Gears of War takes place on the war-ravaged planet Sera. The nations of Sera fought over a resource known as Imulsion for many decades (a period known as the Pendulum Wars) before the rise of the Locust from beneath the planet's surface on Emergence Day. Following Emergence Day, the Coalition of Organized Governments (COG) was formed in order to defend humanity in the ongoing battle against the Locust.
The game itself picks up an unknown number of years after Emergence Day. Players take on the role of Marcus Fenix, a now disgraced soldier who fought in the Pendulum Wars. Fenix begins the game in a jail cell (much like the original Unreal), however is freed to bolster the ranks of the COG military.
Gears of War is a third-person action game with survival horror elements. Players take control of Marcus Fenix and his team of Gears (soldiers), battling with the invading Locust forces.
Gears of War takes advantage of the many technological improvements in Unreal Engine 3, particularly in the areas of physics and lighting. Epic's Cliff Bleszinski states in the E3 2005 presentation that finding, creating and destroying cover from enemy fire will play a large part in Gears of War. Also, staying in the light will be key to your survival in Gears, since the Locust, being subterranean in nature prefer darker spots.
A hand-to-hand combat system will also be included in Gears of War, in the form of a mini-game (as in Resident Evil).
Multiplayer support is expected to be included, though few details have surfaced thus far.
Unlike previous first-person shooters by Epic Games, Gears of War takes a completely different perspective as a third-person shooter. This design choice reflects itself in the gameplay as Gears of War focuses mainly on sound tactics rather than brute force. As such, the player is able to carry only four weapons: two primary weapons, a sidearm, and a limited supply of grenades.
A gameplay component unique to Gears of War, the Active Reload, entails hitting the right bumper on the controller at the correct time to quickly reload the weapon. If timed particularly well, the portion of the ammo reloaded in the next clip will gain a damage boost and be reloaded faster. If timed badly, the gun will jam momentarily and the reloading process will take longer than it would if Active Reload was not attempted. Choosing not to use the Active Reload feature simply causes the character to reload at an average speed.
I find that I'm horribly addicted to Gears of War, and I just can't stop playing it. It's fun, violent and I happen to be very good at it. But is this all a phase? I mean Gears did surpass Halo 2 as the most played game on Xbox live, but how long will it last? With limited amounts of V.S modes and only eight players per game, will we all finally lose our interest in it?
