by: Andrew Thornton

August 20, 2007

Making use of Unreal Engine 3, Epic has created what is unquestionably the most beautiful game on the Xbox 360. Everything from the character models to the areas you’re fighting your way through to the animation and effects are phenomenal. I love the way fire creates shadows in this game; it’s one of the best done effects I’ve seen in awhile. The animation is also fantastic; everything is fluid pretty much all the time. The textures are top notch, and while from a distance you can’t see them well, if you zoom in with a sniper rifle you’ll see that far off textures look just as good as close up ones. The game also manages to run at a consistent frame rate - I can’t remember ever seeing it drop actually.

The sound design is also fantastic in Gears of War. You can pop on pretty much any loud rock music and be good to go but if you choose to go with the actual soundtrack of the game, I think you’ll have an even better time, it’s truly great stuff. The sound effects are done masterfully; when you hear an enemy let out a scream in the distance, you’ll often feel a chill go up your spine. It’ll make you nervous at the very least. The voice acting is done extremely well with all of the main characters sounding great. John Di Maggio (probably known to many for doing the voice of Bender on the show Futurama) does a great job as Marcus Fenix. I didn’t even recognize the voice until I looked it up.

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Gears of War is an absolute masterpiece and a must own for most any gamer, especially if they already have an Xbox 360. The few flaws do little to bring the overall game down and everything just works so very well. It’s not perfect, no game ever will be, but it isn’t all that far from being there.

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