Gears of War 2

Excellent sequel!! (2008-11-19)
I don't write too many reviews but sometimes I just have to! Let me start off by writing that I was not the biggest fan of the original GoW, I thought it was a good game but not the be all end all of gaming like many people told me. I planned on waiting to buy this game till after the Christmas Season but a friend convinced me to buy it to play on Live with him...HOLY CRAP!! WOW WOW WOW, awesome fun.

Last night I started the single player campaign mode and I have been hooked since.

I will keep it short, excellent game.

bad a$$ game (2008-11-18)
this game was amazing, its nonstop action from start to finish. i was very impressed with it, this is one of the best games i have ever played

Chainsawgun part 2 (2008-11-18)
I bought the xbox 360 for gears of war 1 and since its a sequel to the best game of the past couple years, of course I am going to buy it. When I get a game I always play single player first. So I pop it in and in just a couple minutes I am shooting up reavers and nemacysts, and battling brumaks. The scenery changes more than the first but it gets a little repetitive in the caves. The story is virtually the same as the first. Do this, do that, Find your sqaud mates and set a bomb off. And they tried way too hard with the Dom and Maria thing, even putting an embaressing cutscence where Maria makes Dom breakfast. Tell me, how do you go from brumak to breakfast?
Now for multiplayer, they changed the game up so you have less control of what you play, the host is random so now its more fair. The shotgun goes much slower and they have added stopping power which brings a more tactical feel than the first.(if you ever played raven down, you know what I mean) Cool executions are added and a new chainsaw duel, adds to the expirience but it isnt revolutionary.
Overall, both have minor problems, but everything was added or changed for a reason.

Don't listen to the Haters and Fanboys (2008-11-18)
This is a Good Game!! It is not perhaps the Greatest Game ever!! Can there really be a "Greatest Game Ever"? Or The just Great games?! As one reviewer put it, "gears the sequel," yet I suppose that can be expected, yet waiting 2 years, I would want more too but is that realistic? Was not the first Gears a primary game to launch and push the 360 to its limits?! Anyway, I did not play the first game very much, maybe 5-6 hrs, the controls sucked! The idea was great: I love the cover/tactical, opposed to the run and gun. But the "Tron light Cycles Running" and the "Super A" button were a pain in the controller, which almost got shattered (I am okay with no jump button but jump over the cover already-duck, stand up, duck, stand up, duck, stand up, die. WTF, I was pushing forward already! How many times do I have to reread the directions!!!). The controls seem to work much better and the running has a fluid feel, like water skiing. This is not to say that the controls are great; there are points throughout the game where they are frustrating (glass rain and headlight driving), yet only mildly.
I did not preorder and had been saving my money for either Fallout 3 or Call WaW or Fable 2. Yet, playing at a buddy's this weekend, playing the split screen campaign, had a lot of fun throughout--thus I now own Gears 2 and Fallout 3. The story as a concept leads to enjoyable game play. Sure there are holes, it is not very deep, and the Dialogue could be better. But I did not expect Godfather, Lord of the Rings dialogue; I expected Rambo, Terminator dialogue and why would you think it would be anything else??! In that light it made for a fun story. You are supposed to suspend judgment and have a rational expectation of the piece in accordance with the subject focus when you play. Why would you want to look for holes and minor problems? I found them, sure, later after I played the game, not during. That is like picking up some hottie in the bar; then when you get her home, kick her out, because you see she has a few zits on her back or a stretch mark or two. Your expectations cannot ever be met, except in a magazine or TV. Thus, the perfect Game may never be made, nor ever exist.
I like multiplayer types and would assume that as they work the bugs out of the new server setup (for them) that it will smooth out, like the decreased Join times now that there are more players. The horde mode is great fun!!
In the end I cannot give this 5 stars (though I should be cause of irrational 1 star reviews) it is like a 4.6. Tens don't exist but this should defiantly be in the running for game of the year.

Good single player & GREAT Multiplayer (2008-11-18)
Single player is great but a little corny. It was def worth a play through, but nothing too incredible. I liked the single player on Gears 1 better.

Multiplayer this game shines. Tons of modes. Great balance. I will be playing this game into '09 and probally into '10.

Point blank, if you like shooters, you will like this game.