Friday night, after writing code all day and being at work for a bit more then 8 hours, I decide to head downstairs into the break room and play the game I'd been excited about playing for some time.
Gears Of Wars.
We've actually had this game in the building as long as I've worked here but for some reason when I first played it, I just couldn't gel with the 3rd person POV, not to mention those blasted controllers. I'm a PC guy! Controls for games should be with a mouse and keyboard in my opinion.
Anyway, I guess I decided to stick it out Friday night. I started sometime around 10:15 and just got busy. Time passed and Locust died. Suddenly, there is this beeping sound that I thought was the building alarm going off. An alarm that shouldn't have been set in the first place right? Well after running around trying to get down to the bottom of this, I realize it's the alarm clock ON MY PHONE! iT WAS 5:30 AM!!!!
There is a reason I don't buy video games anymore.
Seeing it was 5:30, I decided to go home. Of course, when Monday came around, I headed back to the break room to play some more. The level/checkpoint/act that I picked back up on was the very last of the game. As it turns out, I pretty much knocked over the entire game in a single evening. Wow!
Now that's kinda nice as I now won't find myself dreaming about re-immersing back into the G.O.W. world all day long while I should be hackin' out code. It's done and the urge to spend serious hours at the controls are gone. of course, that's not to imply that heading back down and doing a little blasting still isnt' fun. It is! Especially when I can go back to my favorite fights and engage.
Ultimately, the G.O.W. world is amazingly beautiful. Even the wreckage of the civilization they are fighting to preserve is staggering in it's beauty.
Or is it just the graphics?
Whatever the case, it's amazing! The level of detail is stunning. The effect of distance is emotive. Walking through and fighting in courtyards and gardens with absolutely incredible lighting effects is just downright bitchin'! Even running with your mates and listening to their ridiculous banter is too damn cool (tho Baird will throw down with the best of 'em, he needs to stop whining!).
The level of dread wasn't as high as I expected at times, tho it was there. It wasn't like the original Doom or Half Life, much less Doom III (which scared the hell out of EVERYBODY), but you certainly felt your tension level rise when the Boomers showed up or wrenches(?) rushed you in the middle of a reload.
So what is/are the coolest thing(s) about Gears? How you use cover and the blind fire. It's awesome to take cover behind something and just stick your weapon out and pull the trigger. Great for keeping Locust noggins down while your boys advance. You can even chuck grenades over too! And once you get the hang of using the A button to dive, run, and take and slide into cover, you are good as gold.
Best weapon? Sniper rifle by far! Not as useful for general throwing down, but there are times when it's scope and one hit one kill glorly is going to make the going a lot easier.
So yeah, I'm glad I knocked it out. It was like a good movie that I was part of living.
Drawbacks? Yeah, there is a big one. Why did they have to make Marcus so terminally macho. Where was the anger about being in prison for nothing for 14 years? Where was the anger about seeing everything destroyed by the Locust? You did see glimpses of emotion at times (like when Raam killed the Lt), but it's not enough. Showing Marcus to be more complex then a collection of cheesy Duke Nukem one liners would have paid big for those that aren't so apt to become immersed in a story line.
Hair splitting aside, G.O.W. II is now highly anticipated.
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