Product Description

Huge Environments, Bigger Gameplay
For those who loved Gears of War, Gears of War 2 builds upon it in every way, but with several major enhancements. There are more weapons, bigger vehicles, and more action. The enemies are more dangerous, and the total experiences is more immersive than ever. And with a revolutionary tactical combat system, the game will require not just fast reaction times and shooting skill, it will also challenge you to devise a strategy that will work against the enemies who exhibit smart AI.

Jaw-Dropping, Realistic Graphics
Just as Gears of War did the first time around, Gears of War 2 ups the ante for graphical prowess. Combined with the sweeping vistas and evocative locales of Sera, where the story takes place, Gears of War 2 offers jaw-dropping graphics that are made possible through advances in Unreal Engine 3. New visual effects include ambient occlusion, dynamic shadows, improved character lighting, the ability to render hundreds of on-screen characters simultaneously, improved water physics, additional blood and bullet decals, advanced destructible environments, new weather effects, and the introduction of fluid objects.

Immersive, Gripping Story
Taking place six months after the end of the first game, Gears of War 2 returns the cast of characters of the original, including Marcus Fenix and Dominic Santiago, as well as several newcomers.

Novelist and comic book writer Joshua Ortega, who assisted with the writing, has created a story that is big on character development and personality. With a new in-game conversational camera system and multiple story arcs, the story is presented in a gripping cinematic style where characters gain an emotional depth that matches their realistic graphical representation.

More Characters, Upgraded Vehicles, Badder Weapons
Those who were impressed by the original Gears of War will b

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Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #315 in Computer & Video Games
• Brand: Microsoft
• Released on: 2008-11-07
• Rating: Suitable for 18 years and over
• Platform: Xbox 360
• Dimensions: .31 pounds

Manufacturer's Description
The Locust Horde is back and only you and your squad of elite soldiers stand between them and the death of every human being on the planet Sera. In Gears of War 2, entire cities are being destroyed in single attacks, and you must take the fight to the Locusts by battling them in their own underground lairs.

You can play the whole of story mode with a friend

The Boomer enemies are back in many different varieties

The game’s ethos of “destroyed beauty” is still in full effect

Shoot the Ticker enemies before they explode in your face

The bestselling third-person shooter is back: bigger, better, and gorier than ever before. But you can't just blast your way through it--this game requires far more tactics and cunning than your usual mindless shooter. A refined cover system means you can use the enemy as “meat shields” as well as hide behind the fully destructible scenery.

The graphics are looking better than ever, and the game is purposefully more bloody and violent than before. The story and characterisation has also been improved, making this an action game sequel with brains as well as brawn.

Key Features

• Brothers in arms: Have a friend join or leave your single player game whenever you want, and even battle together on different difficultly levels.
• Evolving enemies: You finally get a chance to take down the giant Brumak enemies, as well as even larger monsters and new creatures, such as the explosive Ticker.
• Practise makes perfect: Practice the multiplayer mode on your own with computer controlled “bots”--then use the new matchmaking system to find a real opponent of the same skill level.
• Chainsaw massacre: If you loved the chainsaw bayonet in the original game, you now can duel computer or human opponents with gaming’s messiest weapon attachment.
• Hordes of options: Try the new five-player Horde mode, where you all face off against an unending wave of enemies, or any of the seven other multiplayer modes.

About the Developer: Epic Games
Based in North Carolina, Epic is well known for games such as Unreal Tournament and Gears of War. They also make the Unreal Engine graphics technology, which is used by many other companies in many different games.

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Customer Reviews

The worst multiplayer experience of all time
Let me first say that if you are from America then this review doesn't really apply to you, although it does to some people who have similar problems to anyone living in Europe, Asia or Australia.

The campaign is pretty fun and Horde mode is also great but if you want to play multiplayer on a level playing field, don't buy this game. The game is so broken it is beyond insane; Epic have made a game on which anyone can force host, this happens a LOT, and even when they don't force host you're pretty much guaranteed to be matched up with someone from thousands of miles away.

If you have a team of five friends who play together all the time then this game is for you, when this game works it is one of the best games I've ever played, but unless you get host or somehow manage to get into a game with a host who has a very good upload speed or lives next door to you, you will be destroyed.

Here is a list of some of the things you can expect when up against the the host:

1. Your bullets will not connect with the opponents.
2. Your opponents will have devastatingly powerful bullets.
3. Your opponents can punch you from a distance.
4. Your opponets will always get to the good weapons and dominate the game.
5. Your opponents grenades may kill you before you see them.

All this is pretty much symptomatic of being a second or so behind them (lag), so even when you get behind cover, their bullets will still damage you for a second or more, depending on how much lag you have.

Please bear in mind that I have a 20Mb connection, so the speed of your connection will have no effect whatsoever on the game (unless you get host).

How often do you get host?

If you have a team of five people, about 45% of the time (depending on how many bridgers are about), if you play alone you'll get host about 5%-7% of the time, if you play wingman with a partner it's about 10%-15% and playing wingman alone is about 3-4% (wingman is by far the most exploited gametype for bridgers).

There you have it, having owned the game since February I've known about 20 people (who I played with regularly) trade Gears 2 in and play Cod:Waw. I've finally managed to get rid of this piece of crap, having been waiting for an update for months to sort out matchmaking, we've now had 4 title updates and none of them have made a single bit of difference to this game.

I'm stunned that they were allowed to sell this unfinished piece of crap when it came out, and it's still just as broken 8 months later.

Avoid like the plague.

Best single player game for the 360
Without doubt the finest single player game I have played for the 360. It has a great immersive storyline with numerous intertwined subplots and regular breathtaking cutscenes that had me hooked. There is more variety in gameplay compared to GOW 1 with alot more vehicle scenes and challenges which are a welcome break from just duck and cover shooting. The game is also reasonably challenging and requires some patience on higher difficulties. There have been a number of new innovations building on the first game including more vehicle action and the introduction of mortars and shields and a constant flow of objectives other than just shooting everything in sight and some interesting new bosses which are all highly challenging and different. I have been playing for 10-12 hours on the second highest difficulty and still haven't finished the game and the single player is alot longer and more varied than its rival Halo 3 which to be honest was much shorter as I completed it in under 8 hours on the higher difficulty.

The enemy AI is very impressive and all enemies are capable of dishing out serious damage and killing you and there is a superb variety unparalleled in any other game which really make the game stand out from the rest. From grunts with shotguns, boomers with rocket launchers, flying reavers, Kantus that automatically revive dead teamates, tickers that carry explosives on their back, snipers, soldiers with flamethrowers, soldiers that ride on the back of strange two legged creatures, soldiers with exploding arrows and grenades. All of the enemies require different strategies to beat and quick thinking and reflexes are required when you have a horde of different types of enemies coming at you from all sides and it is much more varied and challenging because of the range of enemies.

Overall I think they have taken the first game which was very good and rather than just sit on a tried and tested formula they have added new innovations and ideas to improve gameplay as well as having a more complex and emotional storyline to make the finest single player game currently available for the 360.

gears of war 2
WOW what an amaizing game i can't tell you how good this game is, the story is second to none, the graphics are the outstanding the game play makes you grit your teeth with the sheer enjoyment of this game. Me and gears will never part company i've been gaming for twenty years and i have never enjoyed a game as much as this ,this is an all time classic i can promise you , there is no way you will be disapointed its absolutley brilliant 10/10