As a second generation Xbox 360 game, much of the attention has gone towards how Gears of War looks. From the start, the game impresses and it only gets better as you get deeper into it. Details are what make Gears of War so much fun to look at. From your surroundings, it is easy to tell that mankind has hit rock bottom. Cities are in total ruins and everything has a worn out, depressing feeling.

From a purely technical standpoint, Gears of War is just as impressive. Character models are just as finely detailed as the environments. As far as I could tell, many of the cinematics are done using the in-game engine and look on par with the rendered cut-scenes found in most PS2 and Xbox games. If this is what Unreal Engine 3 is capable of, the future of graphics looks bright… or gunmetal gray with caked-on mud and hazy sunlight.

I half expected Gears of War to feature lots of industrial sounding music. Following the game as closely as I have since it was announced I knew better, but still – it was something I needed to hear to believe. Gears of War goes for a big, booming orchestral sound that builds up the game’s action movie feel. Dialogue also helps out. The soldiers in your company aren’t philosophers or highbrow thinkers. These are gruff, roughneck soldiers, both of which are reflected by the voicework, rough dialogue and crude jokes. It is also worth mentioning that Gears of War is home to Cole, who easily takes the title of “Funniest Companion” from Saint’s Row’s Johnny Gatt.

I should probably mention that Gears of War earns its M rating, so parents should be aware that the game features loads of foul language and gore. Its nothing you wouldn’t see or hear in a slasher film, but it's there.

Gears of War’s single-player story focuses on Marcus Fenix, a former solider with the Coalition of Organized Governments (COG) who has been branded a traitor. He’s busted out of prison by a soldier named Dom and soon rejoins the fight against the Locust. From here, it isn’t exactly clear where the story goes. Telling a compelling story isn’t one of the game’s strong suits and much of what does happen is vague and not explained. All you really need to know is that mankind has come up short on that whole evolution thing and has been overtaken by a subterranean race called the Locust. Cities lay in ruin and if you’re not fighting, you’re probably dead or scrapping out an existence somewhere. But that’s beside the point – ultimately, the story is just a vehicle to push you through the game.

You typically work your way through an area, stop for a firefight and then move on. Much of what goes on during a fight is scripted, so by the time you are on your second or third try in an area (the game is really good at giving you checkpoints at key parts), you’ll know what is coming and when. The only thing you won’t know is how they’re coming. Enemies show enough situational awareness that they’ll try to outflank you, or use available cover and try to get the drop on you.

Most of the time, you are in a squad with four other soldiers, though you will often split up into two-man fire teams as well. A.I. doesn’t depend very much on who you’re teamed with, though I found that Baird was a much better ally than Dom, who typically died a few minutes into the fight, making him about as useful as a second appendix.

The single-player campaign can be tackled alone or with a friend. Co-op can be played via split screen or online over Live. Online co-op is fairly innovative in that you can invite a friend to join you at nearly anytime. You can also pick up where you left off later. Playing cooperatively makes the game easier, since you can keep reviving each other provided one isn’t blown up or you’re not both dead.

Gears of War also features a team-based multiplayer mode that supports up to eight players. Three match types are available. Warzone is your standard death-match, while Assassination has teams try to kill each other’s leaders. Execution is another variation of death-match where you have to make sure your opponent is dead, usually by stomping their head into the ground, otherwise they can revive themselves by rapidly hitting “A”. The key element of all three modes is teamwork and using cover. Things will obviously change depending on whom you are playing with, but with a good group, online matches can be quite satisfying.

Two difficulty settings are available at the start: Casual and Hardcore. Casual is for those who enjoy shooters and just want to blow through the single-player game as quickly as possible. Hardcore is for those looking for more of a challenge and is, ultimately, the more rewarding of the two. Even if you find yourself fitting the casual description, it is worth it to at least try the game on Hardcore, even if you end up doing it in Co-op. You will likely have to replay areas multiple times, but it is still a lot of fun and you never feel like you’re being punished when having to restart.

Gears of War features two learning curves. The first is learning to use cover and the other is learning how to use it effectively. As you would have guessed, both build on each other so you can’t be good at one and not the other. In the beginning, cover is fairly obvious. As the game progresses, cover becomes better disguised. In one area, you may need to use a tree while in another you’ll have to find a flipped over table or something. Eventually, the cover system grows to involve using light sources to keep bat-like Kryll away.

You typically want to find cover that will not only give you a clear shot during the fire fight, but will also protect you from as many sides as possible. It also doesn’t hurt if it is close to another source in case you have to suddenly go on the move.

Before jumping into Gears of War, it is important to remember that this isn’t your traditional shooter. Most of the shooting takes place from behind cover rather than just blindly running into battle like Rambo. Other games, like Namco’s kill.switch, have tried the same mechanic, but Gears of War is the first game to actually make it work.

When you’re close to something that can be used as cover, all you have to do is press “A” and you’re there. Once in cover, you have several options at your disposal. You can jump over small walls, or perform SWAT turns if cover is close enough. When behind cover, you can either blind-fire your weapon or pop from behind and squeeze off a few shots. Blind-fire is a good way to stay safe behind cover, but reduces your chances of actually hitting something. Your best bet is to pop from behind cover, unleashing a few rounds and quickly going into hiding again.

Each time you pop from cover, you feel like you’re putting yourself at risk. Unless someone gets in a head-shot or uses an explosive, you can survive a few rounds. No on-screen health indicator is used; instead damage is indicated by a red symbol that grows darker with each hit until the screen is filled with blood splatter. Over time, the damage subsides, adding more to the cover system.

One really neat aspect of combat is that reloading has been turned into a tension-building mini-game. Reloading takes a couple of seconds, which is represented by a white bar under your ammo count. If you can stop the small, sweeping bar in the gray area of the bar, you reload faster. If you manage to stop the bar in a smaller white area, you’ll earn a damage bonus. The risky part of doing this is that if you fail to hit the gray area, your gun jams and it takes longer to reload.

It wouldn’t be a Gears of War review without mentioning its most infamous weapon, a machine gun with a chainsaw bayonet. However, the chainsaw is more of a last ditch weapon since you’ll want to spend most of your time behind cover. You also have access to the standard array of weapons like shotguns and sniper rifles. One of the more interesting weapons is the Hammer of Dawn, a small gun that lets you call in a powerful blast from an orbiting satellite. The only hang-up is that unless the target is outside in the open, the weapon isn’t much more than a laser pointer.

Gears of War lives up to the hype and delivers. It may not do too many original things, but it shakes things up enough that it feels new and fun.