Gears of War

Sep 28, 2006

If you were to ask every Xbox 360 owner what games they are most looking forward to this fall, I'd be willing to bet my meager salary that 99 out of 100 would have Gears of War in their top 2 or 3. As for that other guy, well, screw him. He obviously just doesn't "get it." Epic's sci-fi shooter has been touted as one of the system's must-have games from the moment it was announced, and the hype train just keeps rolling along. We were all wowed by the action that we saw at E3 this year, and while we've played the multiplayer mode a few times, we've yet to spend any real time with the game's single-player element. That all changed today at X06, Microsoft's European showcase in Barcelona, Spain. We had a chance to sit down to talk with Lead Designer Cliff "Cliffy B" Bleszinski, who gave us a brief tutorial, answered a few questions, then let us loose on the show floor to kill some Locusts.

Since you've probably already read at least one (or all, hopefully) of the previews we've written in the last year or so, we'll skip all that nonsense about the game's storyline. Now, don't get us wrong, the game definitely has a compelling story, but you've likely heard it all before. While we really didn't learn anything new about the plot, we did find out a bit more about Marcus Fenix's supporting cast. The coolest news of the day was undoubtedly finding out that Lester "The Mighty Rasta" Speight -- famous for his gripping portrayal of Terry Tate, Office Linebacker -- will be playing Gus, a former thrashball player turned COG. We also learned that Marcus will be accompanied by Baird, a wiseass fixit guy who is eerily reminiscent of comedian Denis Leary.

When our hands-on portion of the demo kicked off, we were right back in the prison we last saw Cliffy B -- er, Marcus escaping from during his E3 presentation. After picking the left path (tutorials are for sissies), we stopped, popped, and blasted our way to the exit, where we hopped into a helicopter and were whisked away. The banter in the chopper alternated between serious and semi-humorous, and we quickly learned that Marcus was being taken to meet Colonel Hoffman, something he wasn't too keen on. Upon landing, Hoffman chewed him out, saying that "a traitor didn't deserve to wear that uniform." He didn't get a chance to elaborate, as the team was quickly pinned down by enemy fire.

Hoffman told Marcus and the boys that they had to obtain some targeting data for the Lightmass bomb, which would allow the humans to crush the tunnels in which the Locust lived. With that, we were sent on our way to find Alpha Squad in Embry Square, which was deep in one of the game's bombed-out cityscapes. The game switched to the gameplay, and the first thing we did was hit the A button to slam into a wall for cover. Along with the right and left triggers, the A button is basically the game's most important input, as it'll allow you to take cover, vault over objects, sprint across open areas, and make yourself a sandwich. Actually, I made that last one up, but you get the picture.

For the most part, Gears of War's controls are similar to those seen in many other third-person shooters. You'll use the right trigger to fire your weapon, while holding down the left trigger will allow you to zoom in tighter, increasing your accuracy a great deal. The D-pad will allow you to quickly switch between your weapons, as pressing left or right will allow you to switch to the weapon on that shoulder. Pushing it down will let you draw your pistol, while pressing it up will equip your grenades, if you have any. Once you've got a grenade out, holding the left trigger will give you a trajectory arc, making aim that much easier.

While much of that stuff is fairly standard for the genre, there are a few gameplay mechanics that are unique to Gears of War. First off is the Y button, which allows you to focus in on an important element of the environment. There are moments in which you'll be prompted to hold it down to see an important moment in the game (such as a chopper crashing) or to focus on what you need to get ahead (like a button that must be pressed to open a door). When you're in combat, you'll see the locations of your teammates, and it's a quick way to find a downed comrade on the battlefield. There's also a little reloading mini-game. If you hit the reload button and stop a line moving on the gauge under your weapon status, you'll reload quicker and gain a bit of a power boost. Messing up will cause your weapon to jam, leaving you at the mercy of your foes for a few agonizing moments.

After battling our way through the game for a few intense minutes, a friend hopped in to help us with the Locust hordes (not that we needed any). Gears of War will support "hop in or hop out" cooperative play, meaning a friend can jump in at any time and take over your A.I.-controlled teammate. In some of the levels, you simply go through the standard areas with your partner by your side, but there will also be a number of segments in which you'll split up, taking widely different paths before meeting back up again. During the standard co-op segment, if one of you falls on the battlefield, the other one can heal his downed buddy, but that's not the case during the "high road/low road" sequences. If you die by yourself, you'll both need to start over from the last checkpoint. Best of all, the game will feature co-op play in any configuration, be it via Xbox Live, system link, or just sitting on the couch with a friend and playing split screen.

We've known about the game for a while, but it was great to finally get the chance to sit down and play Gears of War's single-player game for an extended amount of time. It's everything we expected and more: a violent, brutal experience, something akin to a shotgun blast to the sternum. We were especially happy to check out the co-op mode for the first time, and we're hopeful that it'll hold up over Xbox Live. If this isn't on your list of must-have Xbox 360 titles for the coming season, it's about time for you to revise your list, isn't it? I'm looking at you, buddy!