Gears of War is the defining franchise for the Xbox 360. Gears introduced gamers to the new standard in cover-systems, while offering bloody battles that kicked ass whether you were playing the campaign or the multiplayer. The series is exclusive to the Xbox 360 and was the first game on the console to actually sell the console.
Gears of War 2 came along 2 years later, introducing new weapons, characters, game modes, finishing moves, a sleek cinematic presentation, and the stellar Horde mode. Gamers who invested many hours into the first game claim that the sequel lost the magic, while Gears of War 2 fans claim that Horde and the variety of game modes trump the 4 modes offered in the original. To settle this debate once and for all, we’re going to take a pro’s and con’s look at both games, and decide which is the better Gears game.
The Campaign
In support of Gears 1: Cliff Bleszinski and his crew did a wonderful job of conveying a broken world in the original Gears of War. As Marcus and the COGs traverse through the planet Sera during the game’s 5 acts, through the rubble we see what used to be beautifully Victorian and Roman inspired architecture. In the more industrial areas we come across the Stranded, human survivors that have descended so far that they live off of only basic survival skills. In the 2nd Act, Marcus and Dom must avoid the dark since the Krill will strike at once and eat them alive. The dark represents the unknown, a theme that the player also associates with the unfamiliar enemy Locust. The planet Sera is a world where the unknown doesn’t represent opportunity, but instead immediate danger, and this tone is brilliantly underscored throughout the game.
Gears of War is a franchise that will never be known for its excellence in storylines. This goes for both games, but the second game commits greater thematic sins than the original. This is how I look at the Gears storylines: The first Gears of War was taking a test and left some of the answers blank. Gears of War 2 took the same exact test, but instead of leaving the questions it didn’t know blank, Gears 2 guessed and B.S.’ed its way through the test. There were some holes in Gears of War, but at least it didn’t come up with generic plot points, such as the pathetic story of “lost love” between Dom and Maria. The story has been overdone to death, so if Gears 2 was going to use it, at least try to make it so it isn’t laughable.
In Defense of Gears 2: On the other hand, it doesn’t take a brain surgeon to realize that more thought was put into the Gears of War 2 story. In fact, I’m not sure if any thought was put into the original Gears of War story. The first Gears did a horrendous job telling a story, which left it up to Gears of War 2 to pick up the pieces and, ironically, provide more back-story than the first game did. Does anybody else find it odd that we had to wait to play the second game to find out the significance of the events from the first game? Gears 2 fills the player in on the gravity of the situation, which makes for a much more intense experience. Playing through the game with the hopes of saving Jacincto only to sink it was one of more compelling moments in Gears history thus far.
The color scheme for Gears 2 was also was a much-needed improvement. Everybody has played a dark game that has black as the primary color, as in the first Gears. By adding the sepia filter, Epic Games not only gave Gears a new color, but a new tone as well. It gave the feeling that these COGs were cowboys, they could take on anything, and they’d seen enough that they weren’t afraid of what was next. This cinematic filter complemented the gameplay, which involved riding at high-speeds on massive vehicles while shooting turret guns at enemy locusts, being digested by giant worms, riding brumaks, etc. The tone didn’t suggest “All is lost,” but rather “All is possible.”
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