Must have holiday games- Gears of War 2

November 18, 1:12 PMTampa Video Game ExaminerTom Hall

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This holiday season, there are a ton of games out there.  Now its not unusual for this to occur, especially this time of year.  The problem this year is that most of them are way too good.  With all of this confusion, one must start to wonder how they can possibly choose which ones to beg for this year.  That's where I come in, as for the next couple of weeks, I will be bringing you my must have holiday games.  The first entry on my list is a fantastic sequel to a game that people are still playing to this day.  I am speaking, of course, about Gears of War 2.

Alright, all your lotion, in the bag.  NOW!

At the end of Gears of War, you were led to believe that you had ended the war with the evil Locusts once and for all.  Well, fast forward to Gears of War 2 and you find out that you were wrong.  You were very very wrong.  The Locusts are back and seemingly stronger than before.  This time, they are sinking entire cities at once and it will be up to you to stop them and save the world.  Again.  You start at a hospital in the humans' last stronghold, Jacinto.  Marcus and Dom now have a rookie to train, Carmine who is comically nervous and eager to prove himself to THE Marcus Fenix.  It isn't long before the Locust attack the hospital and the game is underway.  After you finish exterminating the hospital, you are introduced to another great piece of the storyline, Dom searching desperately for his wife.  It really gave a human side to his character and eventually to Marcus as well.  The story here is amazingly solid.  Now, I have read all of the stuff out there that calls the story cheesy.  I don't care, I loved the story. 

Story aside, let's get into gameplay.  The gameplay here is remarkable.  You'll have no trouble hopping right in to the game even if you haven't played the first Gears of War.  There is an option that makes a little instruction box pop up for each new weapon you acquire.  The executions are animated beautifully and very simple to pull off.  The cover system seems even better than it was.  New additions such as the chainsaw duel and the meat shield are executed to perfection.  Graphically, it brings tears to my eyes that I don't own an HDTV because this game looks gorgeous on my crappy TV.  The sound is right on and really draws you in to the fights.  Multiplayer is also amazing.  You can play co-op online which will be very helpful for the horde mode which is where you must fight wave after wave of increasingly difficult Locusts.  If you prefer to destroy your friends online that is also available.  There are a number of different online game types and maps.  If you don't have a Xbox Live Gold account, don't worry, you can play any of the multiplayer modes with AI bots.  

Overall, this game has almost no flaws.  Cliff and the boys over at Epic have done it again.  This game is an absolute masterpiece and your collection will never be complete without it.  That is why Gears of War 2 has earned its spot on my list of games you must have this holiday season.