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The game is full of arena-like war zones
The game is full of arena-like war zonesThe game is full of arena-like war zones

You're constantly forced to move to new cover, and on occasion you simply can't take out certain enemies without running through a dangerous open section. Of course, your team mates help you when they can (although they're not that great and die regularly, and reviving them puts you in danger), but Gears really reaches another level of brilliance if played cooperatively with a friend. Playing alone is great fun, but at times (and due to some less than well thought out checkpoints) things do become a little annoying. When playing cooperatively all the little annoyances simply vanish, as another human player will give you cover, meaning won't die every two minutes.

Thankfully, Epic has allowed two players to play cooperatively via split-screen, using system link, and best of all over Xbox Live. It works remarkably well too, with some of the best net code the 360 has seen, which is no surprise considering Epic's history with the Unreal Tournament series. Saying Gears feels like a completely different game in co-op might seem like hyperbole, but it really does make that much of a difference, turning a great game into something that will help define the Xbox 360.

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The campaign is simply one of the most enjoyable I've played, full of brilliant moments and a hell of lot of intense action. Areas are designed so well that you'll be involved in tactical battle after tactical battle, with numerous options available to outsmart the enemy. Throw in some brilliant small touches that really affect the gameplay, and it's hard to see how a third-person shooter could be better. Worries over a short campaign also seem unwarranted. As long as experienced players start on the Hardcore difficulty level (with Insane opening up after a single play through) Gears of War doesn't feel short at all.

Single and cooperative play through the main campaign would have been enough to place Gears in a league of its own on the Xbox 360, but the online Versus game modes are superb as well. Online matches are 4v4 affairs, with no every man for himself deathmatch in sight. Each map is designed around team play, and maps this good are rarely seen in console shooters. The most basic is team deathmatch, but you also get Assassination, in which you need to kill the opposing team's leader to win, and Execution (likely to be the game mode the majority of players stick to), in which fallen enemies need to be executed from up close in order to kill them.

Each map brings players together into a battle zone, but numerous routes allow for flanking manoeuvres. Making use of cover and working as a team is vital, and the small four-man teams make this far easier than in large-scale multiplayer shooters. You can learn to work as a tight unit, covering each other, and outthinking the enemy. Not since Halo 2 has an online console game been so enjoyable, and considering the huge sales that Gears of War is likely to enjoy, there should be plenty of people online for some time to come. The only problem with Gears' versus modes at the moment is the lack of a Halo 2-style matchmaking system. Halo 2 made playing with mates incredibly simple, and it's a mystery why new games aren't copying it.

Did we say it was bloody?Did we say it was bloody?

And there's one other thing that needs to be mentioned. Gears of War looks absolutely phenomenal. We've had some good looking games on the Xbox 360 so far, but Epic's game chainsaws the visual bar in half, and becomes the new benchmark that all next-gen shooters need to compete with. Concerns over repetitive, dull environments can also be put to bed. You'll blast through some wildly different environments, in day and night, sun and rain, all the time at a nice smooth frame rate. It's bloody too, with the chainsaw causing more than a little red to spill onto the screen.

You'd expect no less than brilliant audio work, and Epic hasn't disappointed. The musical score is perfect, the voice acting is top notch, and while the script might be a little too 'action movie' for some tastes, I found the brutish comments by Marcus and his team to be suitably macho for their parts in the game.

Slight problems with the checkpoint system when playing alone aside, it's hard to see how another game could come along and better what Gears of War does. Played with a friend, on Hardcore, Gears of War is simply an astounding game. Yes, it has the best visuals ever to grace a video game, but it's how these are used to create an intense shooter that make it so good. Add in the best competitive online experience on the Xbox 360, and there's little doubt that Gears will be remembered as a true classic. And true classics only deserve one thing.

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