Gears of War is a pretty good game after all…
Apparently the vast majority of the video gaming crowds already knew this simplest of truths and would probably even call the game a classic, but I just wasn’t convinced. All it took though were a few hours of playing through this Gears of War thing and I can definitely say it’s a fun game, a great shooter and an incredibly polished offering. Everything works the way it should: the camera is always well positioned, the graphics are excellent, the controls are responsive, the enemy AI seems cunning, the sounds are terrifying and even the story manages to be vaguely amusing. Happily it doesn’t take itself too seriously either and thus avoids being as offensive as, say, the over-hyped HALO 3. Oh, and its stealthy-shooty-third-person gameplay is a nice change from the standard FPS perspective too.
On the other hand Gears of War isn’t the masterpiece the average Microsoft fanboy would have you believe, but then why trust a MS Word addict in the first place? There’s no innovation, nothing particularly inspired in the art direction nor anything to remember in a few years, unless of course you thought the Doom movie was worthy of a Palm d’Or. Truth be said, GoW is a silly popcorn flick disguised as a quality video game. Simple as that. Enjoyable as that.
Posted on February 26th, 2008 by konstantinos
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I think the same argument could probably be made for Half-Life, though some might say HL2 had some innovation to it.
February 26th, 2008 at 11:39 amCan’t say I disagree, really. Half Life’s critically acclaimed storyline is indeed wafer thin and borders on the banal…
February 26th, 2008 at 11:43 amAlso, Half Life WAS innovative in the story telling aspect. There were never any cutscenes in which you saw gordon from a Third Person View, and you ALWAYS got to play as a gordon, even if it was only a cutscene like part
February 26th, 2008 at 1:17 pmCorrect dear Thomas. The way Half Life chooses to tell its story is both innovative and highly successful. You’ll have to admit though that the story isn’t much better than the average X-Files episode…
February 26th, 2008 at 4:03 pmTrue about the cutscenes. Then again, did Doom have cutscenes?
I think I enjoyed No One Lives Forever a bit more than Half-Life. Humor is a good thing.
I think System Shock 2 was one of the more immersive first-person games from that era.
Regardless, these were all fun games to play, each bringing something to the FPS table.
February 27th, 2008 at 8:44 pmEven though you’ll have to admit No One Lives Forever 2 is just jaw-droppingly smart. Samrter than your average smart thing… And, yes, SS 2 is an utter and seemingly unsurpassable classic.
February 28th, 2008 at 7:34 am