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Name: Gears of War 2

Epic have brought us a sequel to the their original Xbox 360 smash hit and imaginatively given it the title Gears of War 2, the original game was, and some might say still is, without doubt one of the show case pieces for the Xbox 360. Can Epic build their franchise into one of greater and dizzier heights?

Gears of War 2 picks up the story six months after the events of the last game, most of the Locust have been destroyed but the victory the humans thought they secured against their enemy has come somewhat at a cost. Rustlung is a fatal disease now decimating the remaining humans; the disease comes as a consequence of much of the liquid Imulsion (the planets power source) being vaporised and casualties are appearing in hospitals everywhere. To make matters worse two cities have recently disappeared, being dragged underground completely at random. The Coalition of Ordered Governments (COG) suspect that this is the work of the Locust and when the main bastion of human survival, a city known as Jacinto, is seen showing signs of the same fate then the COG responds with an offensive determined to wipe out the remaining remnants of the Locust threat. Once again we join the action in the role of Marcus Fenix who brings with him some familiar faces, Dominic Santiago, Augustus Cole and Damon Baird all from the core team of Delta Squad. The game begins with a chilling narrative from the Locust Queen who informs us that the human race is all but doomed against the threat of the Locust, indeed the same attack that has decimated the Locust and has unified the human race has also set it up to a greater failure. She makes no quiet claim that this is the day of the Locust and they will be victorious and the human race would only have its self to blame for its inevitable destruction.

The game starts as it means to go on, dark, deep and moody. Marcus Fenix is reflecting on the current Locust attacks as he see's the latest casualties from the war being brought into the hospital, it's here we are introduced to Delta Squads latest recruit, the green as grass Ben Carmine (who we later learn is the brother of Anthony Carmine from the first game) which gives the game a chance to offer you a training exercise, you can select to train or just carry on with the action, this is a trait you'll see used later on in the game also with the game allowing you to select one of two paths for the heroes to follow, it added variety and replay value to the first game and does the same job here for those wanting to explore all options and paths. You're quickly thrown into the action, the hospital is soon under attack from the Locust and Delta Squad must provide its protection, right from the beginning of the game you're thrown deep into the action and rarely does it let up and give you chance for a breather.

For those that haven't come across the original Gears of War game, it's a third person based affair with the game camera following the action from behind. Gameplay is heavily geared towards a cover system which sees your character and the team regularly taking cover behind various pieces of the scenery while gun battles are played out, this isn't a game where you can rush into an area and expect to still be standing if you don't take cover and just try to blast everything that moves. The cover system is easy enough to comprehend even if you're not used to it, pressing the A button will drop your character into cover and from there you can scope out the action and select your targets. You've got a blind fire option where you can just pepper the general area with bullets and hope you hit something; handy if your enemies are trying to rush your position. Alternatively you can press the left shoulder button and pop your head out of cover to take an aimed shot. New to the game is the option of taking live hostages which can also be used as a type of cover, or as the game describes as a meat shield, when an enemy is downed you've got the option of either killing him up close and personal with a quick stomp of the head or you can drag him to his feet and grasp his neck, to weak to fight you off they've no choice but to be used as a portable cover system. Using the meatshield isn't without it's drawbacks as you're forced to use a one handed weapon while you've got one in place.

The Gears of War signature weapon, the lancer, is back and is probably one of the guns you'll be using for most of the game, the chainsaw bayonet is still attached to the end giving you the same bloody execution options, however this time you can get into duels with the chainsaw giving the enemy the option of fighting back and not just ending up a meaty mess on the floor. Most of the weapons from the first game come back in this new version and we're also introduced to several more; a flamethrower, chain gun, mortar cannon and ink grenade are all part of the new line up. The grenades in the game can now also be planted onto the walls which act as a proximity mine, exploding when an enemy is near, or for a more nasty approach, stuck to an enemy who will then explode, that's if you can get close enough.