Gear of War 2 - Truly Epic or Just another shooter?

The holiday season always brings with it a horde of new games. "Gears of War 2," released by Epic Games on Nov. 7, 2008, puts you back into the shoes of Marcus Fenix and the soldiers of Delta Squad as they take on the subterranean menace known as the Locust. I went into "Gears 2" with pretty high expectations, and I was not disappointed. It has a two-player cooperative campaign, an online matchmaking system and even the all-new "horde" mode. Being a fan of all those things, "Gears of War 2" brings back fond memories of playing through the first "Gears."

"Gears 2" doesn't stray too far from its already-fun formula of tactical cover and hectic battlefield situations, and that's a good thing. If you were a fan of the first you will be addicted to the second. Epic brought back every weapon from the first, including the chainsaw gun, and even added more such as heavy weapons, shields, and even new types of grenades. I especially found it exciting when I found that I could tag grenades to walls to make a proximity mine. It feels monumental when you watch the Locust run into your trap. As a whole, the game controls are more fluid than the first "Gears," making maneuvering from cover to cover much easier.

Playing through the campaign, I realized that Epic Games took a great deal of time creating an environment and story that really sets it apart from other shooters. The story was engaging, and I actually felt like a hero jumping over cover with my cooperative partner covering my back. There is actually character development in this game as opposed to its prequel where Delta Squad was about as dynamic as a bag of rocks. The characters actually show emotion between shouting obscenities.

The major addition to the game is the Horde mode where you and four of your friends are pitted against wave after wave of increasingly difficult numbers and types of enemies. Your objective in Horde is simple: survive. There are 50 waves in all, and after every 10th wave the horde gets stronger either by having their health, accuracy or damage output increased. It makes for great gaming experience as you slam through wave after wave while scavenging for ammunition.

There are just a couple flaws in the game that keep it from being perfect. Some parts just feel glitchy. During one moment in the campaign, I had to wait for another character to open a door; however, the character never did what he was supposed to even with the coercing I was giving him (round after round of sniper artillery). I had to actually restart from my last checkpoint which, thankfully, wasn't that far from where I was.

Also there was another glitch where my partner was unable to move after a turret exploded, which resulted in another restart. Multiplayer is in desperate need of a patch, because it takes the online matchmaking 10 minutes to find a match. This needs a patch quickly, but Epic is already hearing the flames of the angry gamers and is remedying the situation as this is being written. After all is said and done, I would give this game a 9 out of 10 because of the replay value of Horde mode, the fun factor of when you actually get to play online, and the grueling campaign against the Locust. "Gears of War 2" is now available exclusively for the Xbox 360.