Gears of War 2 is a third person shooter with an emphasis on the tactical use of cover, and retains much of the same gameplay from the first game. The player, playing as either Marcus or Dominic in the campaign mode, or as any of the human or Locust characters in multiplayer mode, can only carry a pistol, one type of grenade, and two other weapons at any time, though they may swap these for weapons found in strategic locations or left by downed foes or fallen allies. Each weapon can be used for normal fire as well as for melee attacks; the game's signature Lancer Assault Rifle can be used to instantly kill foes in melee with its mounted chainsaw bayonet. The game introduces the ability to engage in chainsaw duels should the player attempt to chainsaw an opponent also using the Lancer; the player is presented with a controller button to press rapidly to try to win the duel and avoid death.[1]Gears of War 2 rebalances the power of the existing weapons while introducing five new ones: a flamethrower, a chain gun, a mortar cannon, a "Gorgon" Pistol, and the Ink Grenade. The chain gun and the mortar are heavy weapons, forcing the player to move at walking speed while carrying it in both hands. The Gorgon Pistol is an SMG-like machine pistol that fires four four-shot bursts per magazine. The Ink Grenade doesn't damage with its detonation, but instead temporarily poisons the area it was thrown, making it very useful for driving enemies out of cover. Grenades can be planted on walls or floors as proximity traps that go off when an enemy nears, but only fragmentation grenades have the ability to kill foes when they go off.[2]
The player's health is represented by a red "Crimson Omen" that fades onto the screen the more damage the player takes; staying out of the line of fire allows the player to recover their health. Depending on the game mode or difficulty, if the player takes too much damage, they enter a downed state where they can crawl around the map to get out of battle and seek help. During this time, a teammate can revive him, an enemy may brutally execute the downed player, or the player may bleed out if too much time has passed. The player can also grab a downed character and use them as a meatshield, allowing the body to absorb damage but forcing the player to use a one-handed pistol.[3] Explosive weapons will simply destroy the character they strike.[4]Like its predecessor, Gears of War 2 features an optional mature content filter, which, when active, makes blood appear as sparks and removes harsh language from the dialogue.[5] Furthermore, progress towards most of the Xbox achievements for the game can be earned in either campaign or multiplayer modes.[1]
Campaign mode[edit]
The campaign mode in Gears of War 2 allows for a single player or two players playing cooperatively as Marcus or Dom. A new "Normal" difficulty was added between the game's "Casual" and "Hardcore" difficulties. There is also an 'Insane' difficulty that is unlocked after the player completes the game at least once. Players in co-op mode can select different difficulties, and a "communal combat system" will adjust the game's artificial intelligence to give both players a fair challenge.[1] The co-op campaign can be played in a drop in/drop out manner, with the second player able to join the first player's game in progress.[6] As well as collecting some COG tags as in the first game, players can search other story-based items such as personal letters and medical records, with discovered items being added to a war journal.[1]
The campaign features a deeper story with new characters, new weapons, and new enemies according to John DiMaggio, the voice actor for Marcus Fenix.[7] New vehicles have been added to the game, such as the Centaur Tank, which lead designer Cliff Bleszinski describes as a "tank with monster truck wheels."[8] Players will also ride a Brumak and Reavers in the game.[9] Cut-scenes use the better facial rendering technology of Epic's Unreal engine, and engage in more dramatic angles for the conversation, as well as using a video screen on Jack (the all-purpose robot used by Delta squad) to talk with their commanders face-to-face.[1]
Multiplayer[edit]
Gears of War 2 features an upgraded multiplayer mode that allows up to ten users to simultaneously play in teams of five-on-five.[10] Gears of War 2includes most of the multiplayer modes, including Execution, Warzone, Annex and King of the Hill, and adds in three new modes.[2][10] Guardian is a modified version of Assassination from the original Gears of War, but allows players to continue fighting after the leader has been killed, but losing the ability to respawn.[10] Wingman splits all ten players into five teams of two, where both members of a team play as the same character.[10] Submission, formerly known as Meat Flag,[2] is a version of capture the flag in which players attempt to "down" an enemy controlled by the game's AI and move its body to their team's base or objective to earn points. The 10 maps shipped with the game originally are Avalanche, Blood Drive, Day One, Hail, Jacinto, Pavilion, River, Ruins, Security and Stasis[10] A Halo-like matchmaking system has been utilized for the online multiplayer[1] Players can now engage in multiplayer scenarios with any combination of human players and artificial intelligence controlled by the game, with the ability to set the AI's intelligence level.[11] Horde is a new co-op mode for five players, fighting off waves of attacking Locust together, with each wave becoming more difficult.[9] Horde Mode does not feature bot support as in competitive multiplayer, and can be played alone.[12]
Players can pan around a map as the camera focuses on areas of intense fighting, and the Ghost Cam allows a player to roam freely around a map. The ability to take photographs is also featured, which enables the player to take a photo, which can be uploaded to the Gears of War website and is rated on the quality of action in the shot.[2]