Gears of War 2 - Hands On Preview

Was there ever any doubt that Gears of War 2 would spawn a sequel? Taking the Xbox 360 by storm when it arrived in November 2006, the first instalment proved massively successful, becoming the console's very own Halo and the new figurehead brand for developer Epic Games in the process. Five million plus units later, and the return of Marcus Fenix, the Gears, and of course, the Locust Horde is nearly upon us.

Scheduled to arrive on November 7th, exclusively on Xbox 360 (and this time, 'exclusive' really does mean 'exclusive'), Gears of War 2 has already been touted as "...bigger, badder, and more badass!" by Cliff 'I'm all grown up' Bleszinski, and much is expected of it. TVG recently went hands on with the Act 1 of the sequel, together with new multiplayer co-op mode 'Horde', to continue - but not necessarily finish - the fight...

Six Months Later...

General RAAM is dead and the Lightmass Bomb has detonated, but still they come. The Locust Horde makes a more deadly offensive this time around in Gears of War 2, as humanity remains on the brink of obliteration. But forget about a few small-fry emergence holes; this time the Horde can create sinkholes that literally consume entire cities. Off the back of this new and critical threat, the Gears are sent to investigate and destroy the source of the sinkholes in a bid to stop the last bastion of humanity, the city of Jacinto, from falling. And did we mention the new big bad boss, Skorge? Let's just say that Epic describes him as a scalpel to RAAM's sledgehammer - he's the Locust equivalent of a samurai and rather resembles the Predator.

It sounds like just another day in the field for Marcus Fenix and the rest of Delta Squad, but there's a new twist. It seems that best buddy and fellow squad member, Dominic Santiago, is pining for his missing wife and is desperate to find her. Has Gears of War gone soft? Well, not exactly...

When the former CliffyB first unveiled Gears of War 2 back in January, much was made of the technological advancements that the latest iteration of the studio's massively licensed Unreal Engine 3 allowed the development team to do. Improvements to lighting and shadowing, ambient occlusion around characters, soft body physics, dynamic liquid, destructible environments, and crowds, were all touted during the game's debut presentation at this year's Game Developers Conference.

It doesn't take long to see several of these improvements in full working order during the course of Act 1, where the Gears seem far more bedded in the gameworld than the original title. The integration of ambient occlusion for instance now creates a greater contrast between the parts of a character in shadow than in light, whilst the destructible environments (which granted, are in no way as developed as in other titles) mean that Sera is more than just a movie set.

Cocked, Locked, And Ready To Rock!

But it's not the technological advancements that make Gears, it's the rampant violence, covering system, and close combat which has kept the title in the top four of most played Xbox Live titles for all this time. Thankfully, Epic has also developed that area too.

Beyond making entering and exiting cover far tighter than before, something that was immediately obvious during our hands on time, there's a host of new touches that also refines the Gears experience. Achievement Tracking, which lets gamers know how close they are to completing an achievement with a quick impression on the HUD, is one such nuance. Knowing how close you are to obtaining gamerscore points for the 'Variety is the spice of death' or 'Kick 'em when they're down' achievements without having to go via the convoluted Xbox 360 Guide is something that we've already seen in The Orange Box - and it's nice to see it being carried on here.

In many respects, Gears 2 positively oozes familiarity; the same elements that gamers ran wild for two years ago continues in the same vein here...which is just fine really. Evolutionary improvements added to the game seem to be ensuring that the sequel is a development over its predecessor. The now often copied covering system is shaping up to be much more rounded than it was before, Bleszinski believes that Gears 2 features "the best covering system in the business", and whilst we didn't experience it first hand, the button-mashing dynamic to bayonet duels is sure to become a fan favourite come November.

Lessons have also been learnt about the narrative, with Epic taking strong measures to ensure that Gears of War 2 doesn't suffer from the same underdeveloped storyline of its predecessor. Recruiting comic book writer Joshua Ortega (Spider-Man Umlimited, Star Wars Tales) to help flesh out a deeper story, with the last gasp push against the Locust and Dom's search for Maria right at the heart of the game, Epic are trying to make sure that Gears 2 isn't about steroid happy, brain-dead future soldiers...at least, not all of it.

The collection of COG Tags from the first title is also expanded so that players find trinkets and cuttings relating to the war against the Locust, filling in gaps throughout the narrative, and giving gamers a more rounded explanation of the war. Between the more epic vistas of the game's environments, and Ortega's storytelling skills, it's understandable why the North Carolina studio is trying to shift perceptions of the game. As Bleszinski himself acknowledges, "Bigger, badder, and more baddass - let's put that to bed! We are now describing it as 'epic, yet more intimate'."

Backs To The Wall Time.

A more streamlined tutorial through some of the streets of Jacinto will undoubtedly help newcomers to the series much more than the jail of the original, whilst the first mission proper - heading to the abandoned town of Landown - is fronted by the sort of stirring oratory and rhetoric last seen in a US national political convention. Interspersed with the loadout of the Gears as they start the last 'dead man walking' march into Sera's stunning snow-capped mountain ranges on giant mechanical Derricks, the sequence is one that will no doubt excite a significant part of the Gears hardcore.

The basis for Epic's hands off demos of the game in past months, the ride through the epic countryside typifies the change in environments this time around. Good-bye grey concrete pillars; say hello to vast caverns, greenery, and backdrops from a National Geographic double-page spread. There's actually colour in the visual palette this time around, other than blood red! Eventually arriving in the snowy town of Landown following an extended confrontation with the Locust that involved shooting down several Brumacks (making up for the disappointment of Gears 1) and Corpsers, Delta Squad reminisce about the loss of the settlement before preparing to drop underground and face the Locust on their home turf.

Having been stopped in our tracks by a force more powerful than the Locust Horde, namely watchful hawks from Epic trying to stop everyone from going too far into the game, it was time to experience one of the new game modes bundled in with Gears 2.

A compromise that allowed the two-player co-op to retain its narrative weight, Horde is a real 'backs to the wall' multiplayer mode for up to five gamers, as they face up to fifty waves of increasingly tougher Locust species in a confined map. Constant communication between players is pretty much a must once the number of waves edge closer to the half ton mark, with ammo extremely limited, and the temptation to run the gauntlet of Locust just to pick up a weapon or save a fellow soldier often resulting in certain death. It's these 'Saving Private Ryan' moments, and the 'I'll be right back!' horror movie moments that gamers will savour come November. Horde also proved a decent place to experience some of the newer enemy variants, including the moving landmine-like 'Tickers' (yes, they look like oversized ticks) and shaman 'Kantus', which can bring fallen Locust back to life.

So the campaign looks beefier, the multiplayer has been expanded upon, and the Locusts now really do appear in hordes - let the final war of humanity commence!