Gears of War 2

 Xbox 360
Gears of War 2 Image
Metascore
93

Universal acclaim - based on 90 Critic Reviews What's this?

User Score
7.9

Generally favorable reviews- based on 3389 Ratings

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  • Summary: Gears of War 2 builds upon the gameplay of the first title in every way. First, the scope of the action is bigger: new characters, more weapons, nastier enemies, bigger vehicles, and grander locales offer more action, more emotion, and more thrills. Next, every major aspect of the game hasGears of War 2 builds upon the gameplay of the first title in every way. First, the scope of the action is bigger: new characters, more weapons, nastier enemies, bigger vehicles, and grander locales offer more action, more emotion, and more thrills. Next, every major aspect of the game has been refined to create heightened, more immersive experiences. Finally, the overall tone of Gears of War 2 is more badass: replete with new weapon-specific executions, chainsaw duels, and shocking boss fights. Gears of War 2 raises the graphics bar for next-generation games through its breathtaking visual effects, which are made possible through advances in Unreal Engine 3. New visual effects include ambient occlusion, dynamic shadows, improved character lighting, the ability to render hundreds of on-screen characters simultaneously, improved water physics, additional blood and bullet decals, advanced destructible environments, new weather effects, and the introduction of fluid objects. When combined with the sweeping vistas and evocative locales in the world of Sera where the Gears of War 2 story unfolds, these additions help make this the most gorgeous game available this generation. Gears of War 2 continues to push deep, immersive storytelling in video games to greater heights. Humanity's epic battle for survival is felt on both the personal and epic levels as you explore multiple story arcs that introduce new characters and flesh out the histories of familiar ones. A new in-game conversational camera system also helps bring the compelling story to life in a cinematic fashion. [Microsoft]… Expand
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Critic Reviews

Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 90 out of 90
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 90
  3. Negative: 0 out of 90
  1. VideoGamer
    100
    It's not as emotionally deep as other games on the market, it's not a 30 hour + epic and it's not art in video game form, but is arguably the greatest action game ever created. In a year full of incredible games, Gears of War 2 sits triumphantly at the very top.
  2. PGNx Media
    100
    Gears of War 2 is a stellar shooting game and easily one of the best games of the year.
  3. Gameplayer
    95
    Gears 2 is a lesson in masterful pacing; whether it’s lulling you into a false sense of security, dropping you into an inescapable situation, or blowing your hair back with a ‘speeder bike’ vehicle section. It’s a ripping good yarn that is continually one-upping itself by belting you upside the head with yet another over the top action sequence that eclipses the last awesome thing you just did.
  4. GameShark
    91
    Gears of War 2 takes the formula established by the original and polishes it to great effect. Everything from the pacing of the campaign, tuned difficulty, added weapons and enemies, and slew of multiplayer options demonstrates mastery in design that all action games aspire, yet precious few achieve. Not everything is rosy--chalk the poor story and lame characters as being yet another victim of cheesy game writing. That's excusable, though.
  5. Meristation
    90
    Following the old motto "if it's not broken, don't fix it", Gears of War 2 evolves upon its predecessor expanding the scope, size, possibilities and much more... this new title simply delivers. Clearly not a huge leap in terms of innovation, yet it is Microsoft's best bet and a sure winning title for this Christmas. GoW 2 is as good as a third person shooter can be today and a new benchmark in the genre. Highly recommended.
  6. Kikizo
    90
    Something of an anathema unto itself, Gears 2 offers more gore, more cursing and more of the stereotypical Space Marine swagger only a compulsive gamer can tolerate.
  7. Metro GameCentral
    80
    It may be short on gameplay surprises, but it's long on visual shock and awe.

See all 90 Critic Reviews

User Reviews

Write a Review
Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 286 out of 439
  2. Mixed: 76 out of 439
  3. Negative: 77 out of 439
  1. MarmaT
    Nov 13, 2008
    10
    GoW2 keeps the gameplay we know and love from GoW1, yet spices things up with new weapons & features that encourage the use of new tactics. GoW2 keeps the gameplay we know and love from GoW1, yet spices things up with new weapons & features that encourage the use of new tactics. The cutscenes are more in depth, and the characters are developed more. This is also a big plus for me, i was disappointed in how light GoW1 was on the story & character development - most of it was inferred. Also, the combat feels, in a lot of places, more EPIC. There are situations where you're fighting alongside the rest of delta squad you know & love (baird, cole, dom) and there are other COGs fighting against massive waves of enemies. It feels like there's a WAR happening now, not just a few people on a secret mission (ultimately the game takes that turn, but the war is still going on, and you feel pressed to produce results for humanity!) All in all, the only real downsides for me are: 1. The game can lag. By now it's pretty obvious what the xbox360 can & cannot handle. It doesn't lag often though, just in a few places where the atmospherics get crazy. 2. SOME (not all) of the new features are a bit silly. Using an enemy as a shield, extended fatalities, the burst firing pistol - they just don't seem that great. That being said, everything else about the game owns. Buy it and love it.… Expand
  2. Silvermahdi
    Sep 11, 2019
    10
    This game is god !!!!!!¡!!!!!!!!¡!!!!!!¡!!!!!!!!!¡!!!!!!!¡!!!!!!¡!!!!;!!;;;;;;
  4. LaserHairs
    Sep 21, 2010
    10
    I would have given this game a 9.5 if I could. I felt that Epic Games had succeded in yet another awesome game. The new horde mode is a greatI would have given this game a 9.5 if I could. I felt that Epic Games had succeded in yet another awesome game. The new horde mode is a great laugh. The online progression system is sweet and the maps are epic. Especially now they ave released the 'All Fronts Collection' (what an awesome deal). The online is deffinatlet better than the original. But the campaign however, seemed to lack the 'feel' of gears of war 1. I miss the Kryl and Beserkers, I didn't feel scared in any way and the storyline just didn't seem quite as good as the previous and I still can't get my head around the fact that the lightmass bomb made the locust stronger? However that said the campaign did feel more epic with the large armies, and the updated technology meaning you can fit loads of enemeies on the screen. Skorge was definitely a better bad guy than RAAM and I was glad to see more of the lambant locust (except this time not just wretches). Overall, I'd say Gears of War 2 is a must have, it's an oustanding game both offline and online but the storyline just wasn't quite good enough for me.… Expand
  5. AnonymousMC
    Nov 12, 2008
    9
    That 9 is based only on the campaign.
    It's hard to give any game a 10 but I did consider it for a bit. My online experience is limited    That 9 is based only on the campaign.
    It's hard to give any game a 10 but I did consider it for a bit. My online experience is limited for now, so I'll only talk about the story. Amazing.
    Don't quite understand why so many folks are bashing this game. I found it absolutly fantastic and would recomend it to anyone. Plenty of fun, great story, great new characters and weapons.
    Get your favorite bag of chips, a jug of soda/juice or whatever your poison is, log on w/ your favorite pal and have at it. Totally enjoyable.
    Don't waste any time thinking about it- just play it and smile.
    By the way- the limited edition Bonus DVD pretty much blows. Nothing very interesting on it. The HALO3 bonus DVD had plenty of good info- this one, nope. Boreing.    … Expand
  6. PaoloB
    Dec 28, 2008
    8
    Single Player:10 Multiplayer: 7
    I feel like the developers did not listen to the gamers at all while making this sequel. Yes, there's    Single Player:10 Multiplayer: 7
    I feel like the developers did not listen to the gamers at all while making this sequel. Yes, there's nothing like it out there and is the only game I truly enjoy playing but as an avid GOW 1 multiplayer I feel they screwed it up a bit. I know but talking to fellow players what their concerns are and everyone says the same thing: they messed up the SHOTGUN big time ! Before it was the weapon of choice, using the Chainsow only occasionally but now you have no choice as the SHOTGUN is just ineffective, even bots need two or three shots in the head to die at times, the result is that if you use the SHOTGUN you will more often than not, DIE, probably by chainsaw. The Sniper shot and the BOOMER have all been weakend, everything seems to have been geared towards the CHAINSAW gaming, which makes no sense at all to me. Don't get me wrong, I am not one of those yanks who go around calling people nubes when they Chainsaw but before there was a balance, the chainsaw being just of the options , now that balance has been broken. Never mind releasing new maps and stuff if you release any update please fix the SHOTGUN to what it was before. Single player is awesome, I have been playing for 25 years and, believe it or not, I've only ever finished three games prior to this, one of them being GOW1 ! The games keeps you guessing and constantly throws new things for you to do, always retaining the same unique playability. If anything single player is a little short but it's still terrific. It's quite funny to me how rather obviously the game's creative director Cliffy B created Marcus Fenix out of his reseablance, cleverly disguised, nice try but you cannot hide ones eyes, unless he wears goggles. TOP TOP GAME    … Expand
  7. EanD
    Mar 16, 2009
    6
    This game was a huge disappointment. I preorder this game I was so hyped for it. The game starts out with a movie, which was really good, so This game was a huge disappointment. I preorder this game I was so hyped for it. The game starts out with a movie, which was really good, so far so good. BUT, then after the first movie, it goes to the next cutscene! The cutscene starts and the camera gets ran over! Litterally crushed by a wheel! As soon as I saw this I knew the game was going to suck. Film 101: Do NOT have jump shots! Anyway I started playing, and was unimpressed by the pixellated graphics. I set the difficulty to the highest possible but did not really feel engaged. Well after a while the graphics started getting better, and I started to feel immersed in the story. Next thing ya know, I'm actually ENJOYING the game. Yeah, the final battle with Skorge was really weak, but ya know, it was ok. Then I get in a brumak. It was extremely easy, my health barely even got damaged. So I get in a helicopter and kill the brumak. All of the sudden the game ends. I felt like I was stabbed. How could the game possibly end? That level was so damn easy it was even easier than the first level? Couldn't be...but it was. On top of that the ending sucked. So I play multiplayer. That sucks too. You run slower than campaign, there are more glitches than the first, and your weapon damage is inconsistent as hell. Sometimes you cant kill someone shooting them point blank with the shotgun 4 times. And someone cheats every game. Sometimes the host lags out the game so you can't shoot anybody, but the host can kill you before you even spawn since its soo laggy. Overall this game was a huge dissapointment. The story was made by a so called "proffesional" but I wish they never hired him. There were "soft bodied physics" nowhere to be found in the game, and the water was exactly the same as gears 1, ALL LIES. The destructable environments only worked on preset objects, just certain corners of certain walls you can only destroy about 2 inches deep. The multiplayer AI is awful, it is very unresponsive and artificial, even for today's standards. The Brumak fights were anti-climatic, since you only fought them when you had super weapons, so there was no challenge to them. Their was gonna be new technology so you could have thousands of locusts on screen. It was there, but you had a super weapon so you might as well have just had one locust on screen. There was no challenge there.This game had a lot of hype and did not fulfill any of it. The only people who like this game are the ones who hated Gears 1.… Expand
  8. LazarusS.
    Nov 13, 2008
    0
    A very terrible game I regret to inform you, curious metacritic browsing person. I did not care much for the game at all. I would rate it a A very terrible game I regret to inform you, curious metacritic browsing person. I did not care much for the game at all. I would rate it a zero out of ten because' I could not stand the game long enough to actually play. I now use the disc as a Frisbee for my dog. It is typical of the Failbox 360 to achieve such terrible releases.… Expand

See all 439 User Reviews

Awards & Rankings

4
#4 Best Xbox 360 Game of 2008
2
#2 Most Discussed Xbox 360 Game of 2008
9
#9 Most Shared Xbox 360 Game of 2008