Gears of War [X360]

Even reloading, usually a straightforward and functional process, comes in for a little extra love. Hitting the reload button triggers a little animation on the weapon's ammo gauge. Stop the bar in just the right point, and the shells you're inserting get a useful damage bonus. It's much quicker, too - but if you screw it up, you'll jam your gun and waste precious extra seconds clearing it. Who'd have thought you could take such a mundane FPS standard feature and turn it into a unique gameplay mechanic?

Get too distracted by these interface details, though, and you'll miss Gears of War's gorgeous visuals. From the bulging veins on Marcus's neck to the heat haze rising off his gun, superb isn't the word - it's easily the best looking 360 game to date, and doesn't seem to stress the hardware noticably. If, like us, you've been drooling over the screenshots for months, be reassured: it really does look that good. About the only other thing we could possibly want is more "live" terrain that can be blown up or moved -- perhaps Epic will slate that for Gears of War 2.

As if that wasn't enough, the sound is superb. Often your first warning of upcoming battle is the faint sound of chattering Locusts in some corner of your surround speaker system, or your sub dancing to the seismic rumble of something Really Big approaching. The orchestral score is first rate, and the voice cast, including the incomparable Lester Speight (Terry Tate, Office Linebacker), nails Gears' macho, one-dimensional characters without overt irony.

Co-operative play fans will be delighted with Gears' friendly approach to two-player Locust-fighting, where you can add and drop Xbox Live co-op buddies as the whim takes you. You're almost always working directly with at least one (usually computer-controlled) teammate, so this integration couldn't be more natural. Plus it gives you the phone-a friend option to make it past that tricky segment that's been giving you trouble for weeks.

" If you've been wondering why you lined up all night for an Xbox 360 this time last year, agonize no longer."

Those of a more competitive bent will be equally pleased with Gears of War's Live play. That cover system plays out just as well -- better, even -- against real opponents, and here the weapon balance really comes into its own. 10 diverse maps ship with the game, and hopefully more will turn up for download. Not so good is the selection of multiplayer modes, numbering just three variations on familiar one-life deathmatch themes -- given Epic's pioneering history in objective-based multiplayer combat, we're a touch let down.

Where the game really impresses is in the sheer slickness of its design. It's difficult to pick holes in any of its content -- certainly not a statement one could make about either of the Halo games. There's little reuse of material, the game never drags, the friendly interface is a masterpiece, and the game is absolutely crammed with memorable set pieces. Although it's nominally broken into five acts, they flow into each other so naturally you might not even notice the transition. There's nothing to get in between the player and the game; it's a recipe for long sessions and late nights.

Which, somewhat ironically, serves to underline Gears' one Achilles heel: the single-player game is shorter than you might wish. For us, we'll take Gears of War's intense, no-filler eight or so real-world hours over a lesser game's 20 - and it's a game you'll definitely want to replay on higher difficulty levels. Throw in the marvelously flexible co-op and versus multiplayer options and Gears of War has longevity enough for most, though if you really are stuck on your own you might burn out on it quicker than you'd like.

If you've been wondering why you lined up all night for an Xbox 360 this time last year, agonize no longer. This is the kind of game that sells systems, and if you have the merest action-loving bone in your body - and you can handle the gore, bad language, and short-ish play time -- it's pointless to resist. Gears of War is the best 360 game of 2006.