Gears of War

Well I completed GoW co-op with my brother, on Hardcore. And blow me, I loved every single minute of it. After laying down the main man at the end, I wanted more. I've heard people saying its nothing special, but playing it through even on the single player campaign (which I did initially on Casual mode) I thought it was exciting stuff. Well put together. The action is sweet. Heightened on co-op mode. And the multiplayer mode takes frantic close combat to another level. One which promotes active teamplay, covering each others back, helping downed team players back up again. Games like Battlefield 2 and COD2/3 to some extent allow players to glory in the solo play, medics get little time to perform support duties. Your team mates are usually respawned and off to get a bigger gun(tm) before any of the subtleties of team play can kick in. GoW is down to wire and dirty. But with the help of another you can make it work. The cover mechanism can be a bit fiddly at first, but after a few levels, you get confident with it, and it does become second nature. The concept of the perfect reload, adds to the game immensley. Now even emptying a few rounds to reload and hit the sweet spot in the heat of a firefight becomes all the more important. The finishing moves, whether chainblade or kerb kick are well executed and crucial in some of the multiplayer modes. Put em down and keep em down. The Kryll light and dark concept is fantastic, fancy that, an insta-death mechanic that works to enhance the game and tension and doesn't really soak it in frustration! The beserkers, oh the beserkers...

I have to say I bought into the Halo franchise big style, and it was what tipped me over the edge into the Xbox world. I can safely say, GoW is my next Halo, and I've already bought into their world now. Bring on GoW2 and 3! This game makes you bat shit crazy! Onto Insane co-op now.