Review Roundup: Gears Of War
November 7th, 2006 by Darren Stevens in Action, Multiplayer, Reviews, Strategy, Xbox360
Gears of War is finally here, and looking at the first reviews from some of the major sites, it looks like the game lives up to the hype. Pretty much all reviewers praise the next-gen graphics and the presentation of the game, crowning it the best Xbox360 title to date.
GameSpot, 96/100, “A wicked game of hide-and-seek with high-powered future guns, which delivers one of the most heart-pounding and graphically thrilling experiences of the year”
IGN, 94/100, “Gears of War is a must-have game, pure and simple. Epic has effectively created a new gaming universe, and the rich story of planet Sera holds its own with the likes of Hyrule, City 17 and the Mushroom-friggin’-Kingdom.”
1UP, 100/100, “Each stage is memorable…They all combine for an unforgettable adventure through 36 hectic, desperate hours of a group of soldiers’ lives…A visual and visceral masterpiece.”
Play Online, 100/100, “Gears of War is truly a breakthrough: The absolute finest game of its kind. The bar has definitely been raised. What Halo did for first-person shooters, Gears does for third person—it’s that good”
Eurogamer, 80/100, “In a sense, Gears of War lives up to expectations in that it’s one of the most intensely beautiful-looking games ever made, but is one that plays by the rules in the gameplay stakes.”
Tags: Action, Multiplayer, Reviews, Strategy, Xbox360
November 7th, 2006 at 9:12 pm
Okay Sony Fanboys … where the hell are you? Let’s hear all your BullSh*t please. I actually have nothing to say … the reviews speak for themselves … and forget Eurogamer .. just look at IGN, Gamespot, Yaho Games, etc. to get the real picture. Graphics are rated 10 across the board … so much for what platform has the best looking game (at this juncture of the race anyway).
Oops I said I wasn’t going to say anything … I lied.
November 7th, 2006 at 9:14 pm
Resistance: Fall of who? Fall of Sony you say … oh that’s what I thought I heard.
:lol: Sorry couldn’t resist that dig and I know how childish that was .. but oh well. :p
November 7th, 2006 at 9:33 pm
Wow, impressive. Can’t remember the last time a game received such good reviews across the board. I pre-ordered my GoW copy two months ago… should be getting it tomorrow
And yes, where the hell are the Sony fanboys?
November 7th, 2006 at 9:49 pm
seems another overrated game, the 75/100 kind of game that is given a 100 because it’s shiny, some gave the mediocre PGR3 a 100 too when it deserves more a 70/80 grade… the art of GOW is atrocious, generic bad FPS art with big guys with big muscles… if you like wrestling, maybe this game will suits you… sometimes I wonder what do people have inside their heads to buy M$ products, again the same people elected W: has a president,lol…
November 7th, 2006 at 9:52 pm
It didn’t take too long …
November 7th, 2006 at 9:54 pm
As imrepssive as Gears of War looks, I don’t think people should judge Resistance Fall of Man yet. Let’s wait for the reviews first…
BTW, you guys should domore review roundups
November 7th, 2006 at 10:03 pm
before i get my pre-ordered copy in the uk
November 7th, 2006 at 10:16 pm
theyre both graphically same moron just the 360 has HD games and she s looking hott!
November 7th, 2006 at 10:18 pm
Well after seeing all of those sick commercials, i would only hope that the game lives up to some of the hype..
November 7th, 2006 at 10:19 pm
“Wow, impressive. Can’t remember the last time an XBOX game received such good reviews across the board.” Fixed. This game is average, at best. 1 site gave it a perfect score ( I won’t even mention 1up as they’re thinking is influenced by their advertisers if you get what I mean)
Pretty pathetic that IGN compared to it to such legends as Zelda or Mario. It even got lower scores than the game it’s supposed to be modeled after. (Resident Evil 4)
It’s a good way to pass the hours, but by no means does it break the mold. It’s paused on my 360 right now, so it is kind of sad that I would think checking my email while playing such an “epic” game. Worth the money? Yeah, but there are far better games out there. Well, not if you’re only system is a 360. If that’s the case, this is the best you’ll get.
November 7th, 2006 at 10:36 pm
Cool … no one is going to argue with your opinion but out of curiousity what games do you think are better than this one? Far better to be precise.
November 7th, 2006 at 11:28 pm
I was a little worried that this game could not live up to its hype but thankfully I was wrong.
Very impressive scores.
November 8th, 2006 at 3:11 am
This is the internet, of course people are going to argue my opinion. Just tell me what systems you have. If I’m feeling energetic I might give you a list instead of just naming a few games. Btw, finished it.
November 8th, 2006 at 4:38 am
“Btw, finished it.”
That was quick. Mustn’t be too hard/long. Is there difficulty settings?
November 8th, 2006 at 9:06 am
Leon your fulla shit (A Sony fanboy pretending to have a 360). now stop making up stories and do your homework.
November 8th, 2006 at 11:42 am
Leon, just name the games … you are the one that said “far better”. That is cool you finished it … you must have really rushed through the campaign on casual because you won’t convince me or anyone else you finished the game in one sitting on hardcore or insane … definitely not Insane mode. I have the game and it is not easy not even for people who played GRAW on Hard or CoD on Veterans Mode.
And no Zac it is not that long … just read the reviews but every review says that the Insane and hardcore mode are difficult to get through so I can’t see someone beating this alone on Insane in 8-10 hours. They say Insane mode at least Triples the length.
The enemies HP is raised by a great deal in 90% of the Locust (I have the strat guide
) for example the Berserker in Insane mode has 12000 HP while Marcus and Dom and cut down to just 175 and even the Drones are boosted to 650 HP. I want to see someone blow through this mode by themselves. Especially without playing the game for any significant length of time.
November 8th, 2006 at 11:47 am
Oh yeah … and definitely believe the hype about the graphics on an HDTV … it really is Epic. You are going to be amazed by the level of detail. I think I spent an hour just walking around and checking things out.
I eagerly await the competition of Heaven’s Sword (which does indeed look fanstastic) and RFoM in terms of sheer graphical quality. I can’t pass judgement yet but I will say that RFoM has its work cut out for it from what I can tell but Heaven’s Sword does look quite incredible, albeit the genre is different.
November 8th, 2006 at 3:32 pm
Ah ok kool. Would be nice to run around. Looking at sci-fi scenery etc is always kool. Anuban what difficulty did you finish it on? (if you finished it yet)
November 8th, 2006 at 5:13 pm
Oh no I am not even close to finished with this game … I am just starting Act 2. I tried out hardcore with my other gamerid and was like “uh no thank you just yet”. So for now I’ll play one time through on Casual and then the second time through when I try some different paths (oh yes there are different routes you can take and so you’ll want to see what is on both).
November 8th, 2006 at 6:41 pm
I got my copy last night played all night and it’s the best shooter I’ve ever played.
Also it is the best x360 online game to be released that is so tweaked out of the box and had no glitches or lag.
I had hella fun last night.
November 8th, 2006 at 9:32 pm
Did you complete it already? You found it to be better than F.E.A.R. on the 360? I don’t know for me personally F.E.A.R.’s photorealistic textures and atmospheric lighting combined with the cinematic firefights and weapons that make really BIG intimidating sounds remains unsurpassed but the overall visual look and detail of the characters easily goes to Gears. For me it is really close … I gave FEAR a 9.2 and Gears a 9.1 when asked on another site. Obviously the sheer scale and granduer of Gears sets it apart from almost any other game around.
The thing is F.E.A.R. is a true FPS and Gears is a so-called “2nd person” shooter (though just about everyone other than CliffyB and Epic are calling it a 3rd person shooter) so maybe direct comparisons are invalid here. Also Gears is tactical and as such is really meant to be enjoyed Co-op. For some …coupled with the Multiplayer portion … this definitely boosts up Gears over F.E.A.R. or any other shooter … even similar ones like GRAW just can’t compare. The gameplay mechanics are just so good. GRAW handles cover well but it just doesn’t sound or look as good …although having control of 3 AI squad members is pretty damn cool. GRAW does have a better story though … and it is longer based on my play experience so far with Gears.
Anyway Gears is the poo as I saw someone say … jawdropping in almost every way (except the story and some of the dialogue). Cole Train is the man!
November 9th, 2006 at 12:08 pm
“Leon your fulla shit (A Sony fanboy pretending to have a 360). now stop making up stories and do your homework.”
Uhm no. I’m actually a Nintendo fanboy who owns a 360 and probably won’t touch a PS3 until the price is below 400 and the games are actually something I’d want to play.
Btw, Anuban, when I said I finished it, I finished it. I don’t remember listing a difficulty setting either. I do however remember a lot of pizza and forum breaks if you can call that “rushing through.” The so called “difficulty” on this game is pathetic. I’d like to try out the harder difficulties, but I don’t want to be bored. It gets traded in today. Hopefully I can pick up a copy of Elite Beat Agents.
November 9th, 2006 at 8:12 pm
If you say so. I don’t care to be perfectly honest. To each his own and if you found it easy then so be it. I don’t have to argue about something so mundane and trivial. The game is hard to me (maybe a bit to tactical and aggressive) and that is all I can say with 100% certainty, but I am still enjoying it. I guess you need to find a game you like.
November 20th, 2006 at 6:06 am
Update … and also a complete change of heart after playing through this half on casual and the first two chapters on Hardcore:
First off this game is definitely amazingly overrated and overhyped. Period … well maybe not Period but that’s my opinion. One of the main reasons is the lack of originality on almost all fronts but someone people are blind to that. The Locust (wow they come up from underground …. oooh that’s never been done … two words MOLE MAN and add to that they like our weak weapons … oh yeah I believe that) … names like Drones, Boomers, Bersekers … wow so original. And don’t let me start on the pitiful excuse of an arsenal they provide you with.
And this one really just hit me … I always suspected I recognized those Kryll creatures from somewhere I just couldn’t put my finger on it. Then I while switching the channels I came across “Pitch Black”, one of my fav recent Sci-fi films and the film that got me into Vinnie D. So if you remember Pitch Black then you know what I am talking about.
Now let’s talk about the “GREAT ENEMY AI” … well it doesn’t really get any better on Hardcore … please. The difference is the Drones go from 250 hp to a mind boggling 550 Hp meanwhile your weapons’ inflicted damage DOES NOT get any increase … so of course they get closer and flank better because they DON’T go down nearly as easily. The Berserker on Hardcore is 6500 so one Hammer of Dawn blast won’t work. The Boomer goes from 1750 to 2500 … come on Epic what was this all about … to FORCE people to play co-op (and that would suck) So no this game is NOT an A+ or a 10/10 or a 5/5 nope … this is simply a game I have now come to loathe because no one wants to face the facts that it is not a very good game from a gameplay POV, nor is it original in the least. Take away the presentation and you really don’t have much of anything.
All of this my POV. If people do enjoy the game I am happy for them and really I don’t expect people to admit they don’t like it but just to admit is is Far from a perfect game or even a 9.5.
December 19th, 2007 at 3:41 pm
when i play gears of war it will tell me your system doesnt meet the minimum requirements
December 19th, 2007 at 3:41 pm
when i play gears of war it will tells me your system doesnt meet the minimum requirements