Gears of War Hands-On Impressions

The Xbox 360 title that everyone seems to be excited about is the first person shooter Gears of War. Hands-On impressions are available from 1up.com, Gamespy, Gamespot, and IGN. From the IGN article: "Sera is gripped in darkness. The Locusts are most at home in the shadows, so expect the worst moments to occur when the lights go off. Gears of War can best be described as a mix between a third-person tactical shooter and a survival horror game. This is pop-and-shoot gaming, not the run-and-gun style of Halo 2. Oh, and it's f---ing awesome."

Comments

holy crap!

[fearanddread]

Is this what xbox 360 games are going to look like? I might have to join the console dark side. Course if the game play isn't any good...

Re:holy crap!

[Seumas]

I am not a console owner. I have never cared for consoles. I owned a used Nintendo (classic) console when I was in my teens for a couple years and that was it. Everything else has been PC. And I didn't really even get into games until I was an adult.

I have never seen the point in buying consoles for a hundred bucks or three hundred bucks, plus games at $80 each. Especially since they become obsolete. On the PC, I can demo (okay, bit-torrent - but if I play them more than a couple hours I tend to buy them) games. And I can copy them for backups easily. And there are plenty of mods for them. And they variety of keyboards and mice to interact with the game is better than the ditzy console controllers. And I already have a computer - so I save a few hundred bucks off a console right there.

However, after seeing the X-Box demos... and ESPECIALLY the Play Station 3 demos... I am seriously considering buying one or both in the coming year. No, they aren't extremely revolutionary. No, this isn't the same leap in technology that we've grown use to seeing from one iteration to the next... But they still are quite remarkable and there are some great looking games pending.

I've seen two things that made my jaw drop. One is FEAR and the other is Gear. But I'm sure there will be plenty more to come. Anyway - 2006 may be the year I finally start playing consoles. In my mind, they have finally arrived and there is now a *REASON* to buy them, even for a PC gamer.

Re:Why do the "gaming media"...

[rAiNsT0rm]

I have been a member of the gaming media, and finally had become fed up with it two years ago. Try to work with these people some time if you want to see unprofessional at its finest. I actually will never go to another E3 again, people (grown men and women) take pride in not showering, oogling "booth babes" more than the games, have maturity levels near plankton, and are generally a pain to be around (try going to a after hour release party some time... these people have no idea how to act because they simply have never been in these situations in real life). I'm not saying this is the case for everyone, but the majority.

In all of my years developing sites and writing reviews I always kept an unbiased view of the titles and wrote hard hitting truthful reviews backed by actual facts. The amount of "bought" reviews would make you sick, and the young reviewers who are so thrilled to be schmoozed by a company gush about their products like schoolgirls. I've seen reviewers play a game for 15 minutes and write a glowing review to meet deadlines, and because the game was considered a top game of the year... I reviewed the same title and gave it mid-to-low ratings because it was simply substandard (then I proceeded to get nasty emails from the company and other reviewers because I must be crazy to give an honest opinion and pick apart a so-called "A" title.)

I've thrown up my hands and given up trying to bring honest reviews to the public because it has always been headaches, I enjoy Guild Wars and look forward to the Revolution console and that's about as much gaming as I care to be a part of anymore.