Gears of War 2 Firstlook April 25,2008 - “All around me are familiar places, worn out faces…” Everyone who hasn’t lived under a rock for the past two years has no doubt seen the breathtaking “Mad World” commercial of the groundbreaking title, Gears of War. With one of the best teasers in the business and the game going on to sell millions, how could Epic continue the success that the first game cemented on the Xbox 360? While the first trailer of Gears of War 2 leaves much to be desired, hopefully we here at Gamer 2.0 can shed some light on some of the most important factors people have been wondering about.

One thing Epic hopes to address this time around is how massive the war between the humans and Locusts truly is and how personal the constant fighting has affected everyone. While the first game featured monstrous battles at seemingly countless odds, Gears of War 2 will make those battles feel like minor cuts on an open wound. With the war ravaging the lands and the numbers of the human race dwindling, the warfare has taken a toll on the mentality of the members of Delta Squad and it’s a personal experience that will last with you as you play through the game. You will not just be forced to learn of Delta Squad’s history either, as COG tags you now pick up will tell tales of the soldiers whose lives have been lost in the fight, which should help breathe light on more characters as well.

The story takes place roughly six months after the end of Gears of War, when Delta Squad launched the lightmass bomb deep underground, wiping out a vast majority of the Locust horde. But while the bomb may have been a truly important win for the humans, the resulting radiation has affected a large portion of the scarce population, afflicting all those in contact with a disease called Rust Lung. To make matters worse, it seems the Locusts have created a super-weapon capable of bringing down entire cities and forming massive sinkholes in the process.

While the humans try to fight to stay alive, their only last major hopes lies in a fallen city known as Jacinto, a small city torn to ruins with fortified walls made out of fallen buildings. Their only defense from the Locusts is the city’s thick, crystal-like stone base, a seemingly impossible element that even the Locusts horde cannot penetrate. It is here that Gears of War 2 begins, and the fight to save the world and all humanity commences.

Epic has also stated how they wanted to break away from the personal relationships with the members of Delta Squad to focus on a much broader sense of struggle. With more people being shown and talked about, Gears of War 2 will show different sides of the war and how battles just won’t be fought on one side of the city at a given time. While many of the loose ends from the past game will be touched up on, such as the history of Dom’s long lost love, Maria Santiago, and why exactly Marcus was in prison during the start of the first game, new relationships and dialogue will branch out to newer, and more interesting people.

It is hard to find someone more colorful and rambunctious than Cole-Train, but newcomer Dizzy may take the title in Gears of War 2. With the Coalition issuing a decree that allows safe havens for families within Jacinto in return for all able-bodied men to fight in the war, Dizzy takes up arms in an attempt to regain his homeland. As a true Southerner with previous military experience, Dizzy is no slouch when it comes to fighting, and he is very in-tuned when driving the monstrous Derrick (which he calls “Betty”) around. Tai Kaliso will start with you as the game begins and before you meet up with past characters you must sit through his constant ramblings of spiritual tactics and how his tribe is made-up of honor bound warriors. Chairman Prescott will finally make an appearance as well, and is no longer restrained to audio clips and brief viewings on screen. His presence will be made more personal and his appearances throughout the game will also be more common and up close. With more characters yet to be announced, the different characters add a sense of realism and humanity to the dialogue, something that was mentioned, but not really engaged upon in the first game. It is an open welcome to a game that strives on contextual storytelling.

So how does Gears of War 2 look? There isn’t much to look at yet, since the only viewing we have seen thus far is of a “Sin City” trailer with Marcus and a Locust dueling with chainsaws. Epic has stated that they have pushed the Unreal Engine 3 to new heights, fully utilizing features they could not enhance or complete on the first game. New lighting has been implemented to allow differences in light and dark areas, so you can get a sense of how devastating a world without light can feel. Character models have also been improved and dialogue has a more authentic touch to it, with the camera zooming in to view characters speak from within inches of their face. The amazing complexities of facial detail and movement leave bench work for future titles to embrace upon.

With the updated engine, Epic can also cram literally hundreds of enemies on screen at once, each with its own distinct movement and style. No more instances of similarly moving enemies who react the same to similar conflicts, instead, enemies who flank you will act out accordingly to their position, something that will create a new sense of action and flair to the series. The level of detail goes even farther than individual designs, as structures have also been updated to show wear and tear during battle. Now during cover, granite blocks can break apart from constant gunfire and that once safe barrier blocking enemy bullets can now be chipped away. These new environmental hazards will surely make battles more intense where cover is a huge priority for survival.

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