Ok so everyone on the planet has been playing Gears 2 these last few weeks. And yes I have also been engrossed in the world of Gears. So its time to give my impressions of this masterpiece of a game.

Lets just start this off by saying, no I did not go directly into horde mode and collect $200. I did what everyone should have done. I rushed home from gamestop (the source of all evil in this world), put in Gears, and played the campaign mode. I decided hardcore would be the best place to start because I didnt want an easy breeze through game experiance. And at the same time, I didnt want to die every 30 seconds when I was about 2 feet from a barricade. So my experiance began.

From the first load up of Gears when I was treated to a very sweet opening cinematic, I was hooked. The whole underdog fighting againt all leagues of indestructible evil always appealed to me. So I grabbed some water bottles and a bag of chips, and started my journey into the sinkhole. Lets take a look at this game from a few standpoints.

Graphics - No real insane noticeable improvement over the first gears to me, besides it being a little more crisp and the textures were clear as day. I was still impressed with the gritty burnt out world.

Characters -  You’re favorite delta squad is back. Marcus, Dom, Baird, and Cole all make their return for this action packed hit. But you also get to meet a few new characters. Tai the unstoppable tattoo’d badass, Carmine the rookie assigned to delta, and Dizzy, the stranded who signed up for the COG army to get his family into Jacinto. Of all of them, Tai was my favorite. The strong silent badass, who would kick the snot out of anything in his way. I would say he is just a tiny bit less awesome then cole, but way more then carmine.

The voice acting is done very well and you do tend to form a sort of relationship with your squad this time. When they are in trouble, you tend to drop anything your doing, lay some cover fire, and run through a hailstorm of bullets to save them.

Audio -  LOVE IT. Honestly without the musical score, I wouldnt be as into the game as I am. The music lends itself to make you feel as if you are emotionally invested in the game. You get those highs when your fighting back the horde becasue of the music. And you get the emotional lows when it changes to dark and mellow tunes as you watch your buddies get rocked.

Story - Not much to say on this one. Its a continuation of the first game, but with more emotional tones. You have the main story of trying to save Jacinto and take down the Horde. Also you have the secondary story of saving Dom’s wife. Which honestly becomes the main goal for most of the game. You find yourself rushing towards the enemies so you can get closer to where she may be.

Ok now multiplayer, which was one of the main reasons I picked this up.

HORDE! - OMGWTF. Thats all I can say, being able to play with 4 of your buddies in a game where you have to fight back 50 waves of ever increasing enemies (health, accuracy, and damage). This is the meat and potato’s of the multiplayer. If you go in with 4 buddies, the host can pick the map, and starting wave. If you go in to a random game, you start at wave one, and you vote on one of 2 maps. Going in with buddies is definatly the real way to go. Teamwork is a must, and in most levels, picking an area with only 2 entrances is the way to go. Everyone can defend the spot, and gather ammo before the next round starts. The rambo types will die quickly, thus dooming your entire squad.

The other multiplayer modes are the same cut and dry ones as the last game, so I feel no real reason to go into depth talking about them. If you played them before, you know exactly how they pan out in this one.

Overall I was insanely impressed with this game. From Horde, to Wingman, to the coop story, I was hooked all the way from beginning to end. I cannot wait for part 3 to come out. If they ramped up the story, characters, and gameplay this much. Imagine the 3rd. A+ all around.

oh and for all wondering. My gamertag is TENDERROAST1 (last character is a one). Feel free to hit me up on XBL and kill some horde with me. OR chill or whatever.