Xbox 360’s premier exclusive shoot ‘em-up. Using a third person, over the shoulder, view rather than the usual first person viewpoint the game emphasis the importance of cover and tactics rather than just running and gunning. The question of cover becomes particularly important given the impressively destructible environments you fight in, which create a constantly shifting battlefield for you to navigate. As you’d expect the game also contains an extensive suite of multiplayer and co-op modes for play over Xbox Live.

Most exciting moment:
The graphics are stunning, nearly photorealistic, but the greatest guilty pleasure in the game so far is the "chainsaw bayonet" and the OTT spurt of gore it extracts from bad guys.

Since you ask:
Gears of War developers Epic Games are also responsible for the Unreal Engine 3 graphics engine which is used in many other games from Assassin’s Creed to Lost Odyssey.

The bottom line:
Who needs Halo when the Gears of War are turning as smartly as this?
Harrison Dent

Manufacturer's Description:

Gears of War, an Xbox 360 exclusive game that blends tactical action with survival horror, thrusts gamers into a deep and harrowing tale of humankind's epic battle for survival against the Locust Horde, a nightmarish race of creatures that surface from the bowels of the planet. The storyline plays out like a Hollywood blockbuster -- lead character Marcus Fenix pits advanced human technology against the overwhelming Locust Horde. Built around a revolutionary third-person tactical combat system and breathtaking, high-definition visuals from the Unreal Engine 3, Gears of War immerses you in a horrifying tale of war and survival.

Gears of War is harrowing tale that pits humankind against the Locust Horde.

Marcus Fenix and his team battle nightmarish creatures. View larger.

In Gears of War, you must take cover to survive. View larger.

Gears of War presents a focused and well-paced cinematic experience. View larger.

The gameplay is focused on a fire team co-op so advanced that your A.I. teammates are indiscernible from human players. Voice recognition and real-time lip synching heighten the absorbing experience. The Unreal Engine 3 technology brings out the smallest details in the largest of battles. With GOW you're sure to experience a rich, dynamic world where characters spring to life. Speaking of life, the battlefield is a lethal place. To survive, you must suppress your enemy with blindfire, take cover in interactive environments, and use weapons and teammates to outwit your dreaded, inhuman foes. And with a title like GOW, it would be shame if you couldn't get online and challenge live gamers. With the next-generation of Xbox Live, you'll be able to experience individualized matchmaking, view player statistics, earn player achievements, customize games, and build personalized gamer profiles.

Gears of War shined bright at Microsoft's pre-E3 press briefing, but a deeper demo at Microsoft's E3 booth revealed many of the game's mechanics. GOW is built with both the hardcore and casual gamer in mind. But, instead of selecting a difficulty level at the start of the game, GOW offers a choice at the beginning of each level. In the vein of choose your own adventure, you can select between a difficult or easy path. And it's not just a simple choice of battling tougher enemies; each path (explained by a comrade) represents additional content that is crucial to the storyline. After easing your way into the experience of the gameplay with the simpler paths, you can go back and test your skills on the more difficult routes and never feel like you've played through the areas before.

Standing around in the open is likely to get you killed in GOW. You must use cover to survive. With a context sensitive A button function, you won't have to sweat memorizing cumbersome button combos. The A button will:

• Slam you into cover. As you approach cover in GOW simply tap the A button to slide and make immediate use of cover.
• Vault you over the cover. Once you're in cover, pressing up and A will vault you over your cover to engage the opponent or next cover opportunity.
• Evade enemy fire. When you're forced to be out in the open, tapping the A button will engage a roll maneuver to evade enemy fire.
• Activate a "Swat Turn." When taking cover on the side of a doorway, pressing the A button will spin your character from one side of the doorway to the other, helping avoid fire.

Ripping a magazine free and replacing it in the midst of bloody combat is no easy task. GOW simulates this difficult action by forcing you to perfect your reloading skills. To be effective in combat you'll need to allot for time to successfully reload your weapon. Do it well and the battle is yours; do it poorly and you may actually jam your gun. Time it perfectly and you'll earn a bonus with a temporary damage boost. Though GOW clearly showcases a sci-fi experience, its roots are in tactical, realistic combat scenarios. Therefore, running and gunning makes for seriously erratic shooting. Think about what you're doing. Unless wasting ammo is your goal, you better stop, aim, shoot, and then move on. Otherwise, the Locust Horde might swarm you and take your life.

Gears of War presents a focused and well-paced cinematic experience, and nothing ruins that faster than a time-consuming exploration of every switch or button to find the elusive trigger to open a door. This game introduces a "point of interest" button that comes up on the screen so you can immediately interact with the necessary item to move forward in your gameplay. GOW certainly offers drool-worthy graphics, but the mechanics have also received equal attention. Keep your eyes and ears on high alert for a release date, as Microsoft hasn't let the cat out of the bag on when gamers will be able to tackle this great-looking and great-playing title.

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Customer Reviews

Best game ever! (And I don't say that lightly!!)
I LOVE LOVE LOVE this game!
It's the only game we have that we have continued to play after completing it. We usually play a game and trade it in once completed, not this one!
The game is best played in co-op mode I think. Great graphics, fantastic handling and keeps you wanting more. I would have liked it to be a little longer, but I think they got the length right...long enough to keep you busy but short enough to leave you wanting more. And when you don't want to play the story, you can play against each other... or go online and play other people (or both!).

A great feature imo is the third-person view. I can't get to grips with first person as it never feels like natural handling.

There's nothing more satisfying that chain-sawing an alien or getting a head shot with your sniper. Everyone should have a copy of Gears!

I have Gears 2 under the xmas tree waiting for xmas day.....how I'm going to last that long without trying it out is beyond me!!


Just to balance it out a bit more, I've tried to think of some negatives... I don't like the level with the UV light, it's a bit boring and I want to get back out with the guns (not going to say any more in case of spoilers). A bit more AI would be good (but I hear the no2 does that). Would like more maps for the Vs feature... online play - I would prefer to not to have to play against experts who kill me in 2 seconds flat!! Needs a rating scheme (but again, I heard no2 has this..?) And it bugs me when playing online against people who are much much better than me...but still feel the need to communicate with their mates thru the headset and use dirty tactics (I've heard the 'dead' ones guide and tip their team-mates to find the other team's 'alive' players - not fair imo, once you're dead, you should be muted).
Umm.. can't think of any more!!!

Some flaws, but still outstanding
Look past the childish design of the main characters (ridiculously muscular deep-voiced male stereotypes that look like they were designed by a 13 year old boy who reads too many army comics and ought to get out more and meet some girls) and there's an outstanding game in here.
There are flaws - until you get used to it, it's hard to tell your allies apart from your enemies, the combat is repetitive - take cover, keep popping out to fire, keep an eye out for enemies flanking you while you do the same etc. - and the minimal amount of storyline and backstory you get seems such a wasted opportunity when it starts with such a good sci-fi setting, and the easiest diffifculty setting, while not excessively hard if you're an exeperienced gamer, is a bit too hard in places - considering the easy setting is supposed to be for casual/inexperienced gamers, they should have made it more forgiving for people who want the easy setting.
But - it has to be one of the most enjoyable FPS/TPS games ever - the combat is so balanced and satisfying that you can easily forgive the flaws and just enjoy every minute of it, it really does feel close to how you imagine actually being in battle would feel (apart from both you and enemies being able to take numerous hits before dying). One of the few games where after completing it, I started playing through from the beginning again the same day, I was enjoying it so much.

Only a few days until the 2nd one... Still this is mind blowing
Unbelievable, amazing gameplay, beautiful graphics, wonderful characters, stupendous voice acting, flabbergasting music, terrifyingly realistic enemies, good story line if you read the book which comes with it.

This game never gets tired, i've now completed it 7 times and i could still do it again and again...