That doesn’t mean you should expect something completely new, though. With the sequel, Epic finally gets room to tell the Gears story and exploit the full potential of the cover based combat they introduced two years ago. Looking back, the first game on the 360 feels like an elaborate tech demo, and the PC port an intermediary stepping stone. Gears of War 2 takes everything that Epic Games included in the PC version and elevates it by several powers of ten. The intriguing story and relentless action left me craving more, and once I finally did play the original Gears on the 360, it felt a little empty compared to the beefed up, improved PC port. That mixture, of over-the-top war and a few hidden flecks of subtlety, was highly satisfying.
There were hints of complexity in the game’s protagonist, Marcus Fenix, but the game never got pretentious and overstepped its bounds like Halo. Gears knew what it was: a balls-to-the-wall shooter about a hopeless struggle. Other aspects of the game-recharging health, comically bulky characters, alien enemies and yes, chainsaw-guns-did make it exaggerated and unrealistic, but the bitter flavor of war was there, and it felt very real. The graphics and story perfectly conveyed the desperation, brutality and often pointlessness of war. The simple combination of taking cover, returning fire and advancing made Gears feel more like a war game than the dozens of WW2 titles I’ve played over the years. I already knew that the visuals were spectacular it was the gameplay that sucked me in. I didn’t play Gears at E3 that year, in fact I didn’t play it until the PC version was released nearly a year later.
I recall that I thought it looked like just another grungy action game, and that the chainsaw on Marcus’ gun struck me as somewhat gratuitous. Gears of War was the centerpiece of Microsoft’s E3 presentation that year, and they’d hung a giant banner featuring the game’s cover art outside the entrance to the expo. Just over two years ago, I remember standing outside the LA convention center and staring up at Marcus Fenix’ scowling mug.
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