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“I have a rendezvous with death. At some disputed barricade, it may be he shall take my hand and lead me into his dark land. And close my eyes and quench my breath. I have a rendezvous with death. And I to my pledged word am true. I shall not fail that rendezvous.” The United States poet Alan Seeger said it best, and Gears of War 2 perfectly personifies Seeger’s words.

Those words will be forever etched into Gears of War 2 fanatics everywhere, and it is certainly well worth repeating countless times. Gears of War 2 is not just a sequel; it is more than a simple sequel. This game meets all of its expectations, and gamers will have a much better appreciation for Gears of War 2 over its predecessor in Gears of War.

In the original Gears of War, the storyline revolved around humanity’s struggle against the unfathomable antagonists in the Locust. Humans are attempting to fend off the Locust horde from their home planet of Sera. Gears of War concluded with the two protagonists Marcus Fenix and Dominique Santiago defeating the nefarious General Raam. Furthermore, a bomb was detonated to finally end this everlasting Locust versus Mankind war.

Regrettably, Gears of War 2 divulges that the bomb was unsatisfactory and only scratched the surface. As a result, the Locust annihilated human cities everywhere. The only safe haven for mankind is the city of Jacinto, but the Locust are poised for another assault. Marcus and Dom reprise their roles are the main characters, but there is a also a supporting cast. Just to name a few of the new characters in Gears of War 2, Dizzy Wallin and Tai Kaliso do play a role in this tale.

Without delving too much into the story, one of the most conspicuous underlying themes in the game is Dominique Santiago’s quest to locate his wife. The story is told through both in game gameplay footage and via cut scenes. Although Gears of War had a banal plot, Gears of War 2 has an exemplary narrative with a small touch of pathos. Players will learn just a little bit more about the rationale of the Locust.

The gameplay can be summed up by one simple word: epic. A majority of the controls from Gears of War have remained intact for Gears of War 2: the A button is still predominantly used for taking cover, and the right bumper is used for active reloading. The brand new features in Gears of War 2 are virtually endless.

If you damage the Locust enough, then they will start bleeding profusely and fall to their knees. Once this transpires, there is a wide array of moves in your arsenal which are mapped to the four face buttons on the Xbox 360 controller. Pressing X is the infamous curb stomp; pressing B is a rudimentary swift kill; pressing A take an opponent hostage; pressing Y is a cinematic kill. While the X button and B button attacks remain the same, the major differences arise with the A and Y button kills. When you press A, you are presented with two options. You can decide to snap a Locust’s neck in half to demolish them, or you can use them as a meat shield while firing currently.

The Y button attacks are heavily reliant on what weapon you have equipped. For example, a sniper rifle will result in Marcus throwing the sniper rifle in the air and smashing a Locust’s head all over the ground. Likewise, a torque bow will cause Marcus to decapitate a Locust. In addition, there is a three hit punch combo.

The weapons from the original Gears of War make their triumphant return, and they return with a fresh sense of style. For instance, the lancer is a machine gun with a deadly chainsaw attached to it. It is the default weapon, and it is a well balanced weapon. The most notable change to the lancer is the chainsaw.

If you and a locust try to chainsaw each other simultaneously, then both of you will engage in a chainsaw duel. The duel is won by rapidly pushing the B button as many times as you can until there is ultimately a victor. Losing a chainsaw duel will result in an instantaneous death, nevertheless winning will eradicate a locust in a matter of seconds. The best part about the chainsaw is when you use it from behind on an unsuspecting locust. Marcus will turn the lancer upside down and perform as upward slash until the locust dies.

Grenades have also been given a facelift. Now, grenades can be used as proximity mines and be placed on hard surfaces (including the Locust). Other weapons include a flame thrower which is appropriately title the scorcher and a gatling gun known as the mulcher. The trick to utilizing the mulcher is to be vigilant in regards to the weapon overheating. Whenever it overheats, you have to cool it down by pressing the right bumper.

Along with using the meat shield, there is a usable boom shield for portable cover. Players can press the A button to embed the shield into the ground. One of the most explosive yet most challenging weapons to use is the mortar. This weapon unleashes a flurry of ammunition into the air and crashes down on the opposition. The caveat to this is that it can be time consuming to launch a mortar attack.

There are some vehicles which give a solid change of pace from the prototypical duck and cover gameplay. Interrupting a swat turn is plausible. No longer will you have to suffer through unintentionally leaning against the wall when you wanted to sprint. Best of all, all of the tactics can be used in both the single player and multiplayer.

Speaking of the multiplayer, there are two types of multiplayer. The cooperative multiplayer mode has Marcus and Dom play through the entire single player campaign with a buddy on Xbox Live. One player is Marcus, and the other player is Dom. If you are not playing with a friend, then the computer takes control of Dom.

The other multiplayer mode is the competitive multiplayer mode, and this mode is further broken down into four branches: horde, guardian, submission, wingman, and king of the hill. Some of the maps include Jacinto and snowy Avalanche. All of the modes are similar to what is seen in other mulitiplayer games; nonetheless the mode that sticks out the most is horde mode.

Horde mode is the best of the bunch, and this is due in part to a relentless fifty wave battle. As every wave increases, the Locust will get stronger and smarter. For those who do not have access to Xbox Live, the remaining players can be replaced with artificial intelligence bots.

The visuals are gorgeous, as the character models such as Marcus and the Locust are stunning to watch. Even the most microscopic things like rain drops falling on a window are pleasing. There is some minor clipping that becomes apparent when some enemies are trying to exterminate you, but it is not too distracting.

The audio is delivers a musical score that is engrossing, and the sound effects are realistic. From the locust screaming to the explosions, it is delightful. The one flaw with the audio is the voice acting has its pros and cons. Marcus is a confident war hero, and he does sounds like one whenever he starts using profanity. His vulgar language brings levity that was absent in the previous Gears of War. In contrast, there were things that needed to be improved about the manner in which the lines of dialogue were spoken. Overall, Gears of War 2 is a brilliant sequel that will keep your Xbox 360 busy for a long time. This is an epic game from an epic company.