The gears of war continue to turn as Marcus Fenix and his squad of Cogs go back into action. Gears of War 2 continues the story of Marcus Fenix and Delta Squad, locked in an increasingly desperate battle against the nightmarish Locust Horde for the survival of humanity. This limited edition version features several extras, including a Collectible SteelBook DVD case, "Beneath the Surface: An Inside Look at Gears of War 2," a 48-page hardbound book with exclusive art and a foreword by Design Director Cliff Bleszinski, and a DVD with making-of-the-game footage as well as artwork and commentary. You also get an exclusive gold-plated Lancer Assault Rifle that you can use during online play.
Customer Rating: 
Summary: Gears of War 2 pwns noobs and your mom
Comment: This game is a definite upgrade to the prequel. I got this game with the Exclusive Lancer and I am definitely happy with this product!!!!!
Customer Rating: Summary: Gears of War 2 makes me happy in my pants
Comment: ok so i'll start this off saying that i am indeed a die hard gears of war fan and i'm not gonna be like OMG this game is the greatest thing in existence...no porn is haha but the game is really good they pretty much fixed everything that i didn't like about the 1st one but there are a few things that bother me about the game one of which is how one of the levels plays out but i'm not going to spoil anything i'll just say it's not gears of war and the achievements aren't that hard to get i've gotten 45/50 so far that kinda made me sad because i wanted something to try for you can pretty much get a lot of them by just doing the single player campaign so now i must talk about the online play they changed a lot of things about it they've made the shot gun more weaker and the lancer stronger and they've added stopping power to the weapons too they've also included a party system which is a good concept but if you have a horrible connection don't expect to host a game you'd just have to hope a friend is playing that game and that's about the only things that i don't like about the game but everything else makes me happy and i think that this game is a must buy but if you don't think that just rent it or something you really need to play this especially if you loved the 1st one
Customer Rating: 
Summary: Return of the lancer
Comment: OK...Gears of War is great. We all love the sound of popping someones head off and hearing Cole talk about his locomotive, but seriously, Epic somehow figured out how to make the lancer even more annoying and unfair. Yes, you still get sucked into the vortex that mysteriously surrounds each and every lancer,but now on top of that, bullets do not seem to slow or stun the approaching chainsaw wielding Ed. So, you take a nicely placed shot with your shotgun and WHOOSH....you get sucked up by the chainsaw. Not to mention that 3 out of every 5 match is horribly laggy (except for that one player who hosts and goes around racking up silly amounts of kills)...oh yea, by the way, its a giant worm.
Customer Rating: Summary: Gears Of War 2
Comment: I picked this up along with Resistance 2, and after my disappointment with that game, I was really hoping Gears2 wouldn't let me down. Well, let me tell you, it certainly did not. First off, a decided improvement over the first Gears in the story department. The graphics, while it may not quite seem like it, are better than the first. the textures are better, the gore is better, and the character models are better. And the game play is still just like the first Gears, making it quick and easy to pick up, with out to much new to learn. about the only new things to learn are the executions and how to pick up a downed enemy and use it as a meat shield. The campaign in well longer than the first, and just very epic. It feels so much bigger than the first game. All of the favorite weapons are back, some have been improved, and there are some new goodies to try. This is a great game and if you have and Xbox360, this game NEEDS to be in your library.
Customer Rating: Summary: You'll Wish Epic Had Made It This Way The First Time
Comment: Gears of War 2 simply is a game that must be played by any 360 owner who enjoys shooters of any flavor. Whether you love the over-the-top craziness that is Halo or if Rainbow 6 is more to your liking, there is much to be found here in Gears 2. While keeping the gameplay that every Gears fan knows and loves intact, Epic has managed to improve on the things that needed improvement, wiped out almost all of what pulled the first game down, added lots of new features that only add to the experience while literally take nothing away, nothing, and managed to expand upon the admittedly fairly simple characters.
Seeing as how the letdowns are very minor, I'll just get those out of the way now.
1. Countering a chainsawing enemy is harder now (but certainly NOT impossible.)
2. The shotgun's power is diminished. (Newest XBox Live Update seems to have corrected this.)
3. It's still easy to hit cover you don't want to hit, although this is much improved. I went from constantly hitting cover I didn't want in almost every single round to doing it maybe once or twice a match, and saying it happens four or more times per match is being absurdly ridiculous.
4. The "three downs and you're out" rule is still in effect in Execution, even there is NO mention of it anywhere in the tutorials or the game description - the game just tells you to get a one-shot kill or an in-close "execution" on the enemy.
5. The single player gives the player a "crutch" on Casual - if you fall in Solo, you can be helped up, but no such luck on harder modes, if you fall, you die. I can understand Epic wanting to ease the player in but that is already very easily accomplished with the bucket loads of ammo and the limited damage an enemy does. Having this put in only to take it away on a harder mode is needless. On a more minor but related matter, even on Hardcore, one level below the hardest difficulty called Insane, large ammo boxes have grenades, but on Insane, the mode when you REALLY need them, they don't.
6. Matchmaking is VERY hard and VERY slow, although I am certain that this problem will fix itself as more people throughout the holiday season get the game and play.
7. The Multiplayer bots are STUPID. I actually had a match where it was down to one enemy and I had all four of my bots alive, yet their idiocy led to the one killing off all four of them one at a time. And sometimes the last enemy will be down but they won't rush in to finish them even if the clock is on its last 10 seconds. You also can't issue orders to them, even though you could do that in Perfect Dark, which came out in the year 2000 on the Nintendo 64. However, they can also prove to be useful some of the time too. They're AI controlled characters, after all.
8. If a friend is down next to a weapon, for some reason the game will force you to pick up the weapon first, then help up your friend.
9. The Endor, I mean, Reaver level could've been better, or just scratched and used as a cutscene. Hopefully Gears 3 will be without this.
10. There are apparently glitches that let a player fly around and get in real close to the enemy to avoid being shot. Hopefully these are found and squashed before the holiday crowd.
However, all of these gripes even put together do not in any way shape or form diminish the game at all. AT ALL. Suffice it to say that Epic has smashed all expectations, and given how high they were, that is saying something. The new Gears, despite the cynical, self-righteous jaded players insist, is NOT just the same game with a "2" behind it. As they were supposed to do, Epic has added much, such as chainsaw dueling, mobile cover, new multiplayer modes, new maps, (some of which have new hazards to look out for) new weapons, the heavy machine guns can overheat now, and while this isn't saying much, the storyline delves into the characters, especially Dom, a little bit more deeply, emphasis on the "little bit." We're only given a hint of Dom searching for his wife in the first game, and that story line comes to the fore later in this game, although it does NOT take anything away from the overall conflict. The plot twist towards the end probably could've had a little more of a punch to it but it's not terrible in any way, and the ending will leave the gamer to wonder what will happen now, especially if they're patient enough to wait out the credits.
The chainsaw duels are simple - Just tap B! but there's tension that you feel leading up to the outcome, which makes winning it feel really good. An enemy can interfere, but that's what teammates are for.
Speaking of teammates, rely on them. Use them to help you. Communicate. Stick to cover and help your buddies out. Teamwork, communication and cover are key. Fail to use one and you'll probably lose. Fail to use two and you will lose. Don't use any of them and you've already lost before the match has even started. Now that being shot slows you down, gone is the chance to rush in shotguns blazing and Rambo your team to victory. Try that in Gears 2 and your only reward is to watch the entire match through spectator camera, which is much improved by the way. Now you have to see to it that concrete, not air, is between you and the bullets if you want to have a chance at winning the match. So stick with your teammates. You win as a team, you lose as a team.
Mobile cover makes its debut and is a smashing addition. In Gears 1, there was only about one way to get mobile cover - be in front of someone who's taking the bullets. Now there is a heavy shield and the chance to take hostage enemies that are downed. Either one will work, although the latter will deteriorate as it soaks up damage and slows you down. The shield will prevent you from mantling and rolling but running is still there. Given just how important cover is in this game, being able to move around with it is good.
I won't delve much into the new modes as the game does a great job of walking the player through how each mode works. Guardian is a great twist on the VIP type of match, even better than Assassination. Submission is a great twist on Capture the Flag, Wingman is very chaotic, perhaps about as chaotic as Gears gets, given the number of small teams, King of the Hill hasn't changed the formula but why fix it if its not broken and Horde is a lot of fun, especially with people who will work together to keep everyone alive. Execution, Warzone and Annex are still the same.
The maps are easy to memorize and suit both sides well. Neither side has a positional advantage regardless of which spawn point they begin the map on. Most are symmetrical and all are small so players will always have plenty of action quickly on in a round and investigating a map to flush out the final enemy doesn't take too long. The maps called Avalanche, Security and Hail have environmental hazards that are just as deadly as an enemy, so a novice would do well to find out how to avoid these so as to not die needlessly.
The Flamethrower, Ink Grenades, an automatic pistol, a mobile heavy machine gun, mortar and the aforementioned shield help round out Gear's already robust weapon roster and any of these can be removed or changed if a player doesn't like them. The Ink Grenades are basically poison, throw or set it and an enemy (or friend!) will continually take damage as they remain in the affected area. Smoke grenades now stun an enemy. As said before, heavy machine guns will overheat, so while mounted ones have unlimited ammo, this helps balance them out. The mobile variant, however, still has a limit, but again, you can move around. Slowly. Speaking of moving around, another MUCH APPRECIATED feature is the ability to crawl when the enemy has downed you in multiplayer. In the first game, if you were downed, you had to stay in place and hope someone would come get you before the enemy finished the job. Now you can close some of the distance between yourself and a teammate, which can mean the difference between winning and losing a match.
And thankfully the sniper rifle's active reload does NOT automatically down someone in Gears 2. Epic got smart and decided to make it so that if your character has full health, an active will damage your character enough so that one more hit will down you. Why on earth they didn't do it this way in the first place is beyond me, but THANK YOU Epic for fixing this needlessly frustrating gameplay element. There are few things more annoying than being killed by a sniper who doesn't have the skill to properly use their weapon. It takes no skill whatsoever to down someone this way. In the first game, all you'd have to do is get another active and down the enemy two more times to kill them, since after getting up the player has to wait a moment before moving (again Epic, WHY DID YOU DO THIS?) So again, Epic, thank you for not allowing such a cheap and frustrating gameplay element poison a great multiplayer experience two games in a row.
Well, I think that about covers it....Oh wait, that's right, the story. Epic still isn't getting high marks for a stellar storyline, but let's face it - the game is about war and the characters have bodies that steroid users can only wish for. Marcus is still the gruff meat head who sounds like gravel is grinding in his throat, Dom is his more level-headed friend who wants to find his wife, Cole is still the hilarious but excellent soldier and Baird is still the whiny sarcastic jerk who will remind everyone that he's the only one who knows how to fix things. Adding onto the roster is Tai, a spiritual warrior who prays as well as he shoots, Benjamin Carmine, Anthony Carmine's (from the first game) brother and Dizzy, who quickly shows just how one-dimensional his character is in about the first five minutes you meet him but is still funny enough to deserve to be in the next game. With the exception of Dom, none of the characters really grow or change throughout the second game, but then again, this is Gears we're talking about. In these games storyline simply does take a backseat to the gameplay, and the gameplay is solid.
And parents, DO NOT, I repeat DO NOT let the Mature rating prevent you from letting your child at least rent the game, because in another stroke of genius, Epic has given you the ability to filter out the language and gore. The language simply silences the profanities, so instead of hearing this:
"Yeah, but he made RAAM look like a g**d**** pushover"
Instead you'll hear (and see if subtitles are enabled) this:
"Yeah, but he made RAAM look like a
pushover"
All in all Gears 2 is a great game and I would strongly recommend it. There is much to be found and loved by the whole gaming community. If you haven't played the first Gears yet, there's little reason to bother getting it first, as Wikipedia can fill the player in on the storyline. In all honesty, had I known beforehand that Gears 2 would be as great as it is, I'd have just saved my money for Gears 2.
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