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By Keith B (19th Mar 2007)Gears of War is an essential addition to any gamer's collection.

Microsoft and Epic have teamed up to bring forward the next generation of third-person shooters. One of the latest gems, Gears of War, is definitely neither micro nor soft. This big, bold, hardcore game is perfect for the futuristic soldier in us all. From the smooth, highly detailed graphics to the unique gameplay, Gears of War is a gift that keeps on giving.

As Marcus Fenix, you are fighting a gruesome war against a vicious race called the Locusts. This hell-bent horde of underground lurkers would love nothing more than to see you and your crew, the Coalition of Ordered Governments, wiped off the face of the planet Sera along with the rest of the human race. You're greatly outnumbered, the odds are stacked against you, and you must succeed. Your friend, Dominic Santiago, breaks you out of the Jacinto Maximum Security Penitentiary. This is where your game begins and the dark storyline starts to unfold.

As soon as you enter the game, you will notice the superior graphics and sound effects. With Unreal Engine 3.0 at its core, you're immersed in a world full of realistic sound, highly detailed textures, and mind-blowing cinematic cut scenes that are often just as entertaining as they are frightening. The high-tech weapons, massive explosions, and ricocheting of bullets are enough to make anyone feel like they are having a wartime flashback. If you have a serious surround sound entertainment system, you might even catch your neighbors ducking for cover.

With Resident Evil-type creepiness at times, you never really know what might crash through the wall and tear you a new one. It's funny to see players and spectators jump out of their seats; dying has never been this entertaining. The AI enemies in Gears of War make staying alive a great challenge, especially with difficulty settings such as Hardcore and Insane. At the higher levels, you would swear the AI is inside your head, reading your thoughts and anticipating your every move. For serious gamers, this is a breath of fresh air from games where killing swarms of enemies with a lone commando is all too easy. In Gears of War, if you don't outsmart the AI and, for God's sake, hide behind something, you will be met with a quick and gruesome death. Awesome!

Among its remarkable features, Gears of War boasts a unique damage meter that makes it easy to see how close you are to death; cover-dependent commands that make gameplay very tactile and entertaining; a few cool and powerful weapons at your disposal; and a unique reload feature that allows you to get a damage boost if done correctly. One notable weapon, the Hammer of Dawn, utilizes a satellite "death ray" that sends an energy beam down from heaven, obliterating anything in its path. It makes you feel a little like Zeus atop mount Olympus. Another weapon, the Lancer, is a fully automatic machine gun with a chainsaw bayonet that allows you to cut your enemy in half. How's that for close combat?

At higher difficulty levels these features and your strategic use of the weapons at your disposal are essential to your survival. Just a few seconds in an enemy's sight can spell disaster, so you can't just go on a shooting spree and expect to live, but you can't just sit behind a rock and wait for the rest of your squad to kill everyone either. Not only do the enemies come from all directions, but they will hunt you down. Teamwork is essential and staying in the same place for too long is just asking to get flanked on all sides or find a live grenade at your feet. This unique blend of brains and brawn is the core of the Gears of War gameplay experience. Combine all this with your choice of single player campaign, co-op, versus, and Xbox Live game modes and you have the makings of a surefire classic.

Even with so many high points, Gears of War is not without its faults. The campaign mode could stand to be longer; the chapters seem to fly by and it definitely leaves you wanting more. There could also be a greater variety of weapons. Even with the unique quality of the weapons that are available in the game, who doesn't want more new and different ways to kill the other guy? Versus mode could use some more variety as well, mainly in the types of challenges and objectives you can engage in with each other. The game also comes up a little short in terms of the "damageability" of your surroundings, meaning that objects around you in the game don't react realistically to being in the crossfire of a real battle. While certain things, such as furniture, will break when fired on or blown up, much of your environment and the structures in it seem to be indestructible. In this respect, the developers could have taken their cues from the game Black, where just about everything you see in the game can be destroyed in some way.

Despite these minor drawbacks, Gears of War is an essential addition to any gamer's collection. This is one of those rare games that gets you so pumped up about the battles, you don't even care that there isn't much of a storyline. With its cutting edge technology, superior graphics and unique gameplay features, Gears of War makes you long for the inevitable sequel. Bring it on, guys.