Top 50 Video Games: Number 41

Stats of Import
Platform: XBox 360
Absurdly Specific Genre: Manly Men Doing Manly Testosterone-laden Things
Difficulty: 7 (it probably doesn't deserve that high a score, but it's exactly the type of game that always gives me a hard time.)
Beaten: Yes

Contrary to what this spot on the list might have you believe, I'm not a huge fan of the Gears of War series. I like third person shooters, but Gears of War seems slow, and everything you shoot at takes forever to die. The chainsaw bayonet is cool, but the only color in the universe is brown (except for the occasional bursts of red when you split an enemy in half with said bayonet. I didn't get too far in the first one before getting annoyed by it. It's sitting on the shelf - I suppose I'll get to it when my current queue goes down a bit.



It might be a while...

 The second game seemed very similar right up to the point where I decided to play it in co-op mode with Branny. The light immediately went on. This is why these games are so popular. It's the type of game that I'd never play by myself, but with a friend, it's a completely different experience. I realize that this was advertised as the big thing in the game, but it's true. Once you play Gear of War 2 in co-op mode, every shooter without a co-op mode feels drastically empty.

Even better than the campaign was Horde mode. Fifty waves of enemies, the only objective is to use teamwork and survive. It's been adapted to several different games since, but I still enjoy the mechanic most in Gears. I have more people on my xbox friends list that I met while playing Horde mode than from any other game. At it's heart, that teamwork is the prime appeal of the Gears of War series.