Product Description

The exclusive Xbox 360 game, Gears of War, thrusts gamers into a harrowing battle for humankind's survival against its subterranean enemy, the Locust Horde.In this third-person shooter game, you must lead war hero Marcus Fenix and his team as they face the onslaught of merciless warriors hellbent on destroying the human inhabitants of the fictional planet Sera.With a revolutionary tactical combat system and breathtaking, high-definition visuals from Unreal Engine 3, Gears of War will plunge you into a horrifying story of war and survival.

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Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #256 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

Brillaint
I owned this game sometime ago, and i have to say it was one of the finest single player games i've played in a longtime. The cover system works a charm and if you haven't played it buy it now before G.O.W 2 comes out.

By the way, little cheeky here but head to Blockbuster have just seen they're selling it for 9.99 brand new... can't believe the pre-owned version haven't come down in price yet...

Gears Gears Gears - Just so much fun
To start off, I have played this game so much that it is worth every penny that I paid for it. The game is absolutely terrific. I have played it through on all of the difficulties, expect the casual (easy) option as I started off playing Hardcore and found that more of a challenge.

Playing through the single player is so much fun when playing in co-op. I believe that the game was designed to be played in co-op and honestly the gameplay works really well and the co-op play is so interesting when playing the single player campaign on the hardest difficulty.

Stepping aside from the single player you have multiplayer where the fun continues again. Battling other players across Xbox Live is so fun and the game has so much to offer, its worth the price they charge for it. The graphics are totally some of the best in the industry and rank at the top. If your a shooting fan, you can't possibly be disappointed with this.

great game..slightly flawed but its cheap now so whatever
write im feeling like going off on opinionated rambles about everything i own so heres my gears of war review

ive once again found most reviews here quite misleading (i try not to follow the ones that just say everything is awesome cos there is no game where everything is awesome...fact)

i wont be bitter about this. being new to the world of the 360 i found this game to be brilliant. graphics are beautiful in a less then conventional gaming sense which made me love them more (the running camera just feels like more than a game to me) and the fact that this plays more like a game of paintballing then an FPS.to me this feels like a game thats really gone for the idea of being a true next gen gaming experience. not just looking nicer and running smoother than most but truly changing elements of the genre that have always been seen as unchangeable.

however this game is not perfect. i was really getting into the story and wondering how far into it i actually was and what shocks and twists were coming my way when suddenly to my suprise...the game ended woop woop(sarcasm). i read here that this game was a good length. 5 levels is not a good length unless you have ADD. granted the levels arent short and can be quite tricky but with perseverence (and if you enjoy the game you will persevere cos its addictive) you will finish this game in 1 or 2 sittings. (although i will admit to playing it on casual. when you die 7 times in a row in the first battle its safe to assume your in the wrong difficulty right?).

the other problem with this is also in the difficulty. no its not too easy. no its not too hard. the problem is that it doesnt actually seem to get any harder as the game progresses. if your not a pro at these sort of games you will die a lot at the beginning, die a lot at the end. no problem there, i like a challenge. the problem is when you finish the game, start a new file and realise that your actually no better at it than when you started the last file (execpt you can reload faster)

those gripes aside i would recommend this game to anyone (its not gonna cost you much anyway) its great fun. i havnt tried online or split screen yet but the idea of both modes makes me happy enough by itself

if they can just make the second game a bit longer(im getting rather sick of games that arent RPGS being so short recently) throw in more weapons (which they apparently are) and actually have a learning curve to overcome so that you come out of single player mode more skilled than when you went in then that could become a true classic. im willing to forgive this game slightly as somewhat of an experiment with the ideals of next gen gaming but next time they will have no excuses.

also if you dont know already, you will never, NEVER get tired of using the chainsaw! its beautiful in the way goths will tell you that cradle of filth albums are beautiful (disgusting but so so pleasing to all the senses execpt taste for moralities sake)