Gears of War

Unique weapons are always a plus to the genre, but incredibly ignorant squad AI isn’t. Epic is saying that shouldn’t be a problem with Gears and you can trust them if you’ve ever played against any of the Unreal Tournament bots. Besides your comrades taking cover and noticing when the enemy is trying to flank, you are also able to issue commands to them. Simply hold down the L bumper and hit the corresponding button to issue any of the three commands. Cease fire, open fire, and regroup/move out will be available in your command arsenal. Your friend Dom will be with you most of the game, but you will be traveling with a squad containing up to four soldiers at times. Don’t expect the enemy to be a slouch in the AI department either. They might be barbaric looking creatures but they do use some of the same tactics you’ll use like taking cover and flanking enemy positions. The Y button will be used as the “what’s important” button. If a squad mate yells something like, “they’re in the building to your left,” you’ll hold Y and your vision will be pointed in that direction. There are going to be two view modes, the standard Third Person view which allows you to see the entire avatar and the in Over the Shoulder view for precision aiming.

If you haven’t figured it out by now, cover is going to be extremely important if you want to win the game. There are two types of cover: Fragile cover is made up of things like sofas or wooden fences. These are easily torn to shreds by enemy fire and should only be used when on the move. Sturdy cover consists of things such as retaining walls and buildings. This will give you enough time to find another hidey hole before the Horde lays your current one to waste. The A button is what Bleszinski calls your “every move” button. The cover system is context sensitive so when close enough to a piece of cover tap A and that will have you lean against it. Tap the A button again with a directional push of the thumb stick and you’ll do one of many things: SWAT turns, Combat Rolls, Roadie Running, or you’ll simply Clamber over and find another spot. Whatever you choose just remember you can’t go in with all guns blazing.

Co-op is also going to be available with Dom being the second avatar if a buddy decides to join you over Xbox LIVE, and multiplayer is in the works however Epic isn’t saying anything other than it’s going to be great. So hopefully if Epic is able to deliver on all of these accounts, Gears of War will be a prime candidate for the Game of the Year.