The Video Game Critic

For me, GoW is a borderline killer-app.

I wish there was a little more variety, like having some run-in-gun Rambo moments, instead of always having to take cover.

I also wish backgrounds would react more realistically to firepower.

For instance, if a Boomer hits a car with his rocket, the car should flip up in the air. If you're hiding behind a pile of sandbags, there should be "dust" and sand spilling out if you're taking fire. I wish little things like that happened, to make the game feel truely alive. Overall, I hate the fact that other then furnature, nothing in this game shows any signs of damage/punishment from gunfire. I think the game would be more intense and challenging, if cover-pieces did eventually get destroyed if you stay behind them for too long.

Try the co-op either online or with a buddy.  The driving scene alone is nerve racking as hell but you've really got to work together to get through it.  The constant teamwork that's needed is what's amazing.  Forget going through it on casual.  Bump up the difficulty on hardcore then go through it on insane.  The game is way better with the increased challenge.  Likewise, your boneheaded teammates (cpu controlled) play better/kill faster on the increased difficulty levels.

 

There's absolutely nothing original about Gears but what's there is a highly polished shooter that's just plain fun.  Is it perfect?  Nope, but what's there is darn good.

Here is what I view as shortcomings...

 

- To many actions are mapped to the A button...this creates a slightly clunky control scheme.  Several times I thought I was hitting A to back up against a wall only to dive into an open area where I become machine gun fodder.

 

- I already mentioned that the theme/setting was so incredible boring...Cliffy B goes on and on about how important the story and setting are in games and yet GOW is lacking in both.

 

- The cover system is not as perfect as everyone makes it seem.  I agree with Zen on this.  If you are behind a couple of sandbags you shouldn't be able constantly withstand barrages of rockets.

 

- The grenades are cool, but they have next to no splash damage.  This means that if you don't toss a direct hit they are pretty much worthless.

 

- Everyone raves about the graphics, but the framerate in the cinematics can chug at times...this ruins several dramatic moments.

 

- GOW is a very repetitive game.  There are a seldom few moments to break up the duck n shoot gameplay.

 

- Everyone thinks the AI in this game is great, but its not without its faults.  On a few occasions I would shoot a guy and they wouldn't even react.

 

- One more complaint about the cover system is that you are almost comletely invulnerable while in cover.  I tried shooting a locust arm/hand that was hanging out past its cover and the shots never registered.  The same thing would happen with their head sometimes.

 

- These are complaints that the media normally tears apart games for...but GOW is the first game that looks so good that Critics can let its shortcomings pass.

 

- Actraiser I have tried the co-op and its sweet.  You are absolutely correct about that.  Like I have said before, I am not bashing the game to the point that I think it sucks...far from it.  I think its one of the best games on the 360.  I just think that it has more shortcomings than people/media would let you believe.

 

 

 

[QUOTE=sega saturn x]

You know you can say that about any game though, strip away the glitz of zelda and you have a dungeon crawler, take away the glitz of halo and you have a generic FPS. 

[/QUOTE]

That's actually a really good point, and reminds me of when movie critics pan out one of my favorite movies (usually a comedy) by saying it follows standard formula too much.  To which I always say "What the hell does that matter if the movie is entertaining?"  There's a reason formulas exist in movies and games, and it's because they have been proven to work MANY times in the past. 

- To many actions are mapped to the A button...this creates a slightly clunky control scheme.  Several times I thought I was hitting A to back up against a wall only to dive into an open area where I become machine gun fodder.

 

(I agree with this, but I have maybe fumbled half a dozen times with it so it isn't exactly a huge problem.  Plus I can't think of any way to re-map the buttons that wouldn't suck.)

 

- I already mentioned that the theme/setting was so incredible boring...Cliffy B goes on and on about how important the story and setting are in games and yet GOW is lacking in both.

 

(The sense of atmosphere is second to none, they nail the desolation and deistruction perfectly.  I'm just not getting this one.  Maybe you don't like dark games, but it's perfect at what it sets out to do.)

 

- The cover system is not as perfect as everyone makes it seem.  I agree with Zen on this.  If you are behind a couple of sandbags you shouldn't be able constantly withstand barrages of rockets.

 

(agreed, but other than that minor complaint the system works perfectly)

 

- The grenades are cool, but they have next to no splash damage.  This means that if you don't toss a direct hit they are pretty much worthless.

 

(I don't know if you're even a few feet away I've hit people and do a decent amount of damage.  This is also very nitpicky.)

 

- Everyone raves about the graphics, but the framerate in the cinematics can chug at times...this ruins several dramatic moments.

 

(what are you talking about?  I can't think of one time the frame rate every "chugged" or even stuttered.  And the graphics are better than just about anything else out right now.)

 

- GOW is a very repetitive game.  There are a seldom few moments to break up the duck n shoot gameplay.

 

(what about the troika (machine gun) segments, or the part where you drive the UV tank?)

 

- Everyone thinks the AI in this game is great, but its not without its faults.  On a few occasions I would shoot a guy and they wouldn't even react.

 

(this seldom happens though, overall the AI is some of the best out there.  And this NEVER happens on hardcore/insane mode.)

 

- One more complaint about the cover system is that you are almost comletely invulnerable while in cover.  I tried shooting a locust arm/hand that was hanging out past its cover and the shots never registered.  The same thing would happen with their head sometimes.

 

(agreed, but if you get closer this problem doesn't happen.  Hopefully a patch will fix it.)

 

- These are complaints that the media normally tears apart games for...but GOW is the first game that looks so good that Critics can let its shortcomings pass.

 

(that's because they aren't big problems, they would in no way lower the games grade a markable amount.  The only one I consider a real problem is the one where you fire and it doesn't hit there hand or head etc. which was rare in and of itself.)

[QUOTE=JustLikeHeaven]

- Everyone raves about the graphics, but the framerate in the cinematics can chug at times...this ruins several dramatic moments.

[/QUOTE]

 

The same thing happened to me in Battle for Middle Earth, come to find out my 360 was dying on me.  After replacing my 360 nothing has chugged.  The cinematics in Gears have never once chugged, everything is a crisp 60 FPS. 

"The game also runs at a very steady frame rate during gameplay. The cutscenes, however, are rendered in real time, and when the action really gets heated in some of the sequences, the visuals chop up."

 

That is an excerpt taking from Gamespot's review.  The cinematics tend to slow down.  A good example is right in the beginning of the game when the huge spider-like creature crawls out of the ground for the first (outside of the prison). 

 

I don't think it has anything to do with the 360 hardware, as I have read several review sites complain about the framerate during cut-scenes.

SSX, you seem to agree, or at least acknowledge most of the "complaints" I made about the game.  These are all what I would consider shortcomings of the game...Normally these things are cited several times in reviews for a game, but in GOW all the reviews to do is rave about how good the game is.  So when I discovered these problems I was a little dissapointed...hence I think the game is slightly overrated in the media...Had I worked at Gamespot or IGN I would have given the game around a 9.2 rather than a 9.6. 

 

You guys are way to over protective about this game...its not perfect so get over it.  Not everyone is gonna think that its the best game to grace the planet either.  I'm not trying to change anyone's mind about this game...I'm merely pointing out things that nobody else seems to be mentioning.

 

 

As for the setting, I think the fact that I laugh or cringe during the cut-scenes is pretty bad.  Plus I think the whole alien scum taking over is the most over used story/plot device in all of videogames.  I enjoy dark games, but GOW is more akin to a badly made super action movie from the 80's when it comes to story and setting.  They should have modeled Marcus Fenix after Arnold Schwarzenegger and Dom should looked like Jesse "The Body" Ventura...

 

SSX, you seem to agree, or at least acknowledge most of the "complaints" I made about the game.  These are all what I would consider shortcomings of the game...Normally these things are cited several times in reviews for a game, but in GOW all the reviews to do is rave about how good the game is.  So when I discovered these problems I was a little dissapointed...hence I think the game is slightly overrated in the media...Had I worked at Gamespot or IGN I would have given the game around a 9.2 rather than a 9.6.

 

(I'll meet you half way with a 9.4) 

 

You guys are way to over protective about this game...its not perfect so get over it.  Not everyone is gonna think that its the best game to grace the planet either.  I'm not trying to change anyone's mind about this game...I'm merely pointing out things that nobody else seems to be mentioning.

 

(Nobody is pointing them out because no one really cares about the grenade shrapnel is a little off.) 

 

As for the setting, I think the fact that I laugh or cringe during the cut-scenes is pretty bad.  Plus I think the whole alien scum taking over is the most over used story/plot device in all of videogames.  I enjoy dark games, but GOW is more akin to a badly made super action movie from the 80's when it comes to story and setting.  They should have modeled Marcus Fenix after Arnold Schwarzenegger and Dom should looked like Jesse "The Body" Ventura...

 

(It's an action game with action movie like qualities.  I'm shocked, why is this a problem again?)

GoW is easily the best game for the 360 if you are even remotely into FP/TP shooters. If you're not into "manly" games (ie. guns, blood, violence, and lots of it), no, you wouldn't like it. It's not only a blast to play, but it's the best-looking game on any system, ever. Plus, the multiplayer is the most fun I've ever had online (and I've played tons of CS, Unreal Championship, RTCW, and Quake IV).

If you don't like it, fine--but don't say it's overrated. XBL traffic is up 80% since the GoW launch. That speaks volumes. Some people just want to be different and nit-pick. Yawn.