Well, we are only a few days from our 4th of July-themed Gears of War gaming extravaganza, so I found it fitting to play some Gears. I haven't played the game in a while, but I've always had fond memories of the game. So, when I booted up the game and played some co-op, I had some expectations. I wasn't disappointed; the game holds up well, particularly in co-op. Sometimes co-op games just tack in an extra player (like one of my favorite series, Halo), but Gears manages to make that extra player feel real and natural, and makes the gaming experience more believable. So, with these things in mind, I explored the game's campaign, teammate in tow.
I have showed in previous weeks, I have an affinity for great moments in gaming, and Gears doesn't disappoint. So what were my co-op moments in Gears of War?
Great Moments in Gears
I love when enemies explode like human (or non-human, depending on race) confetti. Gears didn't disappoint me, and it threw in a nice co-op aspect. I was busy shooting at enemies, trying to drive them back. All of the sudden, one of the enemies was turned into Locust confetti, and it was not my doing. It turns out that my teammate had thrown a grenade at the Locust, unbeknownst to me.
My love of human confetti carried on to one of my other fun moments. At one point, my team was attacked by Wretches, who, as usual, caused havoc. My teammate and myself were surrounded by the enemies and had trouble fending off the enemies. I turned towards the enemies and fired a random shot, killing four of the Wretches, ending the ordeal.
After taking a bit of a Gears hiatus, I came back to the game, still loving it as always. Gears seems to be one of those games you can put down for a while, then pick it up and still feel that sense of thrill and fun. The simple-to-pick up single player/co-op is probably part of the deal. Some games just require you to invest a lot of time in single-player (I'm looking at you, Mass Effect) to have fun. However, Gears of War enables you to have fun with a buddy whenever you want. Much like most the other games that I've covered in this column, Gears has that magic that makes it easy to pick up and hard to put down. However, it also has a deep sense of reward that some other pick-up-and-play games lack. Maybe it's the whole "blowing up crazy subterranean enemies" thing. I'm looking forward to the sequel, particularly for some of the twists and turns in the co-op department.